NL West's projected All-Stars

Let's jump right in with the hottest/most surprising team in the division:

Everyone's been talking about Adrian Gonzalez: whether he'll be traded, to whom, for how much, etc. All this buzz might generate more All-Star talk than his 2010 performance has garnered, but just based on his walks and reputation, I wouldn't be surprised if he gets a vote just to be polite. Meanwhile, across the diamond, Chase Headley has been productive, but I don't know about All-Star caliber.

Aside from a couple of very impressive ERA's (Jon Garland's 1.71 and Wade LeBlanc's 1.61), the Friars pitchers have been generally underwhelming. Closer Heath Bell (9 saves, 1.20 ERA) might very well get a nod over the brilliantly-performing relief staff, both long (Tim Stauffer) and middle (Luke Gregerson), the game's true unsung heroes.

Quite frankly, no one on the Giants offense deserves a second look. But their pitchers are a different story: Tim Lincecum's basically a lock, with his miniscule 1.71 ERA and league-leading 64 K's. Barry Zito has an impressive ERA (1.91), but hasn't missed nearly as many bats. Even Matt Cain and Jonathan Sanchez are putting up impressive numbers, but, again, probably nothing All-Star worthy. Closer Brian Wilson is throwing hard, and with 34 spots, there's more room than ever for an extra one-inning guy.

The only real no-brainer for the Dodgers is Andre Ethier who's currently leading the league in triple-crown categories - in fact, I'll be surprised if he doesn't start in right field. Matt Kemp got off to a good start, but has since slowed down, and apparently stopped trying. Manny's hitting close to .400, and if he can stay hot since coming off the DL, he'll have a shot too. On the pitching side, Hiroki Kuroda's been lights out and Jonathan Broxton has struck out about a bathousand-per-nine-innings, so I wouldn't be surprised if we heard "Iron Man" blaring out of Anaheim's PA system at some point on 7/13/10.

Wow, the Rockies' offense sure fell asleep, huh? The only one with even decent numbers is Carlos Gonzalez, who has a bunch of RBIs and a fair average, but little power/speed. Top brass won't have any trouble filling that one-spot quota, as Ubaldo Jimenez (and his 0.93 ERA) is basically guaranteed a spot - he might even compete with reigning Cy Young-er Tim Lincecum to start the game.

A couple of big power threats hang out in Arizona: surprising 2B Kelly Johnson and 3B Mark Reynolds are tied (with Ethier) for the league lead with 10 HR apiece. Surprisingly enough, Reynolds (who set a major league record with 223 K's last year) doesn't even have the most on his team - he currently trails RF Justin Upton (45 to 42). With Dan Haren struggling, Brandon Webb on the DL, and their bullpen in the midst of an epic collapse, one of the previous two batters will have to go to Anaheim.