Every year there are a few players that come out of absolutely nowhere to make an all star team. The majority of time its because they're having breakout, out of the ordinary years. Other times its because their team sucks and MLB had no one else to choose. Here's the list of players that fall under either of those qualifications this year.Team Captain: Jason Marquis - Throughout his career Marquis has been a mediocre to ok pitcher in the major leagues. Outside of his solid 2004 campaign with the Cardinals there hasn't been much positives to say about Marquis. He was mediocre enough the the point last year where the Cubs had no problems letting him go. And now, he's got 11 wins and is an all star.
Ryan Franklin - Hew wasn't even supposed to be the Cardinals closer. The closers role was supposed to go to Jason Motte or Chris Perez but both faltered heavily in spring and the opening few weeks and the job was handed back to the veteran Franklin. If you remember Franklin was one of the many closers the Cardinals watched shit the bed last year, but this year Franklin's been effective and reliable. Who knew?
Freddy Sanchez - The Pirates kind of just suck, so I guess this one isn't really surprising and its not like he's been a terrible player, it's just his numbers have regressed heavily since the last time he made the team.
There really aren't that many shockers in the National League. You can throw a Ted Lilly in the mix but he's been really effective for the Cubs the last two years. You could say Justin Upton is surprising because its early but he's one of the top prospects in all of baseball. Yadier Molina gets in cause he's a catcher and catchers suck. Victorino is a bit surprising but he's been double digit homers around .300 and 40+ steals for the past two years. Etc. Etc. Etc.
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