Last but not least among the position players, outfielder Brennan Boesch had been written off as a flash in the pan, unlikely to repeat any of the success he had shown in 2010. Clearly, he's been better than expected. You can find the other All-Value All-Stars here:
Catcher - Alex Avila
First Baseman - Michael Morse
Second Baseman - Danny Espinosa
Shortstop - Asdrubal Cabrera
Third Baseman - Ryan Roberts
Outfielder - Curtis Granderson
Outfielder - Lance Berkman
Coming Into The Season
Boesch's 2010 was definitely a tale of 2 seasons. In the first half, he hit .342 with 12 home runs and 49 runs batted in and looked like a favorite to win the AL Rookie of the Year. After the All-Star break however, he fizzled out pretty badly. He posted a.163 batting average with just 2 home runs and 19 runs batted in while playing a similar amount of games. It was hard to tell which of the 2 Boesch seasons were real, and ESPN did not even rank him coming into the season.
His Performance To Date
Boesch is currently hitting .307/.363/.500 with 12 home runs, 40 runs batted in, 57 runs scored and 4 stolen bases. Yahoo currently has him sitting as their #15 outfielder overall.
Can He Continue This Performance?
That is the million dollar question with Boesch. Normally, I would not be worried about a player with these stats going into the second half. Unfortunately, these are almost identical numbers to his performance in the first half of last season. I do like that his strikeout rate is down nearly 4% from last season, and is lower than his minor league numbers. That said, I would be very concerned if I owned him. Boesch is a player I might look to sell high before the end of the All-Star break, and see if you can get a struggling top-flight outfielder in return for him.