Things That Should Have Been Posted in 2011: Survey Says Aroldis Chapman Should Be the 2011 Topps LHP on the ASRT.

Because this blogger spent a lot of time away from this humble little blog, there were a lot of posts that should have been written but for reasons beyond comprehension, just were not. Here is the first of what hopefully isn't an ongoing series of posts (but there are a number of them).

When the 2011 Topps All-Star Rookie Team was announced, to my surprise, instead of three pitching spots (thanks to the Strasburg rule in 2010), there were two pitchers named to the ASRT. While that ideally brings the team back to the traditional ten spots, what made it a bit of a shock was that instead of the usual right handed pitcher and left handed pitcher categories, reigning MLB Rookies of the Year Jeremy Hellickson of the Rays was named the Starting Pitcher and Craig Kimbrel the Relief Pitcher.

And that was it. Again, not only was my contest scrambled (don't worry guys, I haven't forgotten to send the prizes...will get to the store by the end of next week). But now that means the pitching positions have changed for the third straight year.

So for the sake of tradition, I created a poll asking which of the following left handed rookie pitchers should have been named by Topps as their LHP on the All-Star Rookie team. Forty-nine readers responded to the survey. The results were interesting to watch during the course of the voting.

Initially, Cory Luebke of the Padres was had a good lead over the field of seven (plus two other choices), with Zach Britton of the Orioles just behind him. But as the polls reached the finish, Aroldis Chapman of the Reds took the victory, thanks to the ten voters who put him over the top (by one vote over Luebke). The rest of the results:

• Luebke with 9 votes,
• Who Cares took third with 8 (which probably means that it doesn't matter what Topps does...it's their thing),
• Britton of the O's follows with 7 votes (he lost to Who Cares??!),
• Chris Sale of the White Sox follows with 6,
• Somebody Else (realistically, there wasn't really anybody else to consider if you follow the MLB Rookie Tracker),
• Danny Duffy of the Royals trails with 3,
• Tim Collins, Duffy's teammate on the Royals, received no votes.

So thanks to the voters who participated, and congrats to Chapman for winning the poll. You should have a trophy next to your 2012 Topps card, but you won't. Sorry about that.

#ThanksTopps

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama