After the 2019 Major League Baseball season, some all-decade teams have been speculated. Of course, there are different opinions on what players should make the rosters, but if everyone agreed on the same roster, it could get boring. Some may even go as far as saying the decade should count as 2011-through-2020 while others say 2010-through-2019. Either way, here is a potential all-decade team for the National League West from the years 2010-through-2019.
(This includes a starting lineup [without a DH,] a pitching rotation and two bullpen pitchers.)
Lineup
1.) Troy Tulowitzki (SS)
Team: Colorado Rockies (2006-2015)
Even though Troy Tulowitzki dealt with multiple injuries throughout his career, he still provided both offense and defense for the Rockies. Some of his best seasons came back-to-back in 2010 and 2011. In 2010, he slashed .315/.381/.568, made the All-Star game and won a Gold Glove and Silver Slugger. He finished fifth in the NL MVP voting that season as well. The next year in 2011 he had 30 homers and a .916 OPS.
2.) Charlie Blackmon (RF)
Team: Colorado Rockies (2011-Present)
Charlie Blackmon is entering his 10th season with the Rockies in 2020. His career line this far is .304/.360/.509. He has hit 172 long balls, 227 doubles and has 1,244 hits. The four-time All-Star led the MLB in multiple categories in 2017. They included hits (213), runs scored (137) and triples (14). He also led the National League with a .331 batting average that year.
3.) Nolan Arenado (3B)
Team: Colorado Rockies (2013-Present)
The third straight Rockie on this list is Nolan Arenado. He debuted in 2013 and already has 227 career homers. One of his most impressive stats is that he’s won a Gold Glove award in all seven MLB seasons he’s played in. He has also won four Silver Slugger awards. Arenado has made the All-Star Game and finished in the top 10 for NL MVP in each of the last five seasons.
4.) Paul Goldschmidt (1B)
Team: Arizona Diamondbacks (2011-2018)
First-basemen Paul Goldschmidt played in eight seasons with the Diamondbacks. With Arizona, he finished top three in the NL MVP voting three times, including two runner-up finishes. Goldy has also won three Gold Glove awards and four Silver Slugger awards. One of his best seasons came in 2013. That year, he led the National League in RBIs with 125 and tied Pedro Alverez for most homers in the NL with 36.
5.) Carlos Gonzales (LF)
Team: Colorado Rockies (2009-2018)
Three-time All-Star Carlos Gonzales played in 10 seasons with the Rockies. In 2010, he led the National League in batting average (.336) and total bases (351). The then 24-year-old finished third in the NL MVP voting, as well as won a Gold Glove and a Silver Slugger award. In 2015, Gonzales had 150 hits, 40 of which were via the long ball.
6.) Buster Posey (C)
Team: San Francisco Giants (2009-Present)
Out of the 1,258 games Buster Posey has played in the MLB, only seven came in 2009, the rest coming in the 2010s. In those 10 seasons, Posey hit 140 homers, 270 doubles and had 673 RBIs. Some of his accolades include NL Rookie of the Year in 2010, NL MVP in 2012 and six All-Star games. When he won MVP in 2012, he had a slash line of .336/.408/.549.
7.) Matt Kemp (CF)
Teams: Los Angeles Dodgers (2006-2014; 2018) San Diego Padres (2015-2016)
Three-time All-Star Matt Kemp made all three of those rosters with the Dodgers, the most recent one being 2018. In 2011, he finished runner-up to Ryan Braun for National League MVP. That year, Kemp slashed .324/.399/.586 and led the league in RBIs with 126. He also won a Gold Glove and a Silver Slugger award that year.
8.) D.J. LeMahieu (2B)
Team: Colorado Rockies (2012-2018)
D.J. LeMahieu hit .299/.352/.408 in his seven seasons with the Rockies. He won three Gold Glove awards and made two All-Star games as well with Colorado. In 2016, LeMahieu had a career-high .911 OPS. That year, he hit 11 homers, 32 doubles and eight triples. He hit well again the next season when he had a line of .310/.374/.409.
Pitching Rotation
1.) Clayton Kershaw
Team: Los Angeles Dodgers (2008-Present)
From the years 2011-through-2017, Clayton Kershaw finished in the top five of the NL Cy Young voting each season. He won the award three times, and even won NL MVP in 2014. Kershaw led eligible starting pitchers in ERA each season from 2011-through-2014. The next season he posted a 2.13 ERA and led the league with 301 strikeouts. Kershaw has also made eight All-Star games.
2.) Madison Bumgarner
Team: San Francisco Giants (2009-2019)
Another southpaw to make the list is Madison Bumgarner. He spent all 10 seasons of the 2010s with the Giants, winning three World Series in that time. Some of his best numbers come in the Postseason. In the 102 1/3 innings he’s pitched in the playoffs, Bumgarner has a 2.11 ERA, a 0.899 WHIP and three shutouts. Bumgarner has joined the Arizona Diamonbacks for the 2020 season.
3.) Zack Greinke
Team: Los Angeles Dodgers (2013-2015) Arizona Diamondbacks (2016-2019)
In the seven seasons that Zack Greinke was on a National League West team, he made five All-Star games and won five Gold Glove awards (he won it in 2019 but was traded to the Astros during the season.) In 2015, he was runner-up to Jake Arrieta for NL Cy Young. That year, Grienkie led all eligible starters in ERA at 1.66. He pitched 222 2/3 innings and recorded 200 strikeouts that season. Grienke was with the D-Backs in 2017 when he posted a 3.20 ERA in 202 1/3 innings pitched.
4.) Matt Cain
San Francisco Giants (2005-2017)
Matt Cain pitched his whole MLB career with San Francisco. In the 2010s, Matt Cain made two All-Star games, and finished in the top 10 of the NL Cy Young voting twice. That was in 2011 and 2012. The year 2012 is also when Matt Cain pitched a perfect game. It was on June 13 against the Houston Astros. The Giants also won the World Series that year. Matt Cain pitched 30 playoff innings in 2012 and posted a 3.60 ERA.
5.) Patrick Corbin
Team: Arizona Diamondbacks (2012-2013; 2015-2018)
Patrick Corbin pitched six seasons with Arizona. He made two All-Star games and finished fifth in the NL Cy Young voting in 2018. That year he pitched 200 innings and posted a 3.15 ERA. In his career with the Diamondbacks, Corbin has a 3.91 ERA, a 1.285 WHIP and 246 strikeouts. Corbin joined the Nationals in 2019 and won a World Series.
Bullpen
1.) Kenley Jansen
Team: Los Angeles Dodgers (2010-Present)
Kenley Jansen made his major league debut in 2010. That year, he pitched just 27 innings and posted a 0.67 ERA. Even though Jansen had some notable seasons from 2010-through-2015, it wasn’t until 2016 that he made his first All-Star game. He went on to make the Mid-Summer Classic again the next two seasons, bringing his total to three. Jansen has a career 2.35 ERA through 611 2/3 innings pitched.
2.) Sergio Romo
Teams: San Francisco Giants (2008-2016) Los Angeles Dodgers (2017)
Sergio Romo kept his ERA under 3.00 each season from 2010-through-2013. In 2011, he pitched 48 innings and posted a 1.50 ERA. Like some other guys on the list, Romo has some solid Postseason numbers. In 2012, he pitched 10 2/3 playoff innings and had a 0.84 ERA. In the three World Series that Romo has pitched in, he hasn’t allowed a run in six innings pitched.
Feature Image Courtesy of Zimbio.
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