All-Star Rooks

Three Seattle Mariners make Baseball America's Rookie All-Star Team

2B Dustin Ackley • Mariners
The second pick in the 2009 draft, Ackley shot to Triple-A a year later and to Seattle on June 17, roughly two years after being drafted. A mere three weeks after his debut, Ackley established himself as the Mariners' top offensive player and permanent three-hole hitter. He wound up leading the Mariners in average (.273), OBP (.348) and slugging (.417). Ackley wore down in September, but through his first 70 big league games he batted .304/.378/.477 with 26 extra-base hits. He needed every ounce of that production to surpass fellow keystone rookies such as the Nationals' Danny Espinosa, who offered power in the form of 21 homers, and the Athletics' Jemile Weeks, who hit .303 and stole 22 bases.

OF Mike Carp • Mariners
Carp failed to make an impression with the run-starved Mariners during brief trials in 2009 or 2010, but he began to find his power stroke with Triple-A Tacoma last year. From the start of the 2010 season until his June 8 callup, he belted 49 homers for the Rainiers and learned to play a passable left field. Incumbent Seattle first baseman Justin Smoak missed most of August while recovering from myriad injuries, briefly opening the door for Carp to return to his natural position. He proceeded to hit .313/.353/.545 with six homers and 25 RBIs in 27 August games, winning the AL's rookie of the month distinction. Something to keep in mind: Carp earned a shot at an everyday gig this season only after the Mariners tired of the antics Milton Bradley and Carlos Peguero in left and Jack Cust at DH.

SP Michael Pineda • Mariners
Pineda threw his fastball with higher average velocity (94.7 mph) than any rookie with at least 100 innings, and he went 8-6, 3.03 in 18 first-half starts to make the AL all-star team—along with fellow rookies Aaron Crow of the Royals and Jordan Walden of the Angels. Pineda also mixed in a mid-80s slider frequently enough to lead all rookies with 173 strikeouts, while ranking second among AL starters with 9.1 strikeouts per nine innings. He topped out at 139 innings in the minors, prompting Seattle to space out his starts in August and September. But despite stumbling near the all-star break—he allowed 19 runs in 14 2/3 innings over three successive mid-July starts—Pineda pulled through to strike out a batter per inning and log a 3.99 ERA over his final eight turns.