VARITEK NEEDS TO GO

by Brian P. Foley, The College Baseball Blog

Is Jason Varitek the worst All-Star in the history of Baseball?

I think the answer is an overwhelming YES! He is only hitting .215 on the year with an on base percentage of .297. He had a horrible month of June with a batting average of .122 and a slugging percentage of .176. Are you kidding me? I think the Red Sox could bring up a third level prospect who could put up numbers like that.

Lets go back to the All-Star selection of Varitek who like the pink hat wearing Red Sox fans call him "Tek." The players and managers put Varitek as a reserve catcher in the AL. They said the reasoning behind it is how well he handles the pitching staff of the Boston Red Sox. The BoSox have the eighth best ERA in MLB with the Oakland A's having the best ERA. He has thrown out a grand total of eight runners while allowing 37 stolen bases that comes out to throwing out only 17 percent of runners which is nothing to be proud of.

So why is Kurt Suzuki not in the All-Star game over Jason Varitek since he is the catcher for the Oakland A's who lead the team in ERA? He is hitting .279 on the year while throwing out 21 runners and allowing 37 stolen bases. This comes out to a percentage of 36 which is very good for a MLB catcher. The main reason why Suzuki is not in the All-Star game is the fact that he plays for the Oakland A's and that is not a large market team like Boston.

I am a Red Sox fan but the truth hurts. Varitek needs to go.