American League

Albert Pujols, 1B, Angels: He was punished for his homerless April, but he’s hit 13 since and has raised his average to .270 through Friday. You can’t bring a three-time MVP back to Missouri?

Josh Reddick, RF, Oakland: The 25-year-old has 19 home runs through Friday and a cannon arm. Those are attributes, despite his low average, that are All-Star worthy and can help win an expected pitcher’s battle with home-field advantage in the World Series at stake.

Austin Jackson, CF, Detroit: He’s hitting .335 with nine homers and 38 runs batted in with the extra benefit of covering a lot of outfield real estate.

A.J. Pierzynski, C, White Sox: It’s tough to dispute All-Star Manager Ron Washington’s reserve choices of Joe Mauer and Gold Glove winner Matt Wieters, but the fans deserve blame for picking Mike Napoli over villainous Pierzynski (.286, 16 homers, 49 RBIs).

Scott Downs, RP, Angels: Veteran left-handed setup man has been crucial in helping Angels rally from a dismal start, boasting an earned-run average of 0.31and a walks/hits-per-innings-pitched ratio of 0.97.

Edwin Encarnacion, DH, Toronto: In tandem with slugging teammate Jose Bautista, the 29-year-old Dominican is hitting .296 with 22 homers (tied for fifth in the AL through Friday) and 56 RBIs.

Jake Peavy, P, White Sox: The former National League All-Star game starter was beat out by Texas pitcher Yu Darvish in the final vote, but Peavy has struck out 108 batters with just 26 walks, and his WHIP is 0.99.