Baseball's February Birthday Dream Teams
Lots of great players have February birthdays. But who would make an all-star team amongst active players? And who would make an all-time February Birthdays dream team?
Issue #64
Continuing my series of active and all-time dream teams for players born during each month—how about February? Demographic oddities aside, on average you'd expect such rosters to be composed of about 1/12th of the top players during whatever period is under consideration. Starting with an active players February Birthday dream team, we quickly see that is not at all the case for position players. Here is the roster I came up with:
I wouldn't rate any of the position players here as being in the top-12 overall. The best are Dansby Swanson, Jazz Chisholm Jr., and Adley Rutschman, and I suppose any of them could be a top-12 position player in 2023—I just don't think that is very likely.
There was quite a lot of position versatility with this roster, both from guys like Mark Canha, Isaac Paredes, and Thairo Estrada, and from the three that I listed on the side under the Utility heading. In fact, Jurickson Profar can play anywhere but catcher, and he is a switch hitter too.
Starting lineups for this roster might look like this:
Against RHP:
Jazz Chisholm Jr. CF (L)
Dansby Swanson SS (R)
Adley Rutschman C (S)
Ryan Mountcastle 1B (R)
Jorge Soler DH (R)
Randy Arozarena LF (R)
Jurickson Profar 2B (S)
Max Kepler RF (L)
Miguel Rojas 3B (R)
Against LHP:
Dansby Swanson SS (R)
Randy Arozarena LF (R)
Ryan Mountcastle 1B (R)
Jorge Soler DH (R)
Mark Canha RF (R)
Travis d'Arnaud C (R)
Thairo Estrada 2B (R)
Isaac Paredes 3B (R)
Jazz Chisholm Jr. CF (L)
I listed Chisholm as the starting CF, as the Marlins have announced he will mostly play there instead of 2B in 2023. And his teammate Jorge Soler is likely to mostly be their DH this year, as presumably Bryan De La Cruz and Avisail Garcia will be flanking Chisholm in LF and RF.
I saw a natural R/L platoon with Mark Canha and Max Kepler in RF. Jurickson Profar is a switch hitter, so I split him with Thairo Estrada at 2B. At 3B, Isaac Paredes as a rookie in 2022 hit lefties (.267/.353/.467) far better than righties (.188/.280/.361), so I paired Miguel Rojas with him as he generally hits righties better than lefties.
While Rutschman is a switch hitter, in 2022 he didn't hit lefties very well at all: .174/.287/.265 vs LHP, but .280/.386/.503 vs. RHP. So I've platooned him with Travis d'Arnaud in these lineups.
Rougned Odor, Didi Gregorius, and Luke Voit all have February birthdays, but as of the time of this they are all free agents. They have each seen their production decline the past couple years, but I won't be surprised if some or all of them land somewhere before the start of the 2023 season.
On the pitching side I would say Justin Verlander is a top-12 starting pitcher, and you could make the same case for Liam Hendricks as a reliever. Aroldis Chapman used to be of course, but he has grown very inconsistent—perhaps he can revive his career in Kansas City in 2023.
In terms of ranking the starters here, I think Verlander and Brandon Woodruff are the clear 1-2, but then you could argue about how to list the rest. 2022 rookie Nick Lodolo is the only lefthander included, so if this were a real team that would be one reason to elevate him into the five-man rotation.
There were several other hurlers with February birthdays that I considered, such as Sean Manaea, Nathan Eovaldi, Marco Gonzalez, Zach Davies, Adrian Houser, Graham Ashcraft, and Matthew Boyd. And as with Odor, Gregorius, and Voit, long time starting pitcher Aníbal Sánchez and reliever Tyler Clippard are currently free agents—though in their cases I'm not sure they will find spots on major league rosters by opening day.
Here are the players shown above in order by birthday:
February 1: CF/2B Jazz Chisholm Jr. (L)
February 4: SP George Kirby (R)
February 5: SP Nick Lodolo (L)
February 6: C Adley Rutschman (S)
February 7: RP J.P. Feyereisen (R)
February 8: RP Matt Bush (R)
February 10: RP Liam Hendricks (R)
February 10: RP Jorge López (R)
February 10: SP Brandon Woodruff (R)
February 10: SP Cal Quantrill (R)
February 10: RF Max Kepler (L)
February 10: C Travis d'Arnaud (R)
February 10: C Omar Narváez (L)
February 11: RP Gregory Soto (L)
February 11: SS Dansby Swanson (R)
February 14: SP Nick Pivetta (R)
February 15: SP Johnny Cueto (R)
February 15: OF/1B Mark Canha (R)
February 18: 1B/LF Ryan Mountcastle (R)
February 18: 3B/2B/1B Isaac Paredes (R)
February 20: SP Justin Verlander (R)
February 20: SP Luis Severino (R)
February 20: OF/INF Jurickson Profar (S)
February 22: SP Germán Márquez (R)
February 22: SP Chris Bassitt (R)
February 22: 2B/SS/LF Thairo Estrada (R)
February 24: INF Miguel Rojas (R)
February 25: RF/DH Jorge Soler (R)
February 26: 2B/3B/SS Luis Rengifo (S)
February 28: RP Aroldis Chapman (L)
February 28: LF Randy Arozarena (R)
All-Time February Birthdays Dream Team
What about an all-time February birthdays dream team? One could easily guess that Justin Verlander and Aroldis Chapman will make this roster, but what about anyone else from the above active players squad?
Most of the months’ all-time dream teams that I've written about so far had at least one position that really presented a challenge as to who should be the starter. In August the OF was loaded with Williams, Trout, Clemente, F. Robinson, and Yastrzemski. In September, it was 2B with Morgan, Lajoie, and Sandberg. In October, I had a tough choice to make in CF between Yankees legend Mickey Mantle and Negro Leagues legend Oscar Charleston. In November, CF was again tough with Ken Griffey Jr. or Joe DiMaggio. And then in December it was catcher with arguably the greatest AL/NL catcher ever in Johnny Bench and the legendary Negro Leagues slugger Josh Gibson (not to mention Hall of Famers Carlton Fisk and Gabby Hartnett as well).
But for February birthdays, I can’t say there was a close call position like that. The most loaded position is clearly RF, but since Babe Ruth played almost as many games in LF as he did RF, it was easy to shift him over. This meant Hank Aaron could be the clear starter, with two other Hall of Famers, Vladimir Guerrero and Sam Rice, as his backups. An interesting tidbit given their historical connection is that Hank Aaron (Feb 5th) and Babe Ruth (Feb 6th) were almost born on the same day of the year!
Consider again how each month, on average, should have one out of the top 12 position players (in this case, of all time). Well, I would say that February has more than its share, as many would say Ruth, Aaron, and Honus Wagner are all in the top-12.
On the other hand, like January with Darrell Porter and Walker Cooper, the catching trio of Russell Martin, Brian McCann, and Smoky Burgess is below average for these month-based all-time dream teams.
Some readers might not be familiar with Jud Wilson, but he was a standout corner-infielder in the Negro Leagues. According to the numbers at Baseball-Reference.com, he slashed .352/.436/.527 with a 155 OPS+, so even with limited data that seemed good enough to be included here as a reserve at 3B and 1B.
Starting lineups, against righties and lefties, might look like this:
Against RHP:
Billy Hamilton CF (L)
Honus Wagner SS (R)
Babe Ruth LF (L)
Hank Aaron RF (R)
Lance Berkman DH (S)
Eddie Murray 1B (S)
Ron Santo 3B (R)
Roberto Alomar 2B (S)
Brian McCann C (L)
Against LHP:
César Cedeño CF (R)
Honus Wagner SS (R)
Babe Ruth LF (L)
Hank Aaron RF (R)
Vladimir Guerrero DH (R)
Eddie Murray 1B (S)
Ron Santo 3B (R)
Joe Gordon 2B (R)
Russell Martin C (R)
There was a platoon option in CF, and I know some might prefer Fred Lynn be in that mix, but I wanted to leverage that position for some speed in the leadoff spot. So I went with the left-handed 19th century star Billy Hamilton and the right-handed César Cedeño. They, along with Honus Wagner batting second, would make nice table-setters for the power of Ruth and Aaron to follow.
For the DH spot I paired Lance Berkman who was a switch hitter but was more productive against RHPs, and Vladimir Guerrero who had pretty even splits, but generally hit LHPs a bit better. I saw a similar situation at second base where Roberto Alomar was a switch hitter but was somewhat better against RHPs, while fellow Hall of Famer Joe Gordon hit somewhat better against lefties.
Here are the position players in the depth chart above listed in order by birthday, with a few career stat highlights for each:
February 2: 2B Red Schoendienst (S) 44.5 WAR, .289/.337/.387, 94 OPS+
February 3: CF Fred Lynn (L) 50.2 WAR, 306 HR, .283/.360/.484, 129 OPS+
February 5: 2B Roberto Alomar (S) 67.0 WAR, 210 HR, 474 SB, .300/.371/.443, 116 OPS+
February 5: RF Hank Aaron (R) 143.0 WAR, 755 HR, 3,771 H, 624 D, 240 SB, .305/.374/.555, 155 OPS+
February 6: RF/LF/P Babe Ruth (L) 162.7 WAR (+20.4 WAR from pitching), 714 HR, .342/.474/.690, 206 OPS+
February 6: C/PH Smoky Burgess (L) 33.4 WAR, .295/.362/.446, 116 OPS+
February 9: RF/DH Vladimir Guerrero (R) 59.5 WAR, 449 HR, 181 SB, .318/.379/.553, 140 OPS+
February 10: 1B/LF/RF Lance Berkman (S) 51.9 WAR, 366 HR, .293/.406/.537, 144 OPS+
February 13: 3B Sal Bando (R) 61.5 WAR, 242 HR, .254/.352/.408, 119 OPS+
February 15: C Russell Martin (R) 38.8 WAR, 191 HR, .248/.349/.397, 101 OPS+
February 15: CF/LF Billy Hamilton (L) 63.2 WAR, 914 SB, .344/.455/.432, 141 OPS+
February 15: 3B Ron Cey (R) 53.8 WAR, 316 HR, .261/.354/.445, 121 OPS+
February 18: 2B Joe Gordon (R) 55.8 WAR, 253 HR, .268/.357/.466, 120 OPS+
February 20: C Brian McCann (L) 32.0 WAR, 282 HR, .262/.337/.452, 110 OPS+
February 20: RF/CF Sam Rice (L) 54.4 WAR, 2,987 H, 184 T, 351 SB, .322/.374/.427, 112 OPS+
February 21: SS Alan Trammell (R) 70.7 WAR, 185 HR, 236 SB, .285/.352/.415, 110 OPS+
February 24: SS Honus Wagner (R) 130.8 WAR, 3,420 H, 643 D, 252 T, 723 SB, .328/.391/.467, 151 OPS+
February 24: 1B Eddie Murray (S) 68.7 WAR, 504 HR, 3,255 H, .287/.359/.476, 129 OPS+
February 25: 3B Ron Santo (R) 70.5 WAR, 342 HR, .277/.362/.464, 125 OPS+
February 25: CF César Cedeño (R) 52.9 WAR, 199 HR, 550 SB, .285/.347/.443, 123 OPS+
February 25: LF Monte Irvin (R) 32.1 WAR, .305/.390/.490, 134 OPS+
February 28: 1B/3B Jud Wilson (L) 34.4 WAR, .352/.436/.527, 155 OPS+
Several other players deserve honorable mention, including: CF Chet Lemon, SS Roger Peckinpaugh, OF Jimmy Ryan, CF Lenny Dykstra, 3B Carney Lansford, RF Tommy Henrich, RF Paul O'Neill, CF Paul Blair, CF Andy Pafko, LF Alex Gordon, SS/3B Johnny Pesky, CF Dom DiMaggio, 3B Heinie Zimmerman, 3B Al Rosen, 3B Bobby Bonilla, LF Chick Hafey, C Elston Howard, LF Ben Oglivie, 1B/RF Vic Wertz, 1B John Kruk, 1B John Mayberry.
For starting pitchers, there were two clear frontrunners:
Pete Alexander, aka Grover Cleveland Alexander, led his league in wins six times (all with impressive win totals between 27 and 33), ERA five times, complete games five times, IP seven times, strikeouts six times, and WHIP five times. He posted a 28-13 record and 2.57 ERA in 1911, leading the NL with 367 IP, 31 CG, and 7 shoutouts.
Justin Verlander led his league in wins four times, ERA two times, complete games once, IP four times, strikeouts five times, and WHIP five times. He has been an All-Star nine times, was AL Rookie of the Year in 2006, was AL Cy Young and MVP award winner in 2011, won the AL Cy Young Award again in both 2019 and 2022, and was Cy Young runner-up in three other years.
You could argue for either of them for the top spot here, but I am going with Alexander for now. I say “for now” because Verlander is of course still going strong, even though he'll be turning 40 on his February 20th birthday this month.
Next up I decided to honor two great pitchers from the Negro Leagues that are now officially considered to be major leagues in terms of baseball's history, statistics, etc. First up, Ray Brown was both a pitcher and an outfielder across 14 seasons from 1931-33 and 1935-45. According the statistics available at baseball-reference.com, he led his league in wins seven times, ERA twice, complete games seven times, IP four times, and strikeouts three times. Next is Hilton Smith who pitched in one game in 1932 in the Negro Southern League, and then played semi-pro for several years before joining the Negro American League in his age 30 season in 1937. Pitching through 1948, he led that league in wins three times, ERA once, complete games twice, IP four times, and strikeouts four times.
After those four, there were numerous candidates to consider. Obviously Babe Ruth was an effective pitcher for several years before shifting to the outfield full-time, so I've included him at the end of the starting pitchers list. You could make a case for him as the fifth hurler in the five-man rotation here, but I think some others are also deserving. One is Hall of Famer Herb Pennock, who started his career with the Athletics and Red Sox, before having most of his best seasons for Ruth's powerhouse Yankees teams of the mid-to-late 1920s. He won 21 games in 1924, 23 in 1926, and 19 in two other seasons. Another candidate is Wilbur Cooper who pitched most of his 15-year career for the Pirates, including four 20+ win seasons in 1920-22 and 1924.
But for the fifth spot in this dream-team rotation I went with Wes Ferrell, who pitched for six teams over 15 years, but had his best for the Indians and Red Sox. He posted 20+ wins six times, during the 1929-32 and 1935-36 seasons, including 25-win campaigns in 1930 and 1935. Pitching during the high-offense 1930s, his career ERA ended up at 4.04. However, his ERA+ was 116, which is the same as Wilbur Cooper's 116 ERA+, even though he had a 2.89 career ERA pitching as he did during the deadball era. Ferrell was a workhorse, leading the league in complete games four times, and finishing 227 of his 323 starts overall. He didn't have great control, averaging 3.8 walks per nine IP, which was higher than his 3.4 career strikeouts per nine IP. He was, however, one of the best hitting pitchers in the history of baseball, often serving as a pinch-hitter in games when he wasn't pitching. Overall he hit 38 HR in 1,345 plate appearances, with a .280/.351/.446 slash line.
For one more starting pitcher spot I decided to include Johnny Cueto, who for 2023 will be with the Miami Marlins. His career has had its ups and downs, but has included solid seasons of 19-9 in 2012, 20-9 in 2014 (leading the NL with 242 strikeouts), and 18-5 in 2016.
You could make a case for Preacher Roe for that last spot, as he was an All-Star five times in his 12-year major league career, which mostly spanned the late 1940s and early 1950s. At the very least, he deserves honorable mention along with others including: John Tudor, Tex Hughson, Allie Reynolds, Burt Hooton, Earl Whitehill, Slim Sallee, Don Wilson, and Orval Overall.
Here are the starters I chose in order by birthday and with some numbers for each:
February 2: Wes Ferrell (R) 48.8 WAR (+11.3 WAR from hitting!), 193-128 W-L, 4.04 ERA, 116 ERA+, 4.16 FIP
February 10: Herb Pennock (L) 44.7 WAR, 241-162 W-L, 3.60 ERA, 106 ERA+, 3.36 FIP
February 15: Johnny Cueto (R) 38.7 WAR, 143-107 W-L, 3.44 ERA, 118 ERA+, 3.85 FIP
February 20: Justin Verlander (R) 78.1 WAR, 244-133 W-L, 3.24 ERA, 132 ERA+, 3.36 FIP, 3,198 SO
February 23: Ray Brown (R) 32.4 WAR, 121-45 W-L, 3.06 ERA, 147 ERA+, 2.19 FIP
February 24: Wilbur Cooper (L) 48.9 WAR, 216-178 W-L, 2.89 ERA, 116 ERA+, 3.13 FIP
February 26: Pete Alexander (R) 116.2 WAR, 373-208 W-L, 2.56 ERA, 135 ERA+, 2.82 FIP, 436 CG in 600 GS
February 27: Hilton Smith (R) 19.7 WAR, 70-39 W-L, 2.89 ERA, 142 ERA+, 1.74 FIP
For the bullpen, the styles of the first two couldn't be more different. Aroldis Chapman has been one of the hardest throwers in the history of the game, while Dan Quisenberry was arguably the greatest sub-mariner ever. Beyond those two, there were many candidates, and you could argue over how to rank them. I included six more, though others deserve honorable mention such as active relivers Liam Hendricks and Tyler Clippard, as well as Kazuhiro Sasaki, Takashi Saito, Al Worthington, Tim Burke, and Scott Williamson.
Again, here are the nine I included in order by birthday and with some numbers for each:
February 4: Dan Plesac (L) 158 SV, 3.64 ERA, 117 ERA+, 3.46 FIP
February 6: Bob Wickman (R) 267 SV, 3.57 ERA, 126 ERA+, 3.91 FIP
February 7: Roberto Osuna (R) 155 SV, 2.74 ERA, 159 ERA+, 2.76 FIP
February 7: Dan Quisenberry (R) 244 SV, 2.76 ERA, 146 ERA+, 3.24 FIP
February 15: Ugueth Urbina (R) 237 SV, 3.45 ERA, 128 ERA+, 3.70 FIP
February 20: Roy Face (R) 191 SV, 3.48 ERA, 109 ERA+, 3.38 FIP
February 22: J.J. Putz (R) 189 SV, 3.08 ERA, 138 ERA+, 3.21 FIP
February 28: Aroldis Chapman (L) 315 SV, 2.48 ERA, 167 ERA+, 2.34 FIP, 1,045 K in 640 IP
Compare this roster with those of the other months I have done so far: July, August, September, October, November, December, and January.
All data is from Baseball-Reference.com, and also their subscription service Stathead.com. If you are a big sports fan, be sure to check out the latest features at Stathead and the Sports Reference family of sites.
Did you know? I wrote a book with the same title as this Substack newsletter / blog: Now Taking the Field: Baseball’s All-Time Dream Teams for All 30 Franchises. It was published in early 2019, by ACTA Sports, the publisher of the annual Bill James Handbook and other popular titles. You can learn more about it at www.NowTakingTheField.com, or buy directly at Amazon and other booksellers.
