CBSSports.com columnist: Miguel Montero among baseball’s ‘Anti-All-Stars’

On July 12, 2011, Miguel Montero played in his first career All-Star Game in front of the hometown fans at Chase Field.

Two years later, the Arizona Diamondbacks catcher is a far cry from being a National League representative in the Midsummer Classic.

Through the first 93 games of 2013, Montero is hitting 50 points below his career average (.268) and has just six home runs and 31 RBI. Throw in the fact he’s been the primary battery mate for a rotation with only one winning pitcher (Patrick Corbin) and a bullpen with an MLB-high 19 blown saves, and it’s safe to say the 30-year-old hasn’t performed at a very high level.

Montero’s poor first half was highlighted Friday by CBSSports.com MLB columnist Scott Miller, who named the D-backs catcher to his Anti-All-Stars team with the likes of Ryan Howard, Dan Uggla, Alex Rodriguez, Josh Hamilton and B.J. Upton.

Barely a year into his five-year, $60 million deal, Montero has fallen as swiftly as Paula Deen into a vat of butter. His .318 slugging percentage is the worst in the majors among catchers with enough at-bats to qualify for the batting title. Snakebitten, indeed.

While his inclusion on Miller’s team of disappointments isn’t all that surprising, the Venezuelan’s season-long slump is. In 2012, Montero set career-highs in games played (141), RBI (88), on-base percentage (.391) and on-base plus slugging percentage (.829).