Casting my ballot for the MLB All-Star Game
There was a time when people took the All-Star Game seriously. There was a time when players played to win and league presidents gloated when their side prevailed.
There are no more league presidents and if there were they probably wouldn’t be gloating about the All-Star Game. There’s still plenty of glitz and glamor when the sport’s best gather inside a single stadium in mid-season, but the game itself has become nothing more than a glorified exhibition.
The most exciting part is going on right now. The most exciting part is watching the fans choose the starting lineups. They do it by ballot and, like all elections, this one has consequences — bragging rights for some team’s publicity departments and serious money for players with an All-Star bonus in their contracts.
Today, as I cast my ballot, let me caution you that the statistics cited are up to date as of Tuesday, but do not include games played on Wednesday.
AMERICAN LEAGUE
Let’s do the easy parts first. Salvador Perez of the Royals is the catcher, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. of the Blue Jays is the first baseman, Rafael Devers of the Red Sox is the third baseman and Shohei Ohtani of the Angels is the designated hitter. There are other quality players at these positions but there is no case to be made for any of them to start the All-Star Game.
The selections are tougher at the other positions.
I see second base as practically a dead heat between Jose Altuve of the Astros and Marcus Semien of the Blue Jays. Semien gets my vote because I regard him as a superior fielder.
Xander Bogaerts of the Red Sox, Carlos Correa of the Astros and Bo Bichette of the Blue Jays are all serious contenders at shortstop. Bogaerts holds a substantial
lead in the voting, but I disagree. Bichette has scored 60 runs and driven in 47. Numbers like that in less than half a season will get my attention every time. He’s my choice.
The voters’ selections in the AL outfield leave me puzzled. Mike Trout of the Angels is in the lead, followed by Aaron Judge of the Yankees and Byron Buxton of the Twins. I agree that Trout and Buxton are allstars when they’re healthy, but neither is healthy now and neither has been healthy for a long time. Both have missed more than half their team’s games this year.
Meanwhile, two very deserving players seem to be ignored. Michael Brantley of the Astros is batting .350 with 21 doubles and Cedric Mullins of the Orioles has 86 hits, which ranks second in the AL. Mullens’ .917 OPS is second best among AL outfielders, trailing only Brantley. I agree that Judge deserves to start the game but my other two votes go to Brantley and Mullins.
NATIONAL LEAGUE
Again, we’ll begin with the easy selections. Fernando Tatis Jr. of the Padres is the shortstop, Buster Posey of the Giants is the catcher and Ronald Acuna of the Braves is one of the outfielders. There’s no serious competition at any of those positions. But there’s plenty of competition elsewhere.
Start with first base. If you believe in the WAR (wins above replacement) calculation you have to support
Max Muncy of the Dodgers, whose WAR rating (3.4) is the highest among NL position players. But if you like more traditional statistics, you have to give equal consideration to Freddie Freeman of the Braves, who has 16 homers, 47 runs scored and 40 RBIs, all numbers that are higher than the ones next to Muncy’s name. I regard both of them as elite players, but my vote goes to Freeman.
By the way, there is no spot on the ballot for NL designated hitter, but if there were Muncy would be choice for that distinction.
Ozzie Albies of the Braves leads the fan voting at second base with Adam Frazier of the Pirates a distant second. Albies is a worthy choice but I think Frazier’s .322 batting average tips the scales in his direction. Moreover he has a 26/34 walk/strikeout ratio and has scored 42 runs for a team that isn’t blessed with a lot of RBI bats in the lineup.
Third base is the toughest call of all. Cases could be made for Kris Bryant of the Cubs, Justin Turner of the Dodgers, Austin Riley of the Braves, Nolan Arenado of the Cardinals and Manny Machado of the Padres. I wouldn’t consider any of these to be wrong choices, but I can vote for only one. Since I consider Arenado the best fielder among this group he gets my nod.
The NL’s leading hitter is right fielder Nick Castellanos of the Reds, a journeyman who seems to be fashioning his career year. The second leading hitter is his teammate, left fielder Jesse Winker, a 27-year-old who is getting a chance to play regularly for the first time and is making the most of it. In a year when batting averages are down all over baseball, Castellanos is hitting .340 and Winker .333 and both have solid power numbers. The voters appear to have noticed. The latest tally had them second and third, respectively, among NL outfielders. I agree.
So, here’s one man’s AllStar ballot:
Salvador Perez, Royals Catcher Buster Posey, Giants
Vladimir Guerrero, Jr., Blue Jays First Base Freddie Freeman, Braves
Marcus Semien, Blue Jays Second Base Adam Frazier, Pirates
Bo Bichette, Blue Jays Shortstop Fernando Tatis, Jr. Padres
Rafael Devers, Red Sox Third Base Nolan Arenado, Cardinals
Aaron Judge, Yankees Outfield Ronald Acuna, Braves
Michael Brantley, Astros Outfield Nick Castellanos, Reds
Cedric Mullins, Orioles Outfield Jesse Winker, Reds
Shohei Ohtani, Angels Designated Hitter n/a
•••
I wonder how many Thunder fans remember the Labor Day game that concluded the 2016 season. The visiting Reading Phillies won that contest when Rhys Hoskins hit his 38th homer of the season in the 10th inning.
Hoskins is now established as the Philadelphia Phillies first baseman, but on the 2016 Reading Phillies he played in the shadow of a more celebrated teammate. Outfielder Dylan Cozens hit 40 homers and 38 doubles. Cozens was an amazing athlete, a husky 6-foot-6 slugger who could run like a deer. He stole 21 bases that season on 22 attempts.
But he was a left-handed batter who struggled against left-handed pitching. That’s not a fatal flaw in the minor leagues but it is in the majors. That’s why Cozens’ major league career consisted of only 27 games and a .154 batting average. This week he announced his intention to give up baseball and try to play in the National Football League.
He’s serious. Why shouldn’t he be with his size and speed?