Our annual July-to-June All-Stars,
It’s always a fun debate when the AllStar Game rolls around and it’s time to select the starters. Arguments for and against the candidates can be hard-hitting and go in all directions, much like the baseballs at the Home Run Derby.
As fantasy owners, it all comes down to the numbers. Since the first three months of this season don’t quite give us a large enough statistical sample, we prefer to cast our votes for the players who have proved themselves over a full season’s worth of games.
So with the help of BaseballHQ.com, let’s look at the best players at each position over the second half of last season and the first half of this one — from July 1, 2015, to June 30, 2016 — to determine which ones truly deserve to be called All-Stars. (Our picks for AL and NL starters are in bold. Players eligible at multiple positions are listed at the one they played most frequently.)
CATCHER
The two best catchers in the game play in the National League. While Jonathan Lucroy has been very good over the past full season, Buster Posey has been a little bit better.
Posey leads all catchers in batting average (.311), runs scored (79) and RBI (80) over that span, with Lucroy as the overall runner-up in the first two categories (.294, 75 runs) and not that far behind in RBI (67). It’s no wonder the Brewers are fielding offers for him; Lucroy would be a definite upgrade for any playoff contender.
In the American League, Brian McCann and Evan Gattis are tied for first among all catchers with 26 home runs. McCann also is one RBI behind Posey, with Gattis six off the pace.
But when batting average is factored in, McCann (.214) and Gattis (.242) are blown away by Salvador Perez’s .269 mark. Perez is close enough to the group in all the other counting categories (20 homers, 56 runs, 73 RBI) to get the overall nod.
FIRST BASE
Miguel Cabrera’s reign as the AL’s best first baseman has ended. Although Miggy leads everyone with a .306 average over the past full season, his power can’t compare to Edwin Encarnacion’s.
The Toronto Blue Jays slugger has hit 44 homers and racked up an astounding 134 RBI since last July. A compelling case can be made for the Baltimore Orioles’ Chris Davis, who leads all first basemen in home runs with 48 and runs scored with 116, but Encarnacion’s 21-point lead in batting average (.285 to .264) gives him the edge.
Although he hasn’t played a game at first base in 2016, David Ortiz deserves to be mentioned. The Boston Red Sox designated hitter has been in a class by himself anyway. As he concludes his final season in the majors, Big Papi has been one of the best hitters regardless of position with 42 home runs and a major league-leading 135 RBI over the past full season.
There’s a three-way battle for NL superiority with no clear-cut winner. In this case, the counting stats put up by Anthony
Rizzo since last July give him the edge over Paul Goldschmidt and Joey Votto.
Rizzo’s 35 homers and 115 RBI lead the league, and his 98 runs are one behind Votto. Where the others have an advantage on Rizzo is in batting average, but it’s just not enough to outweigh the power numbers, which most fantasy owners count on their first baseman to supply.
SECOND BASE
It’s almost impossible to choose between
Jose Altuve and Robinson Cano because they have such different skill sets. Altuve has the clear advantage in the position’s traditional stats. No one in either league comes within 25 points of his .343 batting average, and the closest AL challenger to his 38 stolen bases is Ian Kinsler … with 12.
On the other hand, Cano’s power makes him look more like a corner infielder than a second baseman. Over the past full season, he hit .318 and led all second basemen with 36 home runs and 109 RBI.
Altuve has a 110-109 advantage in runs scored, but his newfound power (14 of his 21 home runs have come in 2016’s first half ) gets him close enough to Cano to give him a slight overall edge.
In the NL, Daniel Murphy has no such competition. He has hit for average (.315) and power (24 homers, 97 RBI), something no one else in the league has done as successfully. Surprisingly, D.J. LeMahieu of the Colorado Rockies has been the league’s second-best second baseman with a .313 average, 93 runs and 20 steals.
SHORTSTOP
What a difference a year makes. Last season, the top shortstops were Jose Reyes and Jhonny Peralta. Now, the position is dominated by budding young stars, especially in the American League.
Reigning AL rookie of the year Carlos Correa leads the pack with 30 home runs and 102 RBI. Francisco Lindor ranks among the position’s top four in all five fantasy categories. Yet neither has been as valuable to fantasy owners as Boston’s Xander Bogaerts.
Over the past calendar year, Bogaerts is tied with Altuve for the highest batting average among all major leaguers. (Technically, his .3429 is a fraction lower than Altuve’s .3434.) He leads all shortstops with 110 runs scored and is second to Correa with 98 RBI. Bogaerts’ power is developing, but it’s trending in the right direction with nine of his 13 homers coming in 2016.
If Corey Seager had been called up from the minors any earlier last season, he might have been the front-runner in the National League. He has a league-leading .308 batting average to go with 21 home runs. However, it’s not enough to push him past Jean
Segura, who paces all NL shortstops with 77 runs scored and is second with 28 stolen bases.
Segura hit a combined .288 over the second half of 2015 with the Milwaukee Brewers and the first half of 2016 with the Arizona Diamondbacks — and he has a slight edge over Seager in RBI (63-57).
THIRD BASE
In terms of top-to-bottom talent, third base might be the deepest position in the majors. Josh Donaldson might be having an even better season statistically than he did when he won last year’s AL MVP Award. Over the past full season, no third baseman has hit more home runs (42), driven in more runs (127) or scored more times (130) than Donaldson.
This marks the third consecutive season that Donaldson has ruled the position, but he had to fend off a stiff challenge from Manny Machado of the Orioles. Machado has a slightly higher batting average (.299) and ranks in the position’s top six in all five fantasy categories, but it’s just not enough