2018 National League All-Star Ballot

Phil Gurnee ♦ July 5, 2018 ♦ Leave a comment

Final day for voting so time to get my ballot in.  At some point I want to write in Max Muncy, and in my mind, I can do that either at 3rd base where he started the season, 1st base where he started tearing up the baseball world, or 2nd base which appears to be his position for the rest of 2018.  This might be hard to do though, as legit all-stars can be found for each of those positions.

1st Base –  I’m going with Freddie Freeman here, who is leading the upstart Braves to possible major upset in the National League East. Paul Goldschmidt can match Freddie in stats but it took so long for him to get going. Max could go here, but I’m going with Freddie.

2nd Base – Ozzie Albies and Scooter Gennett are having outstanding years, but I need to a spot to write in Max Muncy and since he is a 2nd baseman going forward, I’m going to write in Max Muncy as my 2nd baseman. This isn’t being gratuitous as Max has a 183 wRC+ while Scooter sits at a still impressive but much lower wRC+ of 140. Just for fun Max Muncy as a 2nd baseman has a wRC+ of 296. 296

Shortstop – I would have thought a Dodger Shortstop would have been the way to go on April 1st, and strangely that might still hold true, it just isn’t the name you thought it would be.  Chris Taylor has the 3rd highest wRC+ at 126 and is close enough to Brandon Crawford at 133 that it would not be laughable to pick Chris Taylor here.  That said, I’m going with Brandon Crawford.

3rd Base – Nolan Arenado would appear to be the pick but………. Eugenio Suarez has the higher wRC+ and if it is close I like to go with the guy who could use a vote so Eugenio Suarez it is.

Catcher – Marlins get their lone All-Star representative with J.T. Realmuto. He is the best catcher in the NL.

Outfield – This is a tough one.  The two best outfielders by metrics right now are Juan Soto and AJ Pollock but neither have at least 200 plate appearances.  So there we are with Matt Kemp being the 2nd best  NL outfielder in wRC+ with at least 200 plate appearances at 146.  Joc Pederson is right behind him with a wRC+ of 140 but in only 236 plate appearances.  Given that Joc is just about a pure platoon player I can’t put him on the all-star team as an All-Star for me, has to be full-time player.  Matt Kemp is going to get one of my votes. Man, Harper is having a poor season for him. Nick Markakis and Brandon Nimmo are good candidates.  Markakis is having a career season and Nimmo has become the best player on a poor Met team. That does not sound like an all-star outfield. Matt Kemp, Nick Markakis, and Brandon Nimmo.