Hey Now

All-star voting has begun, and various Red Sox players have various vote totals*. Let’s take a few minutes to consider the case for them by position.

*I was trying to come up with an evergreen statement on the vote status. This might have gone too far. I could be talking about Brayan Bello, or Walt Dropo, for all you can tell.

Catcher: Christian Vazquez. Deserve? No.

This whole exercise germinated in my head from hearing Dave O’Brien say the other day that Christian Vazquez needs to be seriously considered as a starter for the AL All-Star team. Look, I know not to take seriously the local team broadcasters’ opinions on ASG starter viability, and I certainly know not to take the evaluation of O’Brien seriously. But hey, Vazquez has been hitting well lately, and catcher is not much of an offensive powerhouse position to begin with, so let’s check it out.

When I do that… Well, Vazquez is no better than the 3rd best catcher in 2022 in the AL East alone. Alejandro Kirk is combining Salvy Perez-ish defense with 10 HR and 10 doubles in his first full season in MLB, at age 23. Jose Trevino is the classic “didn’t do much elsewhere, mashing in his first year with the Yankees” candidate, carrying a 122 OPS+ and defending well. And the Adley Rutschman Era in Baltimore has started well enough – though due to a late start he’s only played about a month’s worth of games. Vazquez would slot in above Rutschman in All-Star worthiness, but this might be the last season in which that’s true. Looking outside the division the Mariners’ Cal Raleigh, the Rangers’ Jonah Heim, and KC’s Perez are the best of the bunch, and all arguably doing better than Vazquez this year.

First Base: Bobby Dalbec. Deserve? HEEEEEEELLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL NO

We all know Vlad Jr. will win the starting role, but does he deserve it? Well, yeah, of course he does; he’s already a legend. You can absolutely make the case instead for the AL Central duo of Luis Arraez, who’s not strictly a 1B but has been handling it often enough to merit consideration there, and Jose Abreu who is absolutely a 1B. You can make a stronger case for Ty France, who has 24 XBH and a yes-this-is-a-skill 14 HBP to date. And you can make a “reputation + team” case for Anthony Rizzo, who would have Vlad Jr. status if he weren’t in the same league as Vlad Jr. Honorable mention goes to Ji-Man Choi, who is mashing the ball at Rizzo/Abreu levels. When Boston faces Tampa in the next few weeks he’s the batter I worry about more than you’d probably think I should, but I’m right to think that way.

I realize I’ve been avoiding mentioning Dalbec in this writeup. He doesn’t even deserve mention. He is probably the least qualified potential All-Star among Boston’s regulars. Franchy Cordero deserves an All-Star berth at 1B more than Dalbec, and Franchy might only deserve to go to the All-Star Game with a ticket. If Dalbec has a ticket he deserves to have it taken away.

Second Base: Trevor Story. Deserve? Maybe

Story had a dreadful start to the season but has been making up for lost opportunity since then. Maybe he’ll be the most deserving candidate by the time voting closes. But there are three reasons he doesn’t deserve it right now. Those reasons are Gleyber Torres, Jose Altuve, and Andres Gimenez. Altuve is the better hitter with the better hitting reputation, and though his defense is slipping a bit (at 32 he is an old man for 2B now) the ASG is not a defensive game. Torres continues to get Jon Sterling to say whatever it is he says when he thinks Torres has hit a home run, but definitely in the same tier on offense AND with great defense is Gimenez. Like, whatever we think Story is supposed to be, in 2022 Gimenez has already been. The answer for Story right now is no, but it’s not out of the question that he’d earn the spot soon.

Third Base: Rafael Devers. Deserve? YES

He’s basically been 2022 Mike Trout but at 3B. The only thing that would work against Devers is he’s in the same league as Jose Ramirez. Everyone else is as far back of these two as any other AL team is back of the Yankees right now. They will both make the team, and they will both deserve it.

Shortstop: Xander Bogaerts. Deserve? YES

Again, I’ll say it: the ASG is a hitter’s event, not a fielder’s event. You have to be otherworldly at defense to merit ASG selection, at a premium non-catcher defensive position. And I’ll be willing to admit that many SS have had good defensive seasons, Jorge Mateo in Baltimore being a great example. And someone from Baltimore has to make the team. But nobody from Baltimore is required to be the starter.
If you look at the hitters, you have a bunch of SS all hitting around the same: Corey Seager for the Rangers, Tim Anderson of the White Sox, Carlos Correa of the Twins, J.P. Crawford from Seattle, and the Astros’ Jeremy Pena. There’s one shortstop who is clearly out-hitting all of them: Bogaerts. If he doesn’t start, meh, there are a lot of good candidates at the position. If he doesn’t make the team it’s a travesty. (Note: he is not currently in the top 2 in voting. He’s behind at least Anderson and he-of-the-726-OPS Bo Bichette.)

Left Field: Alex Verdugo. Deserve? No

First of all, just no. Like, you can make a stronger case for Joey Gallo, and Joey Gallo does not deserve to be on the team. So let’s just set them aside and focus on the players who deserve it. And, really, there’s one left fielder who deserves it: Austin Hays. There is your Designated Baltimore Oriole. A strong case could be made for backup roles with old friend Andrew Benintendi, who at age 27 is finally returning to the form we’d hoped from him a few years ago. The Guardians’ Steven Kwan would be another fine choice, and honorable mention goes to… y’know what? No honorable mentions. The rest of the outfield reserve roles will likely go to CF and RF, and they’ll deserve it more. But if we were to give honorable mentions there’d still be like a dozen people to name before we get to Verdugo.

Center Field: Kike Hernandez. Deserve? NO

Y’all are aware of Mike Trout. He still exists. But here’s a wrinkle: Aaron Judge has played more games (36) and more defensive innings (311) in CF than he has RF (35 and 226.2, respectively) this year. If we’re going to decide who’s in what position based on where they’ve played the most, Judge is a CF. And Judge is the only other outfielder in the AL who is hitting like Trout. The ballot does not distinguish among outfield positions anyway (which might mean trouble for Austin Hays after all) but if we’re going to make the artificial distinction of merit by position, both Trout and Judge absolutely deserve it. Byron Buxton will be one of those guys who deserves a slot over your various left fielders, and he might not even make it – George Springer is currently 3rd in outfield voting, and he’s hitting around the same as Hays, with many other outfielders hitting better.

Hernandez deserves mention, but not for an All-Star role. Give me a minute, and maybe I’ll come up with something**.

**I didn’t come up with anything. Jarren Duran is worth mentioning. That’s all I have.

Right Field: Jackie Bradley, Jr. Deserve? HAHAHAHAHAhaha… oh, wait, you were serious? NO

By position, this is Kyle Tucker’s spot. Remember how I’ve been saying it’s about the offense and not the defense? Well, Tucker is second to the Angels’ Taylor Ward in hitting for RF. Tucker is hitting well but Ward’s OPS is 100 points higher. But that’s, like, half a win of offense? Tucker is like a win and a half better on defense. If we were selecting based on position and needed two RF then you just take both of these guys and be done with it. But Tucker is above average at everything you want from a RF, and in a game that will be focused on hitting and pitching a solid defensive RF – considerably more solid than Ward has been – is an entertaining addition. I’d say give it to him.

The next tier down has Max Kepler and Manuel Margot, and then if you ignore defense entirely you also get Giancarlo Stanton, Anthony Santander, and Andrew Vaughn (who is on the ballot as a DH). You get a few more tiers, then 50 feet of crap, and then there’s JBJ.

Designated Hitter: J.D. Martinez. Deserve? Well…

JDM is good. He’s really good. But, honestly, Yordan Alvarez has been a LOT better. From a WAR view he’s been worth two of JDM. So, yeah, Alvarez deserves the start. Except… There’s this other guy. An occasional pitcher. There’s no world in which Shohei Ohtani doesn’t deserve this spot, even if someone else does. And, like, they’re not going to carry 3 designated hitters. I think the answer on Martinez is no.

Pitcher: several. Deserve? Yes for either Pivetta or Wacha.

On the pitching side I think you could make the argument for both Pivetta and Wacha. There are 13 pitchers with 2+ WAR so far (including Ohtani, just on pitching alone) and they both clear that bar. However, they will draw a few actual relievers onto the team, and Clay Holmes and Jorge Lopez are the only relievers among those 13. I think at best one of the two Boston starters makes the team. Schreiber is the Boston reliever with the best argument, but there are so many relievers out there having a year at least that good that it’s hard to argue his selection.