Our National League All Star Ballot Hasn't Changed Much Since May

by Julian Spivey
Last month I made my selections for the MLB All Star starters before the ballots were released on MLB.com. Then I used an array of statistical categories to make my choices.

​Now that the All Star ballot is available for voting on MLB.com I’ve made my second selections, this time using merely the four statistical categories offered on the online ballot (average, home runs, RBI and OPS).

MLB All Star balloting is done in two sections. All eligible candidates are on the ballot from June 5-27. The top two players from that first round then square off for the All Star starting job from June 30-July 3.

Here are my current selections for National League starters:

*any stats used in this article are as of June 21. 

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Catcher
There are a few catchers in the National League worthy of making the All Star Game this summer: Patrick Bailey (San Francisco Giants) and Will Smith (Los Angeles Dodgers). How is Smith not currently in the top 2 in voting, by the way? But the guy who has been the runaway best catcher all season has been William Contreras of the Milwaukee Brewers. Contreras is hitting .298 with nine home runs, 49 RBI and a .809 OPS.

First Base
The Philadelphia Phillies have been the best team in the National League virtually all season and a big reason for that is their star first baseman Bryce Harper. Harper’s transition from the outfield to first base in hopes of cutting down injuries has been a smooth one. He’s hitting .285 this season with 17 homers, 48 RBI and a .928 OPS. He should be the easy choice to start at first for the N.L. All Star team.

Second Base
There haven’t been as many changes to my National League All Star starters in the month since I did this last as there were with my previously published American League lineup. My second baseman is still Arizona Diamondbacks two-bagger Ketel Marte, who surprisingly has only been an All Star once before. Marte is hitting .280 with 15 homers, 42 RBI and a .848 OPS. Martel is currently second in the voting to Luis Arraez of the San Diego Padres despite having much better numbers in three of the four categories on the online ballot.

Third Base
The 27-year-old Philadelphia Phillies third baseman Alec Bohm is looking to make his first All Star Game and should be the starter for the N.L. Bohm is hitting .301 this season with seven homers, 60 RBI and a .829 OPS. He’s the current vote-getter over some guys with bigger name recognition like Manny Machado.

Shortstop
Los Angeles Dodgers shortstop Mookie Betts was my choice last month and would’ve still been my choice this month had he not fractured his hand due to a hit by pitch this past week. He’s going to miss the All Star Game due to the injury so I figured I’d give my vote to a guy with a chance to play. That pick goes to Trea Turner of the Philadelphia Phillies. Turner is hitting .344 with three home runs, 12 RBI and a .859 OPS. This may be controversial because he’s only played in about half of the games thus far this season due to injury but there just wasn’t a clear favorite after Betts. Some of the other contenders (Elly De La Cruz, Oneil Cruz, Willy Adames) are hitting too low to get my vote at the moment.

Outfield
The National League outfield doesn’t look nearly as scary as the American League one led by New York Yankees duo Aaron Judge and Juan Soto. A couple of my choices from last month have been retained in San Diego Padres outfielder Jurickson Profar, who’s potentially been the biggest surprise in baseball this season hitting .320, currently second in the N.L., with 10 home runs, 48 RBI and an .898 OPS. Teoscar Hernandez of the Los Angeles Dodgers is back on my ballot with a .258 average, 18 homers, 58 RBI and an .823 OPS. Chicago Cubs outfielder Cody Bellinger who made my cut in May has been replaced by former N.L. M.V.P. and inner-division rival Christian Yelich of the Milwaukee Brewers. Yelich is hitting .324 with seven home runs, 34 RBI and a .902 OPS.

Designated Hitter
The best fight for All Star Game starting positions in the National League all season has been at designated hitter between Los Angeles Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani and Atlanta Braves DH Marcell Ozuna. If the season ended right now they’d potentially be 1-2 in the M.V.P. voting. Their offensive numbers are nearly identical this season. Ohtani is hitting .322 with a league-leading 22 home runs, 55 RBI and a 1.026 OPS. Ozuna is hitting .311 with 20 homers, 63 RBI and a .977 OPS. If I had written this article last week when Ozuna was briefly leading the N.L. in all three Triple Crown categories he would’ve been my choice. Currently, Ohtani is leading in three of the four online ballot categories and thus has my vote. Let’s face it, Ohtani will win the popular vote no matter what. Ozuna will have to settle for making the midsummer classic as a reserve.