My NL All-Star Ballot

As promised, here is my NL All-Star Ballot. If you read my AL All-Star Ballot post, you know I tend to favor hitting for my All-Star selections, so there shouldn't be too many surprises here.

First Base- This one was easy, Joey Votto. He's hitting .349, no other first baseman is even hitting over .300 right now. He's also 1st in slugging (.636), 1st in on base percentage (.474, and no one else is over .362), 2nd in home runs, 2nd in RBIs, and the leader in walks. He is 8th in fielding percentage, which isn't great obviously, but he's a monster at the plate, so that earns my vote.

Second Base- After scouring the stats, I ended up going with Jose Altuve. I honestly have no idea who is actually going to be selected, but Altuve made the most sense to me. He's hitting .309, has 12 stolen bases (both of which are tops for the position), and he's 3rd in on base percentage and slugging percentage. His fielding stats aren't great, he's 11th in terms of fielding percentage with 8 errors, but he's also had the 4th most total chances. Again, no clue who is going to start at second for the NL, but I voted for Altuve.

Shortstop- Oh if only Starlin Castro cared about his defense. That guy could be the future of the Cubs infield, but he just commits too many errors, especially for a shortstop. I went with Rafael Furcal on my ballot. Yes he's 3rd in average, but he doesn't strike out much (only 36 K's in 297 at bats), he's second in on base percentage, and 4th in RBIs. What really set him apart for me is his defensive stats. Fielding percentage he's 2nd, but Willie Bloomquist, the leader, has played 20 fewer games.

Third Base-David Wright made this one easy. He's hitting .361, no other 3B is over .285, he leads in RBIs, on base percentage, slugging percentage, and he's tied for fourth in home runs. Easy choice. Didn't even have to look at fielding stats for this one.

Right Field-This one ended up being easier than I thought it would. Andre Ethier had my vote up until about 2 weeks ago when the Dodgers decided to stop hitting. Then I looked at the actual season stats, and Carlos Beltran basically jumped off the screen. Only left fielder hitting over .300, .312 to be exact, he's got 20 home runs, and he leads in on base percentage and slugging percentage. He deserves the nod, and I don't think I ever expected myself to write that about him. 


Center Field- Why Matt Kemp? Why do you have to be hurt again? Kemp is in my opinion one of the top 3 or 4 players in the entire game right now. There is nothing he can't do, except stay healthy I guess. I went with Andrew McCutchen. Tops in average, on base, slugging percentage, home runs, RBIs, and doubles. Need I say more?


Left Field-I know Ryan Braun is probably going to end up getting the nod. But I still believe he took PEDs, so I'll never consider him for anything ever again. He's a cheater in my mind, and cheater's do not deserve to be celebrated. As much as I hate the Giants, I had to go with Melky Cabrera. He's hitting .355, his on base percentage is .398, which are both tops in the league. Also, consider that he's hitting that well playing in a pitcher's park a lot of the time. He also doesn't strike out much, so he got my vote. (Again, I feel like I'm going to puke.)


Catcher-Earlier in the month AJ Ellis would have been a no brainer for me. Now, not so much. But the choice was easy. Carlos Ruiz. He's hitting .362, and his OPS is 1.017. I don't really think I need to say much else. 


Starting Pitcher-How do you not go with RA Dickey? He's 11-1 with a 2.31 ERA and a 0.91 WHIP. All best in the league. This one was easy.


Write In-I didn't want to do it, but I had to. Bryce Harper. The kid is amazingly talented, he's a future star, and he deserves to go to the All-Star Game this year. I don't like the kid's attitude, or his approach to the media, although to be fair, that WAS a clown question, bro. At some point I think he'll mature, and then maybe I'll have a little more respect for him. But for now, I don't like the guy. But I did vote for him.


So there you have it folks, both of my All-Star Ballots. Will be interesting to see how many I get wrong, wouldn't be surprised if that's around the 50% mark to be honest. But again, I vote for the players I think deserve to go, not my favorites. If I did that, I'd only vote for Red Sox and Dodgers. 


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