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MLB All-Star Game 2013: Who Should Be The Starters?

By Ben Beecken

Jun 30, 2013; Boston, MA, USA; Boston Red Sox center fielder Jacoby Ellsbury (2) bats during the first inning against the Toronto Blue Jays at Fenway Park. Mandatory Credit: Bob DeChiara-USA TODAY Sports
Jun 30, 2013; Boston, MA, USA; Boston Red Sox center fielder Jacoby Ellsbury (2) bats during the first inning against the Toronto Blue Jays at Fenway Park. Mandatory Credit: Bob DeChiara-USA TODAY Sports /
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Jul 4, 2013; Washington, DC, USA; Milwaukee Brewers outfielder Carlos Gomez (27) slides in to home plate to score a run in the sixth inning against the Washington Nationals at Nationals Park. Mandatory Credit: Evan Habeeb-USA TODAY Sports
Jul 4, 2013; Washington, DC, USA; Milwaukee Brewers outfielder Carlos Gomez (27) slides in to home plate to score a run in the sixth inning against the Washington Nationals at Nationals Park. Mandatory Credit: Evan Habeeb-USA TODAY Sports /

National League

Catcher – Yadier Molina, St. Louis Cardinals

My Pick: Molina

Realistically, this is a toss-up. Posey has come on strong and his overall offensive line has a slight edge on Molina, but the gap on defense is much greater. Molina is the best defensive backstop in the game, and his stellar defense is only buoyed by his very good .346/.388/.490 batting line, which includes the highest batting average in the N.L.

First Base – Joey Votto, Cincinnati Reds

My Pick: Paul Goldschmidt, Arizona Diamondbacks

Another toss-up. I like Goldschmidt (.310/.389/.563 with 21 home runs and 8 steals in 9 tries) over Votto (.320/.430/.509, 15 home runs), even with Votto’s insane league-leading on-base percentage. Goldschmidt’s slight power edge and slightly superior defense give him the edge.

Second Base – Brandon Phillips, Cincinnati Reds

My Pick: Matt Carpenter, St. Louis Cardinals

Phillips simply hasn’t been all that good in 2013, hitting just .265/.317/.415 with slightly above-average defense. Carpenter, on the other hand, has put up a very impressive and certainly superior .316/.390/.487 batting line while playing defense essentially as well as Phillips. This might be the first clear-cut case of a “household name” beating out a lesser known but more deserving player in 2013.

Third Base – David Wright, New York Mets

My Pick: Wright

Wright continues to be impressive in his age-30 season, and so far is putting up better all-around numbers than he did in 2012. His .306/.394/.519 line  hasn’t had much competition at his position in the National League, while the hot corner is absolutely chock-full of all-star-level talent in the A.L.

Shortstop – Troy Tulowitzki, Colorado Rockies

My Pick: Tulowitzki

This is another pick where there would be another worthy selection in Milwaukee’s Jean Segura. Tulowitzki, however, was crushing the ball (.347/.413/.635 with 16 home runs) prior to a rib injury sidelined him nearly a month ago. Hard to pick against a 1.048 OPS and above-average defense, though.

Outfield – Carlos Beltran, St. Louis Cardinals; Carlos Gonzalez, Colorado Rockies; Bryce Harper, Washington Nationals

My Picks: Gonzalez; Carlos Gomez, Milwaukee Brewers; Andrew McCutchen , Pittsburgh Pirates

The fans screwed this one up pretty badly. Obviously, we all want to see Harper play, but he’s struggled mightily in the middle part of the season, missing a few weeks that were sandwiched by some poor games at the plate. He’s nearly worthy, but his defensive slippage and major slumps hurt his case. Beltran is a similar story, as he’s struggled defensively in his age-36 season, and although largely solid at the plate, is simply not on the same level as my selections.

Carlos Gomez has been arguably the best player in baseball to this point. He’s hit .308/.349/.552 with 13 home runs and 20 stolen bases in 23 attempts while playing far and away the best defense of any player in the majors. He’s playing out-of-this-world, ridiculous defense. Like, better than Torii Hunter or Andruw Jones in their prime. Watch him play whenever you get the chance, folks.

Andrew McCutchen has emerged as another one of the top players in the game, hitting .303/.373/.468 with above-average defense in center field for the relatively surprising Pirates. And Gonzalez has put up very impressive offensive numbers (.304/.369/.619) while mostly holding his own defensively.

Other Start-Worthy Players:

Jean Segura, SS, Milwaukee Brewers – Briefly mentioned above, but his offense has been a revelation from the middle of the diamond for the Brewers, hitting .323/.358/.491. He’s barely average defensively, which may limit his ceiling moving forward as an all-around player.

So, How’d the Fans Do?

When I started researching this process, I assumed that the fans had been dead wrong, per usual. But they’ve actually done a pretty decent job, as I would have selected 11 of the 18 players in the same manner as the general public. The benches are pretty well rounded-out as well, so I really don’ t have all that many gripes with this year’s rosters. Well done, all the way around.

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