MLB All Star Surprises

The MLB All Star rosters were announced last night, and many of the game’s most talented and popular stars will be heading to Miami next week for the festivities. Here are some of out biggest surprises from the unveiling of the rosters.

If you haven’t seen the rosters yet, here they are, separated by league. Players with an asterisk next to their names have been voted in as starters.

American League

Justin Smoak* (1B, TOR), Jose Altuve* (2B, HOU), Carlos Correa* (SS, HOU), Jose Ramirez* (3B, CLE),  Salvador Perez* (C, KC), Aaron Judge* (OF, NYY), Mike Trout* (OF, LAA), George Springer* (OF, HOU), Corey Dickerson* (DH, TB), Gary Sanchez (C, NYY), Yonder Alonso (1B, OAK), Starlin Castro (2B, NYY), Jonathan Schoop (2B, BAL), Miguel Sano (3B, MIN), Francisco Lindor (SS, CLE), Mookie Betts (OF, BOS), Avisail Garcia (OF, CHW), Michael Brantley (OF, CLE), Nelson Cruz (DH, SEA).

As for the pitchers, most of the usual suspects are on the list, with a couple of surprises.

Chris Sale (SP, BOS), Dallas Keuchel (SP, HOU), Ervin Santana (SP, MIN), Jason Vargas (SP, KC), Luis Severino (SP, NYY), Yu Darvish (SP, TEX), Michael Fulmer (SP, DET), Corey Kluber (SP, CLE), Lance McCullers Jr. (SP, HOU), Craig Kimbrel (RP, BOS), Andrew Miller (RP, CLE), Dellin Betances (RP, NYY).

Out of these All Stars, Mike Trout will likely need to be replaced due to his current stint on the disabled list, and the AL final vote candidates (below) won’t be of much help there. Outside of the outfielders already on the team, Lorenzo Cain of the Royals would be the next-best option in terms of fWAR (2.9) this season, but if we’re going for more of an offensive threat, Steven Souza Jr. of the Rays (137 wRC+, fourth among AL outfielders) or Khris Davis of the A’s (129, 7th) could be options to consider. Josh Reddick has the same wRC+ as Davis, but with a number of Astros already on the team, the league could go in another direction. At the same time, the Astros have been a dominant force in the AL this season, so why not add one more?

Final Vote Nominees:

Elvis Andrus (SS, TEX), Xander Bogaerts (SS, BOS), Didi Gregorius (SS, NYY), Logan Morrison (1B, TB), Mike Moustakas (3B, KC).

Of these five, Logan Morrison, or LoMo, is easily the most deserving. He has the highest fWAR (2.8) by a small margin over Bogaerts (2.7), but his wRC+ is at least 29 points higher than any other option. It would also be nice to see another Tampa Bay Ray instead of another representative from one of the bigger market teams. My guess for the final vote: Bogaerts makes it.

National League

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Ryan Zimmermann* (1B, WAS), Daniel Murphy* (2B, WAS), Zack Cozart* (SS, CIN), Nolan Arenado* (3B, COL), Buster Posey* (C, SF), Bryce Harper* (OF, WAS), Charlie Blackmon* (OF, COL), Marcell Ozuna* (MIA, OF), Yadier Molina (C, STL), Paul Goldschmidt (1B, ARZ), Joey Votto (1B, CIN), DJ LeMahieu (2B, COL), Josh Harrison (2B, PIT), Jake Lamb (3B, ARZ), Corey Seager (SS, LAD), Cody Bellinger (OF, LAD), Giancarlo Stanton (OF, MIA), Michael Conforto (OF, NYM), Ender Inciarte (OF, STL).

And now for the pitching staff, which is definitely more reliever-heavy than the AL squad.

Clayton Kershaw (SP, LAD), Max Scherzer (SP, WAS), Robbie Ray (SP, MIA), Zack Greinke (SP, ARZ) Carlos Martinez (SP, STL), Stephen Strasburg (SP, WAS), Kenley Jansen (RP, LAD), Greg Holland (RP, COL), Wade Davis (CHC, RP), Brad Hand (RP, SD), Corey Knebel (RP, MIL), Pat Neshek (RP, PHI).

The NL team will likely have to replace Michael Conforto, who hit the disabled list this weekend. After much talk about his declining skill set this past offseason, Andrew McCutchen of the Pirates could be the best option to take that spot on the roster. Cutch has a 130 wRC+ this year, tied with utility man Chris Taylor of the Dodgers for tops among NL outfielders. Taylor’s flexibility around the diamond could give him a leg up, however.

Final Vote Nominees:

Justin Bour (1B, MIA), Kris Bryant (3B, CHC), Anthony Rendon (3B, WAS), Mark Reynolds (1B, COL), Justin Turner (3B, LAD). Guess for who makes it: Rendon, because Nats fans already voted three of their own in as starters. Bour could be a sleeper pick here since he’s the hometown guy.

These are the rosters. Now here are some of the oddities that we found.