Call to the pen
Fansided

The way-too-early AL MLB All-Star Team starting lineup

By Bobby Mueller

NEW YORK, NY - MAY 6: Jose Ramirez #11 of the Cleveland Indians bats during the game against the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium on Sunday May 6, 2018 in the Bronx borough of New York City. (Photo by Rob Tringali/SportsChrome/Getty Images)) *** Local Caption *** Jose Ramirez
NEW YORK, NY - MAY 6: Jose Ramirez #11 of the Cleveland Indians bats during the game against the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium on Sunday May 6, 2018 in the Bronx borough of New York City. (Photo by Rob Tringali/SportsChrome/Getty Images)) *** Local Caption *** Jose Ramirez /
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MLB All-Star Game
NEW YORK, NY – MAY 10: Mookie Betts #50 of the Boston Red Sox in action against the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium on May 10, 2018 in the Bronx borough of New York City. Boston Red Sox defeated the New York Yankees 5-4. (Photo by Mike Stobe/Getty Images) /

With more than a quarter of the season done, let’s look at the prospective starters for the AL MLB All-Star Team.

We’re just past the one-quarter point of the season, and the All-Star game is almost two months away so why not take a look at the early-season contenders for the American League MLB All-Star Team squad?

Some players are off to such scorching hot starts that they may have locked up spots on the team already, even if or when they cool down over the next eight weeks. Other players who appeared to be likely all-stars back in spring training have started slowly and will need a strong push to make the team.

One of the annual questions about all-star voting is how much a player’s career should be factored in, versus a player who has had a hot first half of the season. In 2004, first baseman Ken Harvey of the Royals made the AL MLB All-Star team when he hit .305/.353/.452 with 10 HR and 34 RBI in the first half.

That was pretty much the apex of his career. He hit .256/.311/.366 in the second half, then had one final, partial season with the Royals in 2005 and never played in the major leagues again.

In 1999, third baseman Ed Sprague of the Pittsburgh Pirates hit .300/.402/.545 with 16 HR and 53 RBI in the first half. His strong start landed him on the NL MLB All-Star team as the Pirates’ lone representative. Meanwhile, Chipper Jones didn’t make the NL roster. Sprague hit .220/.270/.350 in the second half, while Jones ended up winning the NL MVP Award that year.

Another factor in all-star voting is how much the voter should consider the statistics versus how well-known the player is. This is the all-“star” game, after all. Shouldn’t star players be in it? At second base, Jed Lowrie is having a better season statistically than last year’s AL MVP, Jose Altuve.

If this continues for another month, who should start at second base for the AL, the hot-hitting Cron, or the perennial stud Altuve?

For this article, I’ll present three picks at each position. First will be the conventional pick, which is the player who is having a good season and has some name recognition. Second, will be this year’s leader in WAR, using an average of WAR from Fangraphs and Baseball-Reference.

Finally, I’ll show the best player at each position over the last calendar year. In some cases, the same player may fill all three spots, but we could see some surprises along the way. Here is the AL squad.

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