MLB Spring Training: The mid-spring All-Star roster

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These guys may not make the 2020 All-Star teams, but based on their play so far during MLB spring training, they merit a place on the spring All-Star team.

We’re halfway through MLB spring training. In the great tradition of the mid-season classic, that means it’s time to select the spring All-Star team…those players who so far have made the most positive impressions in their camps.

The rules are identical to what they would be during the regular season: performance with an emphasis on such familiar categories as batting average runs batted in and OPS. The only true requirement is a minimum of 25 official at-bats to date.

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For pitchers, we’re using a minimum of 10 completed innings so far, and again looking at familiar criteria: earned run average, strikeouts, and opponents batting average.

Excluding DH, we’ll pick spring star candidates at each position – not necessarily one from each league – and three pitchers.

MLB spring training being what it is, a star who makes this team may not necessarily be likely to repeat when the actual All-Star team is selected this summer. In fact, some may not even be in the Major Leagues.

But they’ve all made an impression in late February and early March.

We begin with our three selections at pitcher.

Daniel Ponce de Leon, St. Louis Cardinals. de Leon hasn’t made a start yet, but he’s appeared in four games, and been consistently brilliant. In 13 innings he’s allowed just eight hits and a single run. He has 12 strikeouts, a .186 opponents batting average and a 1.00 WHIP.

J.A. Happ, New York Yankees. Through the Yankees various rotation issues, Happ has emerged as a reliable No. 2 to Gerrit Cole. (Cole lacks the requisite number of innings to make the team.) He’s started four times, with two wins, and allowed just seven hits in his 13 innings. He leads the spring in strikeouts with 16, and his 0.62 WHIP is also atop the list.

Derek Holland, Pittsburgh Pirates. Holland looks like he could aid the Pirates in a desperate search for a reliable rotation element. He’s worked 13.2 innings, and although carrying a 3.95 ERA he’s fanned 15 with a 0.95 WHIP.

Kansas City first baseman Ryan O’Hearn. (Photo by Ed Zurga/Getty Images) /

MLB Spring Training: The mid-spring All-Star roster

The right side of the infield

Carlos Santana is off to a superb spring start at first base for the Indians. His .393 batting average ranks 11th among qualifying players, and his 11 hits include four for extra bases, creating a .714 slugging average.

Ryan O’Hearn hopes to use this spring to secure his starting position at first with the Royals. Two weeks into spring play, he’s well on his way to doing so.

Coming off a .195 2019 batting average, O’Hearn is batting .313 with an eye-catching 1.121 OPS. O’Hearn can thank his four home runs and two doubles for that lofty number. Given that he’s playing a power position, that is a well-timed bonus for O’Hearn.

Ildemaro Vargas is fighting for playing time behind Arizona’s reliable middle infield of Nick Ahmed and Ketel Marte. His dozen hits in 29 at-bats equates to a .414 spring average.

Zach McKinstry is rated as only the Dodgers’ 20th best prospect, but he may be moving up on the list. In 27 spring appearances, McKinstry has 11 hits, five for extra bases including two home runs.

His .407 batting average is accompanied by a .448 on-base average and a 1.226 OPS. McKinstry won’t make the team, but he’s radar-screening himself for a possible mid-season callup.

Cardinals shortstop Paul DeJong. (Photo by Rich Schultz/Getty Images) /

MLB Spring Training: The mid-spring All-Star roster

The left side of the infield

It’s questionable whether anybody has had a better spring that Cardinals shortstop Paul DeJong. DeJong has 13 base hits in 26 at-bats, a spring-leading .500 batting average. Throw in four home runs and you get a 1.000 slugging average and 1.517 OPS.

Francisco Lindor hasn’t let the uncertainty over his contract foul up his spring. The Indians shortstop is batting .400 with three home runs and 10 RBIs, That adds up to a 1.200 OPS for a spring All-Star who’s a great bet to double as a mid-summer All-Star.

No third baseman has had a better spring than Texas’ Isiah Kiner-Falefa. Slated only to be a left-side backup, he’s forcing himself into increased playing time with a .419 batting average in 31 trips to the plate. Kiner-Falefa’s bat has not only been productive, it’s also been timely. His 11 RBIs are tied for the most in spring play. He also has four home runs.

After parts of two major league seasons under his belt, Phillip Evans signed with the Pirates this winter as a non-roster invitee. Like Kiner-Falefa, he’s used the chance he’s been given at third base to full advantage. Evans has nine hits and he’s driven in seven runs. Only time will tell whether that opens up a roster spot, but he’s giving it his best.

Boston’s Rusney Castillo. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images) /

MLB Spring Training: The mid-spring All-Star roster

Outfield

If there was an award for spring MVP, Franmil Reyes would be all over it. The Indians outfielder is batting .444, he’s scored five runs, driven in a co-spring best 11, and produced five home runs. That adds up to a spring-best 1631 OPS.

The Red Sox have been waiting years for Rusney Castillo to arrive. Perhaps this is the year. Castillo is enjoying a .480 spring average with a dozen hits in 25 spring at-bats.

Cheslor Cuthbert is another non-roster player trying to find a spot, in his case with the White Sox. A former member of the Royals, Cuthbert is doing everything he can do. He’s hitting .385 with 10 hits – three of them home runs – in 25 at-bats. Cuthbert also has a .500 on-base average.

Adam Engel is among those making Cuthbert’s quest for a roster spot difficult. Engel, battling Luis Robert for playing time in center field on the South Side, matches Kiner-Falefa and Reyes for the spring lead in RBIs with 11.

Yonathan Daza is making a strong argument for why the Colorado Rockies ought to bring him north with them. In 27 spring sat bats, Daza has 11 base hits, plus six RBIs. He’s hitting .407 with a .989 OPS.

Bubba Starling is a 27-year-old career minor leaguer getting a chance to make the Royals roster as a fourth outfielder. His 11 hits in 26 at-bats include six for extra bases, and he’s sitting on a .423 batting average. Starling’s 1.385 OPS ranks third for the spring behind only DeJong and Reyes.

MLB Spring Training: The mid-spring All-Star roster

Catcher

The Oakland Athletics are committed to a young star of the future, Sean Murphy, as their regular catcher. But an off-season pickup from San Diego is making the waves.

Austin Allen was obtained in the trade that sent Jurickson Profar to the Padres in December. Allen isn’t envisioned as more than a backup to Murphy – and that’s likely a valid assessment. But so far this spring at any rate, Allen has out-played Murphy…and all other major league catchers.