Pitcher List’s 2018 National League All-Star Votes

The staff was discussing last week how All-Star Voting is effectively a popularity contest; if a player’s team has a lot of fans or very passionate fans, he could end up starting the All-Star game over someone more qualified. So we decided to vote for the game ourselves. Who are the most deserving players for the All-Star game? Effectively, if statistics ruled the day and the best players started, who would they be? Here are the staff picks

CATCHER

J.T. Realmuto (Miami Marlins)- 9 votes

Francisco Cervelli (Pittsburgh Pirates)- 3 votes

Willson Contreras (Chicago Cubs)- 1 votes

Yasmani Grandal (Los Angeles Dodgers)- 1 vote

FIRST BASE

Freddie Freeman (Atlanta Braves)- 13 votes

Jose Martinez (St. Louis Cardinals)- 1 vote

SECOND BASE

Scooter Gennett (Cincinnati Reds)- 7 votes

Ozzie Albies (Atlanta Braves)- 7 votes

SHORTSTOP

Brandon Crawford (San Francisco Giants)- 7 votes

Trevor Story (Colorado Rockies)- 5 votes

Trea Turner (Washington Nationals)- 1 vote

Javier Baez (Chicago Cubs)- 1 vote

THIRD BASE

Nolan Arenado (Colorado Rockies)- 13 votes

Kris Bryant (Chicago Cubs)- 1 vote

OUTFIELD (3)

Lorenzo Cain (Milwaukee Brewers)- 10 votes

Nick Markakis (Atlanta Braves)- 10 votes

Matt Kemp (Los Angeles Dodgers)- 7 votes

Brandon Nimmo (New York Mets)- 6 votes

Bryce Harper (Washington Nationals)- 3 votes

Charlie Blackmon (Colorado Rockies)- 3 votes

David Peralta (Arizona Diamondbacks)- 1 vote

Odubel Herrera (Philadelphia Phillies)- 1 vote

STARTING PITCHER (5)

Max Scherzer (Washington Nationals)- 14 votes

Jacob deGrom (New York Mets)- 14 votes

Aaron Nola (Philadelphia Phillies)- 14 votes

Patrick Corbin (Arizona Diamondbacks)- 9 votes

Mike Foltynewicz (Atlanta Braves)- 8 votes

Miles Mikolas (St. Louis Cardinals)- 5 votes

Stephen Strasburg (Washington Nationals)- 2 votes

Ross Stripling (Los Angeles Dodgers)- 1 vote

Noah Syndergaard (New York Mets)- 1 vote

Jack Flaherty (St. Louis Cardinals)- 1 vote

Nick Pivetta (Philadelphia Phillies)- 1 vote

RELIEF PITCHER (5)

Sean Doolittle (Washington Nationals)- 14 votes

Josh Hader (Milwaukee Brewers)- 14 votes

Brad Hand (San Diego Padres)- 12 votes

Adam Ottavino (Colorado Rockies)- 11 votes

Jeremy Jeffress (Milwaukee Brewers)- 5 votes

Dan Winkler (Atlanta Braves)- 3 votes

Kelvin Herrera (Washington Nationals)- 2 votes

Bud Norris (St. Louis Cardinals)- 2 votes

Brad Boxberger (Arizona Diamondbacks)- 1 vote

Jeurys Familia (New York Mets)- 1 vote

Arodys Vizcaino (Atlanta Braves)- 1 vote

Adam Cimber (San Diego Padres)- 1 vote

Jordan Hicks (St. Louis Cardinals)- 1 vote

Tony Watson (San Francisco Giants)- 1 vote

Seranthony Dominguez (Philadelphia Phillies)- 1 vote

See the complete voting below!

	Nick Pollack	Ben Palmer	Dave Cherman	Jonathan Metzelaar	Andy Patton	Michael Augustine	Adam Garland
C	J.T. Realmuto"}”>J.T. Realmuto	J.T. Realmuto"}”>J.T. Realmuto	Yasmani Grandal"}”>Yasmani Grandal	J.T. Realmuto"}”>J.T. Realmuto	J.T. Realmuto"}”>J.T. Realmuto	J.T. Realmuto"}”>J.T. Realmuto	J.T. Realmuto"}”>J.T. Realmuto
1B	Freddie Freeman"}”>Freddie Freeman	Freddie Freeman"}”>Freddie Freeman	Freddie Freeman"}”>Freddie Freeman	Freddie Freeman"}”>Freddie Freeman	Freddie Freeman"}”>Freddie Freeman	Freddie Freeman"}”>Freddie Freeman	Jose Martinez"}”>Jose Martinez
2B	Ozzie Albies"}”>Ozzie Albies	Ozzie Albies"}”>Ozzie Albies	Scooter Gennett"}”>Scooter Gennett	Ozzie Albies"}”>Ozzie Albies	Scooter Gennett"}”>Scooter Gennett	Scooter Gennett"}”>Scooter Gennett	Scooter Gennett"}”>Scooter Gennett
SS	Trevor Story"}”>Trevor Story	Javier Baez	Trea Turner"}”>Trea Turner	Trevor Story"}”>Trevor Story	Trevor Story"}”>Trevor Story	Brandon Crawford"}”>Brandon Crawford	Brandon Crawford"}”>Brandon Crawford
3B	Nolan Arenado"}”>Nolan Arenado	Nolan Arenado"}”>Nolan Arenado	Nolan Arenado"}”>Nolan Arenado	Nolan Arenado"}”>Nolan Arenado	Nolan Arenado"}”>Nolan Arenado	Kris Bryant"}”>Kris Bryant	Nolan Arenado"}”>Nolan Arenado
OF	Bryce Harper"}”>Bryce Harper	Matt Kemp"}”>Matt Kemp	Matt Kemp"}”>Matt Kemp	Charlie Blackmon"}”>Charlie Blackmon	Matt Kemp"}”>Matt Kemp	Matt Kemp"}”>Matt Kemp	Brandon Nimmo"}”>Brandon Nimmo
OF	Nick Markakis"}”>Nick Markakis	Nick Markakis"}”>Nick Markakis	Nick Markakis"}”>Nick Markakis	Matt Kemp"}”>Matt Kemp	Nick Markakis"}”>Nick Markakis	Nick Markakis"}”>Nick Markakis	Christian Yelich"}”>Christian Yelich
OF	Lorenzo Cain"}”>Lorenzo Cain	Brandon Nimmo"}”>Brandon Nimmo	Lorenzo Cain"}”>Lorenzo Cain	Starling Marte"}”>Starling Marte	David Peralta"}”>David Peralta	Lorenzo Cain"}”>Lorenzo Cain	Lorenzo Cain"}”>Lorenzo Cain
SP	Max Scherzer"}”>Max Scherzer	Max Scherzer"}”>Max Scherzer	Max Scherzer"}”>Max Scherzer	Max Scherzer"}”>Max Scherzer	Max Scherzer"}”>Max Scherzer	Max Scherzer"}”>Max Scherzer	Max Scherzer"}”>Max Scherzer
SP	Jacob deGrom"}”>Jacob deGrom	Jacob DeGrom	Jacob deGrom"}”>Jacob deGrom	Jacob Degrom	Jacob deGrom"}”>Jacob deGrom	Jacob deGrom"}”>Jacob deGrom	Jacob deGrom"}”>Jacob deGrom
SP	Miles Mikolas"}”>Miles Mikolas	Aaron Nola"}”>Aaron Nola	Miles Mikolas"}”>Miles Mikolas	Miles Mikolas"}”>Miles Mikolas	Stephen Strasburg"}”>Stephen Strasburg	Miles Mikolas"}”>Miles Mikolas	Stephen Strasburg"}”>Stephen Strasburg
SP	Aaron Nola"}”>Aaron Nola	Mike Foltynewicz"}”>Mike Foltynewicz	Aaron Nola"}”>Aaron Nola	Aaron Nola"}”>Aaron Nola	Aaron Nola"}”>Aaron Nola	Aaron Nola"}”>Aaron Nola	Aaron Nola"}”>Aaron Nola
SP	Mike Foltynewicz"}”>Mike Foltynewicz	Nick Pivetta"}”>Nick Pivetta	Patrick Corbin"}”>Patrick Corbin	Patrick Corbin"}”>Patrick Corbin	Patrick Corbin"}”>Patrick Corbin	Mike Foltynewicz"}”>Mike Foltynewicz	Patrick Corbin"}”>Patrick Corbin
RP	Sean Doolittle"}”>Sean Doolittle	Josh Hader"}”>Josh Hader	Sean Doolittle"}”>Sean Doolittle	Sean Doolittle"}”>Sean Doolittle	Sean Doolittle"}”>Sean Doolittle	Sean Doolittle"}”>Sean Doolittle	Sean Doolittle"}”>Sean Doolittle
RP	Brad Hand"}”>Brad Hand	Sean Doolittle"}”>Sean Doolittle	Brad Hand"}”>Brad Hand	Brad Hand"}”>Brad Hand	Brad Hand"}”>Brad Hand	Adam Cimber"}”>Adam Cimber	Brad Hand"}”>Brad Hand
RP	Josh Hader"}”>Josh Hader	Adam Ottavino"}”>Adam Ottavino	Josh Hader"}”>Josh Hader	Josh Hader"}”>Josh Hader	Josh Hader"}”>Josh Hader	Josh Hader"}”>Josh Hader	Josh Hader"}”>Josh Hader
RP	Adam Ottavino"}”>Adam Ottavino	Brad Hand"}”>Brad Hand	Adam Ottavino"}”>Adam Ottavino	Adam Ottavino"}”>Adam Ottavino	Brad Boxberger"}”>Brad Boxberger	Adam Ottavino"}”>Adam Ottavino	Adam Ottavino"}”>Adam Ottavino
RP	Jeremy Jeffress"}”>Jeremy Jeffress	Seranthony Dominguez	Kelvin Herrera"}”>Kelvin Herrera	Jeremy Jeffress"}”>Jeremy Jeffress	Arodys Vizcaino	Jeremy Jeffress"}”>Jeremy Jeffress	Bud Norris"}”>Bud Norris

 

	Alex Fast	Austin Perodeau	Austin Bristow II	Rick Graham	Jeff Davis	Grayson Blazek	Andrew Gould
C	Francisco Cervelli"}”>Francisco Cervelli	Francsico Cervelli	J.T. Realmuto"}”>J.T. Realmuto	Wilson Contreras	J.T. Realmuto"}”>J.T. Realmuto	Francisco Cervelli"}”>Francisco Cervelli	J.T. Realmuto"}”>J.T. Realmuto
1B	Freddie Freeman"}”>Freddie Freeman	Freddie Freeman"}”>Freddie Freeman	Freddie Freeman "}”>Freddie Freeman	Freddie Freeman"}”>Freddie Freeman	Freddie Freeman"}”>Freddie Freeman	Freddie Freeman"}”>Freddie Freeman	Freddie Freeman"}”>Freddie Freeman
2B	Ozzie Albies"}”>Ozzie Albies	Scooter Gennett"}”>Scooter Gennett	Ozzie Albies "}”>Ozzie Albies	Ozzie Albies"}”>Ozzie Albies	Scooter Gennett"}”>Scooter Gennett	Ozzie Albies"}”>Ozzie Albies	Scooter Gennett"}”>Scooter Gennett
SS	Brandon Crawford"}”>Brandon Crawford	Brandon Crawford"}”>Brandon Crawford	Brandon Crawford"}”>Brandon Crawford	Trevor Story"}”>Trevor Story	Brandon Crawford"}”>Brandon Crawford	Trevor Story"}”>Trevor Story	Brandon Crawford"}”>Brandon Crawford
3B	Nolan Arenado"}”>Nolan Arenado	Nolan Arenado"}”>Nolan Arenado	Nolan Arenado"}”>Nolan Arenado	Nolan Arenado"}”>Nolan Arenado	Nolan Arenado"}”>Nolan  Arenado	Nolan Arenado"}”>Nolan Arenado	Nolan Arenado"}”>Nolan Arenado
OF	Brandon Nimmo"}”>Brandon Nimmo	Lorenzo Cain"}”>Lorenzo Cain	Bryce Harper"}”>Bryce Harper	Bryce Harper"}”>Bryce Harper	Brandon Nimmo"}”>Brandon Nimmo	Lorenzo Cain"}”>Lorenzo Cain	Brandon Nimmo"}”>Brandon Nimmo
OF	Nick Markakis"}”>Nick Markakis	Matt Kemp"}”>Matt Kemp	Nick Markakis "}”>Nick Markakis	Nick Markakis"}”>Nick Markakis	Nick Markakis"}”>Nick Markakis	Nick Markakis"}”>Nick Markakis	Odubel Herrera
OF	Lorenzo Cain"}”>Lorenzo Cain	Brandon Nimmo"}”>Brandon Nimmo	Charlie Blackmon "}”>Charlie Blackmon	Charlie Blackmon"}”>Charlie Blackmon	Lorenzo Cain"}”>Lorenzo Cain	Matt Kemp"}”>Matt Kemp	Lorenzo Cain"}”>Lorenzo Cain
SP	Max Scherzer"}”>Max Scherzer	Max Scherzer"}”>Max Scherzer	Max Scherzer "}”>Max Scherzer	Max Scherzer"}”>Max Scherzer	Max Scherzer"}”>Max Scherzer	Max Scherzer"}”>Max Scherzer	Max Scherzer"}”>Max Scherzer
SP	Jacob DeGrom	Jacob deGrom"}”>Jacob deGrom	Jacob deGrom "}”>Jacob deGrom	Jacob deGrom"}”>Jacob deGrom	Jacob deGrom"}”>Jacob deGrom	Jacob deGrom"}”>Jacob deGrom	Jacob deGrom"}”>Jacob deGrom
SP	Patrick Corbin"}”>Patrick Corbin	Ross Stripling"}”>Ross Stripling	Mike Foltynewicz "}”>Mike Foltynewicz	Mike Foltynewicz"}”>Mike Foltynewicz	Mike Foltynewicz"}”>Mike Foltynewicz	Jack Flaherty"}”>Jack Flaherty	Miles Mikolas"}”>Miles Mikolas
SP	Aaron Nola"}”>Aaron Nola	Aaron Nola"}”>Aaron Nola	Aaron Nola"}”>Aaron Nola	Aaron Nola"}”>Aaron Nola	Aaron Nola"}”>Aaron Nola	Aaron Nola"}”>Aaron Nola	Aaron Nola"}”>Aaron Nola
SP	Mike Foltynewicz"}”>Mike Foltynewicz	Mike Foltynewicz"}”>Mike Foltynewicz	Patrick Corbin"}”>Patrick Corbin	Patrick Corbin"}”>Patrick Corbin	Noah Syndergaard"}”>Noah Syndergaard	Patrick Corbin"}”>Patrick Corbin	Patrick Corbin"}”>Patrick Corbin
RP	Sean Doolittle"}”>Sean Doolittle	Sean Doolittle"}”>Sean Doolittle	Sean Doolittle "}”>Sean Doolittle	Sean Doolittle"}”>Sean Doolittle	Sean Doolittle"}”>Sean Doolittle	Sean Doolittle"}”>Sean Doolittle	Sean Doolittle"}”>Sean Doolittle
RP	Brad Hand"}”>Brad Hand	Brad Hand"}”>Brad Hand	Dan Winkler"}”>Dan Winkler	Brad Hand"}”>Brad Hand	Brad Hand"}”>Brad Hand	Brad Hand"}”>Brad Hand	Brad Hand"}”>Brad Hand
RP	Josh Hader"}”>Josh Hader	Josh Hader"}”>Josh Hader	Josh Hader"}”>Josh Hader	Josh Hader"}”>Josh Hader	Josh Hader"}”>Josh Hader	Josh Hader"}”>Josh Hader	Josh Hader"}”>Josh Hader
RP	Kelvin Herrera"}”>Kelvin Herrera	Adam Ottavino"}”>Adam Ottavino	Adam Ottavino "}”>Adam Ottavino	Adam Ottavino"}”>Adam Ottavino	Adam Ottavino"}”>Adam Ottavino	Adam Ottovino	Adam Ottavino"}”>Adam Ottavino
RP	Dan Winkler"}”>Dan Winkler	Jeurys Familia "}”>Jeurys Familia	Jeremy Jeffress "}”>Jeremy Jeffress	Bud Norris"}”>Bud Norris	Jordan Hicks"}”>Jordan Hicks	Dan Winkler"}”>Dan Winkler	Tony Watson"}”>Tony Watson

You’ll notice a few players received only one vote, others were unanimous. Let’s hear from some of the staff about their picks.

Yasmani Grandal– “Grandal doesn’t get much love from WAR, but WAR has never been good at capturing catcher defense. I get the 34 point gap in wRC+ and 46 point gap in wOBA between him and Realmuto. But Grandal has quietly turned into one of the best pitch framers in the game and that’s helped keep the Dodgers afloat amongst countless injuries to the pitching staff and significant disappointment in the lineup. Not to mention Realmuto is one of the worst pitch framers by those same statistics.”- Dave Cherman

Jose Martinez– “The selection of Jose Martinez over Freddie Freeman looks really bad I know. I see what Freeman is doing and realize that he’s been the best 1B in the NL in pretty well every offensive category and that he leads all 1B in the league in fWAR. I voted on June 15th, and at that time Jose Martinez was hitting .321/.389/.518 with 10 HRs his wOBA and wRC+ were ranked 2nd among National League 1st baseman. I knew that most others were going to select Freeman as he was clearly the best option for NL 1B analytically, and I decided to go against the grain and highlight the success of Martinez who has been one of the best hitters among NL 1st baseman this year and one of the better hitters overall over the last calendar year. Since I voted, Martinez has just 2 hits and his batting line now sits at .302/.376/.486 with 10 HRs and his .372 wOBA and 137 wRC+ both rank 5th overall among 1B in the NL and Brandon Belt, Joey Votto, and Paul Goldshmidt now rank ahead of Martinez. This makes my Martinez selection look even worse, but I stand by the fact that he deserves an all-star nod this year and I hope he gets the recognition he deserves.”- Adam Garland

Scooter Gennett– “Anybody who picked Ozzie Albies is overvaluing first impressions. He shattered even the most lofty expectations by registering nine homers and a .411 wOBA through April, but the 21-year-old has fallen hard by batting .205 (17-for-83) in 19 June games. Although still worthy of All-Star consideration, he’s not starting on my fake All-Star team with a .302 OBP. That honor belongs to Scooter Gennett, whose .383 wOBA shatters Albies’s .336 clip. This wouldn’t even be a debate if Cincinnati’s late bloomer had his otherworldly May (.478 wOBA) in April and Albies enjoyed his opening power surge in May or June.”- Andrew Gould

Ozzie Albies-“For me, the vote for top NL second baseman was the most difficult decision of all the selections. Scooter Gennett, in his 6th season in the league, has put together an incredible first half and I certainly understand the viewpoint of many others who believe he deserves the top nod for NL 2B. I have to go with Ozzie Albies, however. As a highly touted 5 tool player – he has lived up to the hype and for me what makes it so impressive is that he is doing so in his 1st full major league season. His first half highlighted has been by a 16 home runs, 56 runs scored, 44 RBIs, 6 stolen bases, a .982 fielding percentage and a NL leading 41 extra base hits. All this comes even with him having been mired in a slump of sorts where he saw his batting average drop over 40 points from Mid May to Mid June. While I certainly understand the argument that Scooter put together a more complete and consistent first half, I have to give the edge to Ozzie as his impressive season has occurred in tandem with his first 500 at-bats in the big leagues.”- Grayson Blazek

Trea Turner– “How did he only get one vote? I think a plain look at the numbers gives this to Turner easily. I know Story has had an unbelievable bat, but he’s got a -4.0 UZR/150 and 0 DRS, easily the worst of the 3 All-Star caliber shortstops, and defense that bad is enough for me to disqualify Story. It’s the same reason I can’t vote Machado in the AL. Turner, meanwhile, ranks 5th and 1st in those stats, both ahead of Crawford. When it comes to offense between Turner and Crawford, Crawford has the edge, but not by enough for me to go with him. Oh and Turner leads all NL shortstops in fWAR. Maybe I should’ve led with that.”- Dave Cherman

Kris Bryant– “Two fractional numbers; 0.8 and 4.40. That represents the average fWAR and FIP of pitchers that Bryant has had at least 20 PA against this season. Arenado faced an 0.5 and 4.52 average fWAR and FIP. And, lets face it, Bryant is the dreamy-er of the two.”- Michael Augustine

Bryce Harper– “Harper has accumulated just 1 fWAR so far this year. To put that into perspective, that’s fewer than Jason Heyward, Jon Jay, and Jorge Soler. A big reason for that is that has been his defense; he’s been an absolute butcher in the field, with a -14.2 UZR/150 and -6 Defensive Runs Saved. That might play if he was hitting like vintage Harper, but his .212 average is a liability. Now his other offensive are still fairly impressive everything considered: .818 OPS, 19 homers, 45 RBI, 6 stolen bases. But his 115 wRC+ still has him ranked 16th among all qualified right fielders, behind fellow National Leaguers like Brandon Nimmo, Nick Markakis, and Christian Yelich. Seeing Harper start the All Star Game in his home park would be cool, but I just think that, statistically, there are a handful of guys that are much more deserving.”- Jonathan Metzelaar

Noah Syndergaard– “The final NL SP was a very tough decision. Corbin and Strasburg are both deserving of that spot as well. I ended up picking Syndergaard as he was having another solid year prior to his recent finger injury. Strasburg being on the shelf helps as well, as he likely would have been my second choice. Corbin is having a fantastic year, but it’s difficult to justify giving up that spot to a guy who’s really having success for the first time in his career over the more established guys.”- Jeff Davis

American League All-Stars to be announced tomorrow!