The 2024 Almost All-Stars

Issue #187

Each year, when the full All-Star team rosters are announced, a few deserving players are widely considered to have been "snubbed" by not having been included. Some of these players get included eventually as replacements, due to injuries or other player availability issues.

But because you have to draw the line somewhere, there will still be the borderline cases that fans can debate. And this issue is exacerbated by the rule (which won’t discuss the merits of here) that all 30 teams must have at least one player represented—a rule which invariably results in a few players being chosen for that reason over a more deserving player at the same or similar position.

As of the time of this writing, there have already been several replacement players added to the All-Star team rosters, including Twins INF Willie Castro, Orioles INF Jordan Westburg, Orioles OF Anthony Santander, and Mariners RP Andrés Muñoz for the AL, and Reds SP Hunter Greene, Braves SP Max Fried, and Phillies SP Cristopher Sánchez for the NL.

Louoking beyond those players, who else is a border-line All-Star in 2024? Perhaps a few of these guys will still get added as roster needs develop in the next 48 hours.

Starting with AL position players, I think a strong All-Star case can be made for A's DH/OF Brent Rooker, who has 18 HR and is slashing .281/.361/.536. His .536 SLG is seventh in the AL, and his 157 OPS+ is eighth.

I also like Rangers 3B/SS Josh Smith who is slashing a solid .292/.387/.451. That .292 average is 8th in AL and his .387 OBP is fourth in the AL. His OPS+ is an impressive 139 (10th in the AL), but he has only 8 HR and 4 SB. Interestingly, he is also leading the AL in times hit by pitch with 14. He is also tied for 10th in position player WAR (3.3) in the AL.

Twins 3B José Miranda has an impressive .325 average, though he has only played 76 games with 276 PA so doesn't qualify for the rate stats leaderboard quite yet. That said, he recently had 12 consecutive hits that tied a record, his 21 doubles are tied for 9th in the AL, and he has an impressive 148 OPS+.

If the AL All-Stars added another catcher I'd have three candidates:

• Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh has 20 HR (tied for 8th in the AL), though he is batting only .218.

• A’s catcher Shea Langeliers has 17 HR, but is batting only .214.

• Angels catcher Logan O'Hoppe has fewer HR at 14, but is batting a more respectable .278.

I don't really consider the two leaders in stolen bases to be All-Star candidates, but for what its worth:

• Rays SS José Caballero is leading the AL with 24 SB. But he also has been caught stealing 10 times, and is only slashing .234/.296/.359 with an 89 OPS+.

• Red Sox SS David Hamilton is second in the AL with 23 SB, and impressively has only been caught twice. He is slashing a bit better at .265/.319/.413 with a 101 OPS+.

On the pitching side, I'd like to think that if a starting pitching replacement becomes necessary then SP Ronel Blanco should be next in line. He has a 9-3 record with a 2.53 ERA (4th in AL). He has 95 K in 103 IP and an impressive 0.990 WHIP. And he threw a no-hitter very early in the year, way back on April 1st.

You could also make a case for Orioles SP Grayson Rodriguez, who is tied for the AL lead in wins with an 11-3 record. He has a 3.52 ERA and 105 K in 94.2 IP across 16 starts.

Yankees SP Luis Gil has slipped lately, but still has a 9-5 record with a 3.27 ERA. He has 111 K in 96.1 IP over 18 starts, with a 1.090 WHIP.

Three other AL starting pitchers of note are:

• White Sox SP Erick Fedde is 7-3 with a 2.99 ERA (9th in the AL) with 99 K in 111.1 IP

• Royals SP Brady Singer is only 5-5, but has a 2.93 ERA (7th in AL), with 96 K in 101.1 IP.

• Tigers SP Jack Flaherty is 6-5 with a 3.13 ERA, an impressive 0.979 WHIP, and a strong 119 K in 95 IP.

A few others worth mentioning include Kutter Crawford, Joe Ryan, Reese Olson, George Kirby, Tanner Bibee, Luis Castillo, and Bryce Miller.

Amongst relievers, two veterans are having strong seasons so far in 2024:

• Orioles RP Craig Kimbrel with a 2.10 ERA and 23 SV (second in AL)

• Boston RP Kenley Jansen with a 2.01 ERA and 18 SV (fourth in AL)

And if they wanted to add non-closers, two Guardians relievers would need to be considered: Hunter Gaddis has a 1.25 ERA with 44 K in 43.1 IP, and Tim Herrin has a 1.45 ERA with 39 K in 37.1 IP.

For the NL All-Stars, a strong case could be made for Diamondbacks 1B Christian Walker. He has 22 HR and is fourth in the NL with 66 RBI. He has a .262/.341/.499 slash line and 137 OPS+. Walkers’s numbers are better than Pete Alonso's, but he was included as the lone representative (so far) from the Mets.

Speaking of the Mets, OF Brandon Nimmo is doing pretty well, with 16 HR, 62 RBI, a .251/.362/.462 slash line, and 138 OPS+.

And SS Francisco Lindor is fourth in the NL with 62 runs, and is having a nice power/speed combo season with 16 HR and 17 SB. He has 26 doubles, but is only hitting a mediocre .249.

Giants 3B Matt Chapman, still a good defensive 3B, is the one tied with Lindor for fourth in the NL in runs with 62. He is seventh in the NL with 24 doubles, and also has 13 HR and 9 SB—but again, only a .240 average.

Phillies OF Kyle Schwarber is tied for second in the NL in runs scored with 63. He has 19 HR, a .252/.377/.459 slash line and 136 OPS+.

Rockies OF Brenton Doyle is having a nice power/speed combo year so far, with 14 HR and 20 SB. He is slashing .277/.345/.468 with a 120 OPS+.

And lastly, Brewers 2B Brice Turang is second in the NL with 29 SB, and is hitting .280 with a .345 OBP.

Rookie phenom Paul Skenes has been named the NL starter for Tuesday, but two other Pirates hurlers could have made the squad too. Fellow rookie SP Jared Jones has slipped a bit from his outstanding start, but still has a 3.56 ERA, 1.110 WHIP, and 98 K in 91 IP. And SP Mitch Keller has a 10-5 record, 3.40 ERA, with 102 K in 111.1 IP. I can certainly see all three of these guys making future All-Star teams together.

Several other good NL starters are deserving, including:

• Phillies SP Aaron Nola is second in the NL in wins with an 11-4 record. He has a 3.38 ERA, 1.028 WHIP, and 116 K in 119.2 IP.

• St. Louis SP Sonny Gray has a 9-6 record, 3.34 ERA, 1.054 WHIP, and 121 K in 99.2 IP.

• Padres SP Dylan Cease is second in the NL in strikeouts with 138, and has a solid 1.101 WHIP. But his 4.21 ERA isn't as impressive.

• Brewers SP Freddy Peralta is fourth in the NL with 130 K, but has a 4.11 ERA.

Other SP of note include Andrew Abbott, Gavin Stone, Jake Irvin, Michael King, Logan Webb, and Zac Gallen. It is likely that rookie Yoshinobu Yamamoto would have been an All-Star if he hadn't gotten injured, as he is 6-2 over 14 starts with a 2.92 ERA,1.068 WHIP, and 84 K in 74 IP.

Amongst relievers, the NL All-Star team has three closers in Ryan Helsley, Tanner Scott, and Robert Suarez, plus two non-closers from the Phillies in Jeff Hoffman and Matt Strahm. Should any replacements be needed, top candidates to consider would include:

• Nationals RP Kyle Finnegan is second in the NL with 24 saves. He has a 2.52 ERA and 1.017 WHIP, with 42 K in 39.1 IP.

• Braves RP Raisel Iglesias is fourth in the NL with 21 saves, and has an impressive 2.08 ERA and 0.808 WHIP.

• Brewers RP Trevor Megill has really stepped up, posting a 1.53 ERA and 0.989 WHIP, accumulating 18 saves so far.

All data is from Baseball-Reference.com and is through games of 7/12/2024.

Did you know? I wrote a book with the same title as this Substack newsletter / blog: Now Taking the Field: Baseball’s All-Time Dream Teams for All 30 Franchises. It was published in early 2019, by ACTA Sports, the publisher of the annual Bill James Handbook and other popular titles. You can learn more about it at www.NowTakingTheField.com, or buy directly at Amazon and other booksellers.