Picking the All-Stars: NL Edition

Yesterday, we tackled the American League. Today, we do the NL. If you read the intro to yesterday’s post, you can just skip on down to the picks, as the next few paragraphs are the same as they were in the AL post. If you didn’t read that post, keep reading.

The All-Star Game isn’t for another 35 days, but with the voting in full swing and enough of the season under our belts, I figure it’s time to weigh in on how I’d fill out the roster if I were Grand Poobah and had the final say on all 34 players. I will note up front that I believe the All-Star Game is an annual affair, and we shouldn’t simply have the same collection of players every year just because those are the “true stars”. The All-Star Game is best when it serves as both a platform for the game’s greatest players and recognition for those who have earned their way in. I will not be putting players on the roster who have not performed well in 2013, even if they are bonafide stars.

As a reminder, the rosters now comprise 34 players, which I’ll be splitting as 21 position players and 13 pitchers, as that has been the final tally for the game most of the last few years. And, yes, we’re honoring the rule requiring every team to be represented. I’ll list each player by the tier of how they got selected, then put the final roster down below. On to the picks.

The Game Would Be A Farce Without Them

These players are the epitome of All-Stars; great players having great seasons. I imagine there will be little disagreement about any of these 14 selections. It’s hard to imagine a reasonable case for excluding any of these players, assuming they stay healthy for the next few weeks anyway.

Troy Tulowitzki, COL, SS: +4.0 WAR
Joey Votto, CIN, 1B: +3.0 WAR
Carlos Gonzalez, COL, OF: +3.0 WAR
Yadier Molina, STL, C: +2.6 WAR
Andrew McCutchen, PIT, OF: +2.5 WAR
David Wright, NYM, 3B: +2.5 WAR
Buster Posey, SFG, C: +2.1 WAR
Brandon Phillips, CIN, 2B: +2.0 WAR
Ryan Braun, MIL, OF: +1.8 WAR

Adam Wainwright, STL, SP: +3.8 WAR
Cliff Lee, PHI, SP: +2.8 WAR
Clayton Kershaw, LAD, SP: +2.8 WAR
Jordan Zimmermann, WAS, SP: +2.2 WAR
Craig Kimbrel, ATL, RP: +0.6 WAR

They’ve Earned It

You wouldn’t have necessarily pegged these guys as All-Stars headed into the season, but their 2013 performance has been so stellar that they have to be there. You might have a different line for how great a performance needs to be to overcome a lack of a track record, but these nine players should clear most people’s bar and get in based on their performance to date.

Carlos Gomez, MIL, OF: +3.9 WAR
Matt Carpenter, STL, 2B/3B: +3.4 WAR
Everth Cabrera, SD, SS: +3.2 WAR
Jean Segura, MIL, SS: +2.9 WAR
Paul Goldschmidt, ARI, 1B: +2.8 WAR
Dexter Fowler, COL, OF: +2.5 WAR
Shin-Soo Choo, CIN, OF: +2.2 WAR

Matt Harvey, NYM, SP: +3.0 WAR
Shelby Miller, STL, SP: +2.3 WAR

The Team Representative

These guys are mostly worthy candidates anyway, but they are also the best choice to represent the two franchises that did not have a player listed above.

Jeff Samardzija, CHC, SP: +2.0 WAR
Jose Fernandez, MIA, SP: +1.0 WAR

The Reserves

With 16 hitters and nine pitchers already on the roster, that leaves us nine spots to fill, so it’s time to start looking at where the holes are. We’ve already covered most of the spots on the field with the position players above, but because of the DH, we probably need to take an extra bat oriented player and then fill out the roster with deserving players. Here are the nine guys who both fit the All-Star criteria and fill the current openings.

Russell Martin, PIT, C: +2.0 WAR
Marco Scutaro, SFG, 2B: +2.0 WAR
Evan Gattis, ATL, C/OF: +1.9 WAR
Jedd Gyorko, SD, 2B/3B: +1.8 WAR
Bryce Harper, WAS, OF: +1.7 WAR

Pat Corbin, ARI, SP: +1.9 WAR
Jason Grilli, PIT, RP: +1.7 WAR
Mark Melancon, PIT, RP: +1.0 WAR
Aroldis Chapman, CIN, RP: +0.8 WAR

The Final Roster

That leaves us with these 34 players. The starters are listed first and are in bold, with the reserves afterwards. Because I know it’s going to come up, Carpenter is listed as the backup third baseman to Wright because there are no other viable All-Star third baseman in the NL this year, and so I took extra second baseman and shifted Carpenter back to third. While he probably has earned a starting spot based on his play, there’s no shame in backing up Wright, and if he started at second base, he’d have to play the whole game. So, Phillips gets the start at second and Carpenter is Wright’s reserve.

Name	Team	Position	PA	AVG	OBP	SLG	wOBA	wRC+	Fld	BsR	WAR
Yadier Molina	Cardinals	C	246	0.351	0.390	0.487	0.378	145	1.1	-1.3	2.6
Buster Posey	Giants	C	240	0.297	0.375	0.493	0.371	142	-1.6	-0.6	2.1
Russell Martin	Pirates	C	198	0.251	0.338	0.434	0.340	119	4.4	0.4	2.0
Joey Votto	Reds	1B	298	0.328	0.446	0.520	0.413	165	0.8	1.7	3.0
Paul Goldschmidt	Diamondbacks	1B	276	0.313	0.389	0.571	0.407	157	3.6	1.1	2.8
Brandon Phillips	Reds	2B	265	0.292	0.345	0.475	0.350	121	3.9	-0.2	2.0
Marco Scutaro	Giants	2B	258	0.332	0.388	0.444	0.365	137	-1.1	0.3	2.0
Jedd Gyorko	Padres	2B	255	0.284	0.341	0.461	0.347	128	-0.8	0.6	1.8
Troy Tulowitzki	Rockies	SS	245	0.353	0.420	0.651	0.450	179	6.2	-1.1	4.0
Everth Cabrera	Padres	SS	301	0.294	0.369	0.412	0.346	127	3.5	5.0	3.2
Jean Segura	Brewers	SS	268	0.340	0.373	0.538	0.390	150	-1.2	2.6	2.9
David Wright	Mets	3B	253	0.275	0.372	0.459	0.362	134	-0.1	5.1	2.5
Matt Carpenter	Cardinals	3B	281	0.327	0.409	0.473	0.386	150	5.7	0.8	3.4
Carlos Gomez	Brewers	OF	252	0.316	0.357	0.573	0.393	152	11.6	1.7	3.9
Carlos Gonzalez	Rockies	OF	281	0.300	0.377	0.615	0.418	157	1.0	2.9	3.0
Andrew McCutchen	Pirates	OF	259	0.290	0.359	0.455	0.350	125	5.2	2.3	2.5
Dexter Fowler	Rockies	OF	271	0.303	0.397	0.498	0.389	137	-0.4	3.6	2.5
Shin-Soo Choo	Reds	OF	300	0.280	0.430	0.483	0.400	155	-9.1	1.0	2.2
Ryan Braun	Brewers	OF	242	0.304	0.380	0.509	0.376	140	0.6	0.2	1.8
Bryce Harper	Nationals	OF	178	0.287	0.386	0.587	0.411	165	-0.2	-0.3	1.7
Evan Gattis	Braves	DH	175	0.263	0.326	0.603	0.386	148	1.7	0.3	1.9
–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
Name	Team	Position	IP	BB%	K%	HR/9	ERA-	FIP-	xFIP-	WAR	RA9WAR
Clayton Kershaw	Dodgers	SP	100.1	7%	25%	0.45	51	71	83	2.6	3.6
Adam Wainwright	Cardinals	SP	96.0	2%	24%	0.19	63	46	65	3.8	3.1
Matt Harvey	Mets	SP	90.0	6%	28%	0.40	57	58	74	3.0	3.4
Cliff Lee	Phillies	SP	95.1	4%	22%	0.47	66	65	85	2.8	2.7
Shelby Miller	Cardinals	SP	75.1	6%	28%	0.48	51	63	81	2.3	2.8
Jordan Zimmermann	Nationals	SP	94.2	4%	17%	0.57	52	80	91	2.2	3.5
Jeff Samardzija	Cubs	SP	85.0	8%	28%	0.85	80	77	78	2.0	1.6
Pat Corbin	Diamondbacks	SP	81.2	7%	20%	0.44	49	76	99	1.9	3.4
Jose Fernandez	Marlins	SP	65.1	9%	25%	0.83	82	89	90	1.0	1.2
Jason Grilli	Pirates	RP	27.2	6%	44%	0.00	26	12	44	1.7	1.5
Mark Melancon	Pirates	RP	31.1	3%	27%	0.29	31	47	50	1.0	1.6
Aroldis Chapman	Reds	RP	28.0	11%	42%	0.96	57	61	62	0.8	1.0
Craig Kimbrel	Braves	RP	24.1	6%	35%	1.11	48	74	58	0.6	1.1

And, finally, the starting line-up.

1. Andrew McCutchen, CF
2. Joey Votto, 1B
3. David Wright, 3B
4. Troy Tulowitzki, SS
5. Carlos Gonzalez, LF
6. Bryce Harper, DH
7. Carlos Gomez, RF
8. Yadier Molina, C
9. Brandon Phillips, 2B

Based on both career track record and 2013 performance, this is how I’d fill out the NL All-Star roster. There are a lot of great players who didn’t make the cut, and there are certainly judgment calls here that could have gone another direction, but overall, I think this is a pretty good set of players who would represent the National League quite well.