Nestor Cortes leads list of 10 standouts who deserve to be first
June 10, 2022
(Getty Images)
Yeah, it’s great to see future Hall of Famers and established stars on the field for baseball’s annual All-Star contest and the surrounding events.
But for my money, the best part is seeing players make their first All-Star appearance. There’s just sMLB Hatsomething special about that validation, whether the player was voted in by the fans or chosen by his peers or the manager. That first All-Star nod is the “I belong” moment for players who have dedicated their life to the sport.
MLB AWARD ODDS: MVP | Cy Young | Rookie of the Year
So today we’re going to look at 10 players — five position players, three starting pitchers and two relievers — who deserve to make their All-Star debuts in Los Angeles in mid-July. For this particular exercise, we’re not looking at impact rookies (sorry, Julio Rodriguez and Jeremy Pena) and we’re not looking at second-year standouts, either (sorry, Alek Manoah, Shane McClanahan and Logan Gilbert).
We’re only looking at players who are in at least thMLB Autographed Memorabiliaeir third full big-league season. Most of these guys struggled to even show they belong in the bigs, much less make an All-Star roster.
SP Nestor Cortes, Yankees
Cortes’ am youth atlanta braves hoodie azing story deserves an All-Star chapter in 2022. This is a guy who was originally drafted by the Yankees in 2013, then picked by the Orioles in the 2017 Rule 5 draft and returned to the Yankees a couple of weeks into the 2018 season. Then, he was traded to the Mariners in 2019 for “future considerations.” Considering that he had a 15.26 ERA for Seattle, maybe it’s not surprising that Baseball-Reference lists nothing about what those future considerations turned atlanta braves jersey plus size out to be.
But Cortes was a revelation for the Yankees in 2021, rolling up a 2.90 ERA in a variety of roles, each with more and more importance as the season progressed. Having earned his spot in the rotati atlanta braves game used jersey on heading into 2022, he’s been better than anyone could have expected. The lefty with the “Nasty Nestor” nickname had his first hiccup start this week, but he still owns a 1.96 ERA in 11 starts, with a solid 2.85 FIP and very healthy 5.07 K/BB ratio. He absolutely deserves a spot on the AL roster.
SP Pablo López, Marlins
The López story isn’t quite as dramatic as the Cortes story, but he was once part of the Seattle organization, too, before he was traded to Miami in a 2017 deal that sent reliever David Phelps out west. López has been no stranger to the majors, but he’s had various issues sticking in the Marlins’ rotation, either because of injuries or inconsistencies. He made 10 starts in 2018, 21 in 2019, 11 in 2020 (that was a full pandemic season) and then 20 in 2021.
And maybe we should have seen this All-Star version of López coming, if we were paying attention last year. Lopez made those 20 mostly anonymous starts — well, anonymous to baseball fans at large, but not to Marlins fans or the hitters he was mowing down — and fashioned a 3.07 ERA, with a 10.1 K/9 mark. Whatever spotlight exists in Miami was focused on the wildly under-appreciated Sandy Alcantara, and it didn’t help that López landed on the disabled list right before the All-Star break and made just one more brief appearance in October.
López allowed just a single run in four April starts, and he’s allowed more than one run in just three of his 11 starts this season. López has a 2.18 ERA, with a stingy 0.97 WHIP and just 6.4 hits allowed per nine.
MORE: MLB All-Star voting 2022: How it works, fan vote end date, latest results
SP Joe Musgrove, Padres
Musgrove leads the NL with a 6-0 record, a perfect 1.000 winning percentage. That alone should get him the starting nod for the Senior Circuit.
I kid, I kid. Winning percentage for pitchers is a stupid stat (same with pitcher W/L records), but Musgrove really does deserve a spot on the NL squad.
He’s made 10 starts with a 1.64 ERA and he’s pitched at least six full innings every time he’s taken the mound. A decade ago, that wouldn’t have been a big deal. Now, it’s rare — and important. In his “worst” start of the year, as determined by Game Score, Musgrove threw six innings, allowed seven hits, two earned runs and one walk, with four strikeouts.
DH Yordan Álvarez, Astros
Álvarez can just mash the baseball. The left-handed slugger hit 27 homers in 87 games as a rookie in 2019 and 33 in 144 games in 2021 (he played just two games in 2020). This year, he has 17 in 51 games.
But know what’s really impressive about his performance this season? He’s cut way down on his strikeouts. In his first three seasons, Álvarez had a strikeout percentage of 24.6. That’s high, but not crazy high and acceptable for a home-run hitter. In 2022, though? His strikeout percentage is just 15.4 percent. That’s a huge improvement.
In 2021, Álvarez had basically three strikeouts for every walk: 145 strikeouts, 50 walks.
This year, it’s damn near a 1:1 ratio: 28 walks, 33 strikeouts.
He absolutely deserves a spot on the AL roster in LA.
1B Ty France and SS J.P. Crawford, Mariners
Yeah, OK, we’re bending the “five position players only” rules because how in the world can you choose between these two Mariners teammates? France leads the club with a 2.9 bWAR, and Crawford is right behind at 2.5. Crawford, who has been Seattle’s starting shortstop for a couple years, is posting offensive highs across the board, with a .294/.382/.442 slash line that includes three career bests. He’s also stNolan Arenado riking out less and walking more, which is always a good combination.
And France, well, all he does it hit. He’s batting .327 with a .402 on-base percentage and 163 OPS+ to go with nine homers and 38 RBIs. And his strikeout percentage of 12.1 is 12th of 161 qualified batters in the bigs. Impressive.
RF Taylor Ward, Angels
Ward was one of this season’s out-of-nowhere success stories. He made his MLB debut in 2018, playing a total of 159 games with 15 homers and a .693 OPS heading into the 2022 season. He nearly matched that home run total in 38 games before landing on the IL with a hamstring issue, popping 10 over the fence and producing a stellar .333/.443/.644 slash line, good for a 211 OPS+ and 2.1 bWAR. Crazy stuff.
The Angels are hoping he’ll be back soon, and if he continues to put up numbers anything like he did in those first 38 games he will have earned a spot in the All-Star team.
2B Andrés Giménez, Guardians
Giménez made his debut with thExpress e Mets during the pandemic year, then struggled in his first season in Cleveland; he combined to post an 84 OPS+ in 117 games over those two years.
Safe to say he’s been a different player at the plate in 2022. Giménez, who was dealt to the AL as part of the deal that sent Francisco Lindor to New York, already set his career high with seven homers and his OPS+ is sitting at a tidy 149, which pairs nicely with his .309 average. At 23, he’s younger than the other players on this list, but he’s in his third full season so he makes the cut. And he deserves a spot.
SS Tommy Edman, Cardinals
He might not have Alvarez’s eye-popping power or a batting average to match Ward or Fra atlanta braves jersey youth nce, but take a look at the WAR leaderboards. He’s third among position players on the Baseball-Reference chart, at 3.1, and he's fourth by the FanGraphs’ calculation, at 2.8. He’s tied with teammate Harrison Bader for the NL lead in stolen bases, with 14.
And he’s stepped up when the Cardi atlanta braves jersey classic nals needed him. The club put Dylan Carlson in the leadoff spot to start the season, but he struggled and Edman stepped in. The MLB Jerseysfront office decided this season that Paul DeJong was still going to be the team’s shortstop — despite mounds of evidence showing that wasn’t the best decision — and when they finally sent DeJong to the minors with a .130 average, .417 OPS and 22 OPS+, Edman was shifted over to shortstop, even though he hadn’t played more than a handful of games there since he was in Double-A in 2018.
RP Clay Holmes, Yankees
Yankees fans might have rioted if Holmes wasn’t on this list. He’s been just incredible since the Yankees stole him from Pittsburgh, posting a 1.61 ERA last year and a microscopic 0.33 ERA this season, with almost twice as many strikeouts (29) as hits allowed (15). And he’s stepped into the closer role after Aroldis Chapman’s issues, going a perfect 9-for-9 in save opportunities.
RP J.P. Feyereisen, Rays
When you get a minute, take a look at all the relievers having phenomenal seasons. The competition for this second bullpen spot was tough. So why Feyereisen?
Because zero-zero-zero.
That’s how many earned runs he’s allowed this season. In 22 appearances covering 24 1/3 innings, Feyereisen has a 0.00 ERA on the season. He’s allowed just seven hits and five walks while striking out 25. Did we mention he has a 0.00 ERA? Don’t even care that he’s on the IL at the moment. He gets a spot.