Boston Red Sox first baseman Mitch Moreland has been the best at his position in the American League this season and deserves to be an All-Star.
The American League squad in the 2018 MLB All-Star Game will be loaded with Boston Red Sox players. Mookie Betts, J.D. Martinez, Chris Sale and Craig Kimbrel are virtual locks to make the team.
Here’s a less obvious choice who is deserving of the honor nonetheless – Mitch Moreland.
The crop of AL first basemen is unusually lackluster, particularly when compared to the loaded field in the National League at the position. That takes nothing away from the stellar season that Moreland is having.
The 32-year old is having a career year, batting .302/.364/.611/.974 with 10 home runs, 2 triples, 12 doubles and 30 RBI.
Among AL first baseman with 150+ plate appearances this season, Moreland leads in batting average, slugging, and OPS. He’s second in extra-base hits and third in home runs. His 1.6 WAR is the highest in the league at the position.
He’s done all this at the plate while still providing his usual Gold Glove-caliber defense.
Moreland isn’t a household name and could be overlooked in the fan voting in favor of more popular names like Miguel Cabrera and Jose Abreu. If the goal is to reward the best players this season rather than turn the voting into a popularity contest, Moreland is the clear winner.
Any perception that he’s unworthy stems from his track record as a player who has been solid but never a star. He’s a career .255 hitter who has never topped 23 home runs or 85 RBI in a season. Those numbers don’t scream All-Star.
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His numbers this year do. He’s producing at a level that would put him in the conversation most years. Given how watered down the first base position is in the AL this year, Moreland should cruise to a starting spot.
The only thing holding Moreland back is playing time. The Red Sox jettisoned Hanley Ramirez in part because they wanted Moreland to be an everyday player. That still left Moreland in a platoon role until Hanley’s release a couple weeks ago. As a result, Moreland has tallied only 165 plate appearances, falling shy of the number required to qualify for the batting title race. That will rectify itself eventually with Moreland receiving more playing time now that Ramirez is out of the way. For now though, being an unqualified hitter could be held against him by voters.
Abreu is the only AL first baseman who comes close to Moreland’s production at the plate. He has an edge in several counting stats, mostly due to having over 80 more at-bats. Abreu also isn’t the defensive player that Moreland is. Fan voters do love those counting stats though and rarely pay much attention to defense unless they’re filling highlight reels with web gems.
The rest of the field is pretty far behind. Oakland’s Matt Olson and Toronto’s Justin Smoak have put up similar power numbers but are struggling to keep their batting averages above the .250 mark. Those two, along with Moreland and Abreu, are the only AL first basemen with a WAR above 1.0 this season.
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Even if Moreland falls short in the often misguided fan voting process, he should warrant one of the reserve spots. One way or another, Moreland should be making his first All-Star appearance this year.