Red Sox with the best chance of making the 2022 All-Star game
Which Red Sox players have the best chance of making the All-Star game?
The All-Star game is less than two months away, and like most recent years, the Boston Red Sox should be well represented at the festivities. After all, a lineup that leads the American League in runs scored and a pitching staff that is eighth in the majors in ERA (per FanGraphs) is bound to have a few All-Stars on the roster.
For todays article, I decided to take a look at which players on the Red Sox are most likely to be headed to Los Angeles for the 2022 All-Star game.
Just because a player isn’t on this list, however, doesn’t mean they have no shot at making the Midsummer Classic. A player like Alex Verdugo, who is already hitting .328 over his last 16 games, is just one good month from entering the All-Star conversation.
These are just preliminary rankings, and there is still a long way to go before the exhibition is played.
Red Sox C Christian Vazquez
Christian Vazquez has had a lot of good moments during his nine-year career, but this season may be his best. After a slow start, Vazquez caught absolute fire in May, batting .343 over his last 19 games to raise his average to .281. That, along with his still above-average defense, make Vazquez one of the best catchers in the league.
In most years, Vazquez’s numbers would be good enough for at least a reserve role on the All-Star team considering how weak the catcher spot is around the league. His candidacy, however, faces a major obstacle in the form of Alejandro Kirk. The Blue Jays backstop is having a breaking campaign, slashing .306/.389/.465 and is more than doubling Vazquez’s WAR 1.9 to 0.8.
Vazquez also faces stiff competition for the backup spot. The Rangers Jonah Heim is similarly having a career year and is second to Kirk with a .780 OPS. The Twins Gary Sanchez has seven home runs and leads all AL catchers with 27 RBIs. And despite spending time on the IL, perennial starter Salvador Perez still leads Junior Circuit backstops with 8 home runs.
Simply put, Vazquez is going to need to have another month like May to have a shot at the AL roster.
Red Sox 2B Trevor Story
It’s hard to believe that we’re even having a discussion about Trevor Story in the All-Star game. After all, the second baseman was slashing .194/.276/.269 as recently as May 8. Yet a torrid few weeks has caused Story’s overall numbers to explode, and he now leads AL second baseman in runs and RBIs while playing elite defense and stealing seven bases in as many tries.
Yet as good as Story’s May was, he still has some significant warts in his game that put a dent in his All-Star candidacy. His average sits at a measly .225, which may prevent many casual baseball observers from voting for him regardless of his advanced metrics, and his 67 strikeouts are the second-most in the AL. These numbers don’t mean he’s a bad player, but when it comes to picking players for an All-Star team, every flaw matters.
Then there’s the matter of his competition. Perennial starter Jose Altuve is having another remarkable season, slashing .280/.354/.535 with 11 home runs, and looks to be on track for the starting spot despite missing 10 games with an injury. The backup spot, meanwhile, looks to be held down by the Guardians’ Andres Gimenez, who is enjoying a breakout campaign and leads the position with a 2.2 WAR.
Story might have the best overall package of skills of any AL second baseman, but the low batting average and gaudy strikeout numbers might overshadow his RBI and stolen base numbers. One more good month might push him into the conversation, but as of right now, he’s likely on the outside looking in.
Red Sox SS Xander Bogaerts
There’s been no shortage of great shortstops in the American League this season. The Astros’ Jeremy Pena is likely the AL Rookie of the Year favorite, posting a 130 OPS+ and a fantastic 2.7 WAR. The Mariners J.P Crawford hasn’t let the team’s underperformance affect him, setting career highs in batting average, on-base percentage, and slugging. Then there’s Bo Bichette, Corey Seager, and Wander Franco, each underperforming a bit but entirely capable of putting together a torrid month.
Despite the deep talent at the position, the AL All-Star shortstop spot looks to be between the White Sox’s Tim Anderson and the Red Sox’s Xander Bogaerts. Anderson is having another great season at the plate, currently placing third in the AL with a .356 average, and is a perfect eight-for-eight in stolen bases. Bogaerts, meanwhile, is slashing .322/.390/.485 and has the slight edge to Anderson in WAR, 2.0 to 1.9.
Anderson might get the starting nod if the first half ended today, but a groin injury that’s expected to sideline him until late June may shift the tides in Bogaerts’ favor. There’s a lot of talented players that are right on his heels, but as of right now, Bogaerts appears to have the inside track to the starting spot at the six.
Red Sox 3B Rafael Devers
Rafael Devers has had dominant seasons before, but this looks like the first campaign where he will be a legitimate MVP contender. He leads the majors in both hits and total bases, slashing an incredible .339/.369/.600 in the process. He’s also worked hard to improve his defense, upgrading his glove work from “future DH” to “I guess he could stick at the position.”
In basically any other year, Devers would be a shoo-in for the starting third base spot in the All-Star. Yet Devers is not the only AL third baseman having potentially historic seasons. The Guardians’ Jose Ramirez is slashing an incredible .291/.393/.632 with 14 home runs and a league-leading 53 RBIs. He has drawn 19 more walks and struck out 29 fewer times than Devers, and has a 0.2 lead in WAR.
At this point, it’s anyone’s guess who is going to start the All-Star game at third base. Both players are fantastic, and who gets to start is really going to come down to who has the better month and a half leading up to the All-Star game. Either way, Red Sox fans should expect to see their franchise cornerstone in Los Angeles this summer.
Red Sox DH J.D Martinez
Let’s be clear here: Yordan Alvarez is going to start the All-Star game at DH for the American League. The Astros slugger may not have a blow-you away average, but he is second in the majors with 16 home runs and fourth in the majors with a 187 OPS+. Alvarez has been the games best hitter since an early April slump, slashing an unfathomable .318/.420/.644 since April 25.
The presence of Alvarez is a tough break for J.D Martinez, who is having a fantastic season in his own right. The 34-year old currently places second in big leagues with a .358 batting average, and while he only has five home runs, he’s tied for fifth in the majors with 18 doubles. That lack of homers, however, is likely to be the reason why Alvarez starts the midsummer classic while Martinez is left to fight for a roster spot.
Martinez’s All-Star chances are likely to come down to his head-to-head comparison with Shoehi Ohtani. Martinez has clearly been the better hitter this season, as evident by a nearly 110 point advantage in batting average, but Ohtani also has the advantage of being an All-Star caliber pitcher. Ohtani hasn’t been otherworldly on the mound this season, but combined with his hitting value, the overall package is greater than what Martinez can offer.
It’s hard to imagine a player that’s hitting .358 not making the All-Star team, but that’s exactly what Martinez is looking at because of the other outstanding DH’s in the American League. Martinez is going to need to start hitting for power or risk being the odd man out of a stacked AL roster.
Red Sox starting pitchers
The biggest surprise of the 2022 Red Sox season has been the success of the starting rotation. The Sox went into the season knowing they could depend on 2021 All-Star Nathan Eovaldi, who has been fantastic except for one start against the Astros, but the other starters have been just as good.
Nick Pivetta got off to a rocky start this season but has settled in to become one of the games best number two starters, posting a 1.32 ERA over his last six starts. Michael Wacha meanwhile, has outperformed his peripherals to the tune of a 1.99 ERA, while Garrett Whitlock has fought through some early struggles to settle in nicely to the fourth rotation spot.
As good as the rotation has been so far, it’s likely none of the starters would make the All-Star team if the first half ended today. That’s because the American League is filled with both middling pitchers having career years and young ones breaking out.
The likely AL starting pitcher right now would be Martin Perez, who had a career 4.71 ERA entering this season, while Nestor Cortes (4.66 ERA entering 2022) and Paul Blackburn (5.74) are also having career seasons. As if that’s not enough, future Hall of Famer Justin Verlander has returned from Tommy John surgery with no ill effects, going 6-2 with a 2.23 ERA.
But what’s really been the story of the first two months of the season is the emergence of young starters around the league. 25-and-unders such as Alek Monoah, Shane Mclanahan, Logan Gilbert and Tarik Skubal have all taken the next step this season, each having a lower ERA on the Red Sox starter.
As good as the Red Sox starting rotation has been, none of the pitchers are All-Star worthy. Their numbers are more good than great, especially when compared with other American League starters. Yet, as we’re seeing with Pivetta, a good month can change everything, and each of these starters are six or seven great outings away from being right in the thick of an All-Star conversation.
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