Phase 1 2023 MLB All-Star Game voting opened on Wednesday afternoon.
Until 12:00 p.m. on June 22, fans can vote five times per 24 hours to decide which players will advance to the second round, which determines the starters for each team, also by fan vote. The first round will also award the player who receives the most votes in their league with automatic entry into the starting nine at their usual position.
Fans can essentially vote for anyone; they can even write in players. In 2018, Dustin Pedroia was on the ballot, despite only playing three games the entire season. Adam Duvall only played eight games before fracturing his left wrist, but Red Sox fans may write him into their ballots, if they so choose.
Therein lies the problem with the annual midsummer event. Fans, by definition, are biased towards their favorite players and teams, and often vote loyally, even if the player is undeserving of All-Star honors. Facts and figures will be disregarded, superseded by favoritism.
But from an actual performance standpoint, do the Red Sox actually have any All-Stars this year? And how do they stack up against their competition?
It’s currently easy to rule out the majority of the roster, but here are four of Boston’s more likely contenders (all stats entering Thursday):
Alex Verdugo is one of Boston’s most legitimate All-Star candidates. Among qualified American League outfielders, he leads the pack with 16 doubles. With his fellow qualified AL right-fielders, he ranks first in hits (60), second in batting average (.294) and on-base percentage (.368), third in runs (38), and fourth in slugging (.456) and OPS (.824), one of four in the group with an OPS above .800. In the more nitty-gritty department of stats, he’s been clutch, leading the majors with three walk-off RBI.
Unfortunately, Verdugo plays the same position as reigning AL MVP Aaron Judge, who’s hitting .298 and leading the league’s outfielders with 18 home runs and an out-of-this-world 1.089 OPS.
Verdugo has little chance of taking the starting job from Judge, but he could make the cut as a reserve, especially if he keeps up his strong start to the season.
To be clear, a so-so season by Rafael Devers is still miles ahead of most players. He ranks in the 90th percentile or better in Average Exit Velocity, Maximum Exit Velocity, Hard-Hit Rate, and Expected Slugging, and his strikeout rate is exactly average.
That said, he’s no shoo-in for starting third baseman. True, he leads qualified AL players at his position with 47 RBI and 13 home runs, and he and Texas’ Josh Jung (12) are the only two with double-digit round-trippers. One-third of the way through the season, Devers is nearly halfway to matching his 2022 total, 27 homers in 141 games.
But within the aforementioned group, Devers is fourth in runs (28) and sixth in hits (51), and though he’s far from the worst strikeout culprit, has the second-fewest walks (11). Despite Fenway Park’s reputation as a doubles paradise (the Red Sox lead MLB in doubles and led in them last year, as well), he only ranks third (13).
He may be one of his team’s best hitters, and Red Sox fans will surely vote for their beloved superstar, but is he truly worthy of the starting honors?
Pitchers aren’t on the fan ballot, but the Red Sox do have some potential All-Star arms in the bullpen.
In his first season in the American League, Kenley Jansen has been one of its most reliable bullpen arms this season.
He’s converted 11 saves in 14 opportunities, including his 400th career save, and he boasts impressive percentile rankings nearly across the board.
Despite a bit of a meltdown in his last appearance, Josh Winckowski has been one of the league’s best relievers this season.
After making his debut as a starter last summer, the 24-year-old right-hander began the ongoing season in a long relief role. Despite only making 19 appearances, his 33 2/3 innings rank second among AL relievers, and he owns a strong 2.14 ERA and 1.04 WHIP.