For a sixth straight season, the Giants will send at least three players to the All-Star Game. Both the National League and American League rosters were revealed Tuesday afternoon, and the Giants will be represented by Madison Bumgarner, Johnny Cueto and Buster Posey in San Diego on July 12.
Posey is the Giants’ only representative voted in by the fans. He leapfrogged Yadier Molina after several weeks of trailing the veteran Cardinals catcher. Posey is playing in his fourth All-Star Game and starting his third. He doesn’t lead the Giants in any major offensive categories, but is tied for the team lead with 10 home runs. Wilson Ramos has been the most productive National League catcher at the plate, leading in home runs, RBIs and OPS, but Posey has a slight defensive edge over the Nationals’ backstop.
And of course, the fan voting is a product of player popularity and reputation more than anything else, something Posey has plenty of with his three World Series rings, batting title and MVP and Rookie of the Year trophies.
It looks like the Giants will tinker their rotation to get Bumgarner a final start on Sunday, making him ineligible to participate in his fourth All-Star Game. So far, the Giants’ ace is on pace to produce his best season to date. His 126 strikeouts, 2.20 ERA and 1.02 WHIP are all top five in the NL. The Giants have won 12 of the 17 games he’s started, all the more reason to squeeze an extra start out of him in the final week of the first half.
Cueto’s been even more impressive in that vein to earn his second All-Star bid. The Giants have won 15 of his 17 starts. He’s given the Giants a boost they needed more than anything else: innings. No other National League pitcher has gotten more outs than Cueto, in part because he’s kept hitters in the park. He’s allowed only six home runs in 122 1/3 innings, translating to a microscopic 0.4 HR/9. His 4.65 K/BB ratio is fifth-best in the National League, and he stacks among the league’s best players in almost every statistical measurement.
The same holds true for Brandon Crawford and Brandon Belt, but both were squeezed out of All-Star bids. The Cubs’ Addison Russell and Anthony Rizzo got the nod at shortstop and first base, respectively. The starting infield for the National League All-Stars is made up entirely of Cubs, the first team to pull off that feat since the 1963 Cardinals.
Shortly after the starters were announced, MLB revealed the ‘Final Vote’ candidates and Belt made the cut.
NL #FinalVote candidates:
Belt, SF
Braun, MIL
Lamb, ARI
Marte, PIT
Story, COLhttps://t.co/AOTyLAxGBZhttps://t.co/iGEwvnR9bg— MLB (@MLB) July 5, 2016