Chicago White Sox: 3 favorites for All-Star game voting
All-Star game voting opened on Thursday and the question on everyone’s mind is who from the Chicago White Sox deserves to be playing in the Midsummer Classic.
The Chicago White Sox has plenty of players who deserve to be All-Stars.
This will be the 91st installment of the Midsummer Classic and it will be held in Coors Field. The National League team will be managed by World Series champion, Dave Roberts of the Dodgers. This is the third consecutive year that he will manage the team. The American League team will be led by David Cash. Each one will need to construct a lineup of nine fan-selected starters.
Pitchers and reserves for each team will be decided through a combination of Player Ballots and selections made by the Commissioner’s Office. The Chicago White Sox has plenty of worthy players to choose from.
Carlos Rodon has thrown a no-hitter and also has one of the lowest ERAs in baseball. Lance Lynn was undefeated in May and has a microscopic 1.23 ERA. Liam Hendriks was named AL Reliever of the Month in May and has 14 saves on the season.
Yermin Mercedes burst onto the scene and took the baseball world by storm with his historic start. Jose Abreu continues to be the model of consistency. Yoan Moncada is tearing the cover off the ball and looking to make his first All-Star team. Tim Anderson continues to be electric and is also looking to make his Mudsummer Classic debut.
Because of the White Sox record, there is a good chance that multiple players are representing them in Denver for the All-Star game. Chicago is also a major market that should increase fan participation in the voting. These are the three favorites to make the All-Star team for the Chicago White Sox:
128. . 1B. Chicago White Sox. Jose Abreu. 79. player
Jose Abreu would be the perfect first baseman for the American League All-Stars.
Jose Abreu has been the heart and soul of this White Sox team. This season he has personified the word value. In April, he preserved Carlos Rodón’s no-hitter with a spectacular defensive play at first base.
When Abreu first arrived in the MLB, he was a below-average defender. He has worked on his craft each offseason and emerged as a legitimate Gold-Glove candidate. This season he has made several difficult catches, gotten runners out at home plate with his arm, and snagged numerous line drives with diving efforts.
In May, he got in a violent collision trying to catch a pop fly. He needed to be helped off the field. The next day he was back on the field sporting a bandage on his face and he hit a home run. He closed out that series by putting his body on the line in a mad dash home after Wade Davis threw a wild pitch. Abreu slid around a tag on the same ankle he bruised two days before to win the game for the White Sox.
At the plate, Abreu has been his usual productive self. He is hitting .258 with a team-leading 11 home runs and 46 RBIs. He is also sporting an impressive .828 OPS. He showed off his clutch gene with an epic at-bat in extra innings against the Cleveland Indians that resulted in a go-ahead sac fly. Abreu won player of the week on May 30th. Abreu has already made three AL All-Star teams. A fourth could be on the horizon.
128. . 3B. Chicago White Sox. Yoan Moncada. 10. player
The Chicago White Sox have absolutely loved what they have seen from Yoan Moncada.
An argument could be made that Yoan Moncada could be the MVP for this season. He is currently the best player on the best team in the American League. The White Sox rank fourth in runs scored. Moncada is spearheading the offensive attack for the White Sox. He ranks first in batting average (.299), first in OBP (.426), first in hits (56), first in doubles (12) second in RBIs (30), and second in runs (29).
At the rate, he is going his numbers project to be even better than his breakout 2019 season. At the plate, Moncada can do no wrong. He is seeing the ball incredibly well and drawing walks. When he does swing the bat he is doing damage.
Over his last 30 games, Moncada is hitting .323 with 32 hits 15 RBIs, and a .468 OBP. His .429 batting average on balls in play is well above the MLB average of .297. Even his outs are crushed as 17 outs off his bat this year have been hit over 100 mph. In May, his average exit velocity was 95.4 mph.
His power is suddenly starting to emerge as well. During his past 15 games, he has two home runs. In his past seven, he has a .444 slugging percentage.
Moncada has also provided the White Sox with a slick glove at third base. He continues to impress making accurate off-balance throws on the run. His reflexes and range make it difficult to pull a ball past him. The numbers show he is the third baseman in the American League. He ranks first in fWAR, first in wRC+, first in DRS, first in OBP, and second in OPS. Simply put Moncada, is an All-Star and should be rewarded for his efforts.
SS. Chicago White Sox. Tim Anderson. 7. player. 128.
Tim Anderson is one of the best players the Chicago White Sox have going right now.
Tim Anderson is a fan favorite on the Southside and across baseball. His bat flip against Brad Keller was one of the most memorable moments of the past couple of seasons. It has even been immortalized in a bobblehead.
Despite being one of the faces of Major League Baseball, Tim Anderson has yet to make an appearance in an All-Star game. This may be shocking to some. He has already been on the cover of Sports Illustrated and RBI Baseball. In 2016 he finished seventh in the Rookie of the Year race. In 2019 he had a breakout campaign posting a league-leading .335 batting average, earning him a batting title.
He followed that up in 2020 by hitting .322, with 10 home runs, and a league-leading 45 runs scored. His performance earned him a Silver Slugger Award and a seventh-place finish in the MVP race. On top of all of that, he has emerged as an elite defensive shortstop. His number of errors has reduced every year while his fielding percentage has steadily gone up. His pure athleticism and arm strength have robbed hits from many unfortunate opponents.
This season, Anderson has picked up where he left off. He is hitting .296 with six home runs, 18 RBIs, and a .769 OPS. Anderson missed some time due to injury and the results are night and day when he is not at the top of the order.
Related Story. Lance Lynn continues to dominate for the White Sox. light
Anderson was snubbed of an All-Star bid in 2019. In 2021 it is time for fans to make things right. The American League’s most exciting player should not be on the sideline once again for the Midsummer Classic.