Coming up to the All-Star Break

60. Yasmani Grandal is one of the most dependable catchers that modern baseball has ever seen. Power, contact, a great defensive catcher, a perfect arm, everything you can ask for. His 15 homers already are 1st in the NL, 2nd in all of baseball for catchers. His power is great for the Brewers because more fire power is always good. His hits are second in baseball for catchers, only two behind in fact. He has 59 defensive runs saved as a catcher in his career, which just proves that he is a perfect catcher. Adding a little speed is always good and that’s what he’s doing, 3 bags in his pocket this year, that’s tied for second among catchers this year, second to a candidate you would never expect, Yadier Molina. If he could strike out 5% less (right now his SO% is 20%). I don’t know a single guy who has fewer runs than walks, that’s how good Grandal’s batter eye is. He needs help with this extra base hits, 62 hits with 120 total bases, that’s just not an appealing ratio. I think he’s good where he is.

59. Tommy Pham has too much hype surrounding him all over. The Rays pretty much think that he’s worthy of the MVP award and more. Last year when he went to Tampa he went off with 7 homers, 22 RBIs and 5 stolen bases in 39 games. This year, he doesn’t get extra base hits this year, only 116 total bases with 73 hits and 21 XBHs. This guy has amazing hustle as he knows he’s in his thirties, most guys in their thirties just absolutely don’t care, dinger or nothing. Pham has just a normal batter’s eye, a normal centerfielder, with a little more speed. He strikes out in about 18% of his plate appearances, if he could make it 15% that would make him arguably the best player on the Rays. He plays very aggressively on the bases, 31 runs, 2 triples and 6 bags. He’s never won a Gold Glove and I don’t think he will, I mean, you know, Mike Trout is right there. He has 6 errors and 13 defensive runs saved in his whole career. I think he’s not horrible but he’s a really good, solid player that brings charisma to his team along with talent. I think he’s good where he is.

58. Two-way star Shohei Ohtani started last year. I think he’s a lot worse than the hype that was around him in the beginning of the 2018 season. He’s a much better hitter than pitcher. He’s not horrible, 4-2, 63 Ks, 3.31 ERA. But hitting is just much better: 22 HRs, 21 doubles, 93 hits, 10 SBs and a .285 average. He was injured in the beginning of the year and he’s played 36 games, with 9 homers and 30 RBIs, that’s some players’ stats even when they’ve played 70 or so games. The Japanese rookie can also put on the jets and aggressive base running into play with 10 steals last year and 2 steals and 1 triple this year. The Rookie of the Year won’t have a chance against the big, power hitting DHs in the league to get an All-Star selection. He has a trained batter’s eye, great want to be the best on the Angels and to try to hit the ball as far as he can. Ohtani strikes out a lot, ¼ of his at-bats are Ks. He gets an extra base hit in 28% of his hits. I think he should go up to the high 40s.

57. Andrew Benintendi is really underrated, the Red Sox needed someone in the outfield in late 2016 and they called him up, not a lot of hype around him, didn’t produce, 2 homers, 14 RBIs and a nice .295 average. In, 2017, kills it, 20 homers, 20 doubles and 20 stolen bases, 90 RBIs and 155 hits and finishes second in Rookie of the Year voting. I think he is a sure All-Star and should be for every season up until he starts hitting only 40 hits a season and playing 100 games. Every good MLB writer knows that he has a bunch of pop, but speed is the factor that sooooo many people overlook. He has gap power, he has homer power, he’s a great contact hitter, he can get on base, and he’s like the player everyone wished for. His only rough spot is that he has as many hits as strikeouts, which really sucks. I think if he could fix that up and get a .300 average he could be one of or not the best overall player on the Red Sox. I think he should be in the high 30s.

56. James Paxton is a lethal southpaw, who makes his pitches dance and fool batters like absolutely nobody’s business. He’s not really showed himself this year, 4-3, a 3.93 ERA, 71 Ks, but the Yanks wanted him for more. In Seattle, he was really good, especially last season, 11-6, 3.76 ERA and 208 Ks, the cherry on top to that season was a no-hitter. He gave up about a hit per inning, 0.83 to be exact, which is actually a lot. He strikes out about 30% of his batters faced, walks only 9% and gives up a hit to 21% of his batter’s faced. He never had an All-Star appearances (Snubbed!), didn’t finish anywhere in Cy-Young voting, this man is really underrated. He isn’t a very faulty defender, no errors this year and only 6 errors in his 7 seasons. Last season would probably be his best season, 11-6, career highs in everything except ERA (3.76), his most innings pitched, 160.1, 208 hits, 134 hits and only, only 67 runs and all of them were earned. I don’t think he has a neon colored flaw in his performance but if I were to ask, then I would say he needs to go a little farther into games, he does pitch a lot, but for a pitcher of his caliber, he has to deeper into games. I think that he should be moved up 5 spots.

Can anyone stop Pete Alonso? Should Barry Bonds think about giving up his crown? He’s already broken the Mets rookie homerun record (26, set by Darryl Strawberry, Pete has 27). I think Mark McGwire and Barry Bonds should have something keeping them up at night. The Mets have done pretty much the impossible, they played a 4-game series against the NL Central leading Cubs and won three, I think after the Mets get Brandon Nimmo and Jed Lowrie back the Mets will have a big chance at the division.

Christian Yelich is just ripping the cover off the ball lately. I don’t even know how he has 29 homers and a .345 average, he has speed, a great glove and he deserves the All-Star start more than anyone in the NL outfield. I just don’t know how Pete Alonso didn’t get the All-Star selection, he has the second-most homers in MLB, that’s just crazy, Pete Alonso is better at every major batting stat except average and OBP, and Pete has .001 less than him in average and .023 in OBP. I think Fernando Tatis Jr. should totally make it to the All- Star Game, his hustle/speed is his strong suit, I absolutely love his passion for the game, I think any team needs this guy. I heard that the Mets are toying with the idea of putting Amed Rosario in center, so, with the empty shortstop hole, I think maybe Tatis could fit in there. Tatis has 8 homers, 9 SBs, a .318 batting average with 50 hits. Another amazing piece on his resume is that he literally tagged up and scored on a pop up to second base, SECOND BASE! Ronald Acuna Jr. really hit the ground running after the Braves put him in the leadoff spot in May, he has 17 dingers, 49 RBIs, 52 runs and a .288 batting average. Albert Pujols had some very special moments when he came back to St. Louis after getting traded 7 years ago, a standing ovation in his first at-bat, greeting with all his former teammates. He had 9 All-Star appearances, 6 Silver Sluggers, a Gold Glove, Rookie of the Year, 3 MVPs and 2 World Series. He had 445 dingers, 2073 hits, 455 doubles and led baseball twice in homers. He’s a great fielder, ranging from the outfield to first base, he only committed 107 errors in his 19 seasons, but everyone knows him for his hitting. It is really surprising that Tommy La Stella is making a case for an All-Star appearance because just 5 years ago, Tommy played 93 games and hit only 1 HR, 31 RBIs with a .251 BA, this season he played 71 games and hit 15 homers, 41 RBIs and a .295 BA. The Yankees have homered in 26 straight games, which rushes past their record, set in 1941. I think Nomar Mazara broke StatCast, he smokes the ball 505 into the last row of the upper deck, this isn’t the first time, he’s done this, and he’s done it a few times. Javier Baez, Cubs shortstop, the Cubs shortstop who can do it all, hits a go ahead homer in the bottom of the 8th inning on a 0-2 count, against, it hurts me to say this, the Mets, but I just had to include it. Mariano Rivera hit an inside the park home run on Old Timer’s Day, it was really cool, a reliever hit an inside the park homer, WOW.