Here is who I think should start the mid-summer classic this year.
NATIONAL LEAGUE
C Yadier Molina
1B Paul Goldschmidt
2B Brandon Phillips
SS Jean Segura
3B David Wright
OF Carlos Gonzalez
OF Andrew McCutchen
OF Carlos Beltran
SP Clayton Kershaw
1B is unbelievably stacked, and someone is going to get left off that deserves to be there. Â Allen Craig, Freddie Freeman, and Joey Votto are all worthy of starting. Â OF is the same way. Â CarGo is a lock, but there are another 8 OF that could make a claim, not to mention players like Yasiel Puig and Bryce Harper that missed large chunks of time. Â I am okay with Troy Tulowitzki being named starting SS, but I didn’t bother because he is hurt and can’t play. Â I won’t be mad if the hometown player, Matt Harvey is named starter. Â It’s worth mentioning though that:Â 1000 innings minimum, at least 100 starts, MLBÂ history, Clayton Kershaw has the lowest ERA…EVER.
AMERICAN LEAGUE
C Joe Mauer
1B Chris Davis
2B Robinson Cano
SS JJ Hardy
3B Miguel Cabrera
OF Mike Trout
OF Adam Jones
OF Nelson Cruz
SP Max Scherzer
2B is a dogfight, but I give a slight edge to Cano over Pedroia and Kipnis. Â 3B is loaded with Longoria, Donaldson, Beltre, and Machado, but Miggy is the obvious choice. Â OF isn’t nearly as deep or difficult to decide in the AL. Â I would have gone Yu Darvish most of the year as the starting pitcher, but I can’t ignore 13-0.