Atlanta Braves: 5 players who could be All-Stars
By Sam Peebles
All-Star voting has begun, and there are multiple Atlanta Braves players that are worthy of being selected
First, it should be noted that the offensive starter selections are largely a popularity contest since they are selected by the fans. However, that is what makes it so fun. It gets the fans directly involved.
Fortunately, the Atlanta Braves are popular right now. They have had their longest winning streak since 2013, just won a World Series, and are on pace to draw 3 million fans for the first time since 2000.
With this in mind, odds lean toward the Atlanta Braves having some starters for the 2022 All-Star game. On the pitching side of things, the Braves should have no issues drawing some selections as well, even though the fans do not select them.
Which Atlanta Braves players have the best chance to make the 2022 All-Star game?
As of right now, the most likely selection may be Dansby Swanson. He was already going to get quite a few votes from Braves fans since he is a fan favorite, but he is also having the best year of his career.
Swanson currently is 2nd in National League shortstops in Fangraphs Wins Above Replacement (fWAR), ahead of Francisco Lindor and Trea Turner respectively. Tommy Edman is the current leader.
Swanson currently has a slash line of .292/.355/.448 with 7 home runs and 32 RBIs. He is currently 2nd in the NL in OPS. From an OPS+ standpoint, he’s at 124, which is 32% better than his career average.
Fortunately for Swanson, 2 of his biggest competitors for votes in Corey Seager and Trevor Story have left for the American League. However, 2 other competitors come from large market teams in Trea Turner and Francisco Lindor. Edman does lead NL in fWAR and is on a first-place team, but voters seem to favor offensive numbers when voting and Edman’s fWAR has been boosted largely by his defense.
Swanson will garner votes from Braves fans, and has been good enough to get votes from fans of other teams too. Even if he does not get enough votes, he has a good shot to make the All-Star team as a backup or replacement.
Unlike offensive starters, pitchers are not selected by fans. So, Minter will not have the luxury of fans of a team on a winning streak right when All-Star voting starts to his advantage.
What Minter does have to his advantage is his statistics. At the time of the writing, A.J. Minter is tied for second among all relief pitchers (including closers) in Win Probability Added (WPA).
Minter leads the league in games played for pitchers, yet still has an ERA and FIP of 1.01. His ERA equates to an ERA+ of 436, which is 336% better than league average. He also strikes out 9 batters for every walk and has a WHIP of 0.750.
It is true: it’s not common to see non-closer relief pitchers make the All-Star team, but A.J Minter is demanding attention.
There is still some time before the rosters are selected, but if A.J Minter does not make the team, it will be a shame. Here is to hoping the players and commissioner’s office (who vote for the pitchers and reserves) have noticed his dominance.
The one downfall for pitchers is that players can vote well before fans can, so it can be assumed that at least some of the votes come from past performance, rather than what is currently happening this season. Minter was good last year with a 117 ERA+, but nowhere near as good as this season.
This one is surely obvious. Even though Acuña did not play his first game this season until April 28th, he is on the ballot and fans will be voting for him. Like Swanson, Acuña is the type of player that has the ability to garner votes from popularity AND statistics.
Acuña’s popularity transcends that of Swanson though, as he is widely recognized as one of the best players in the league. You will see him on ballots posted all over social media from fans that are not Braves fans.
Even if popularity did not play a part, Acuña would still make a strong case. As stated earlier, All-Star selections are largely based on offense, and Acuña is raking.
Currently, Acuña has a slash line of .306/.407/.516 which equates to an OPS+ of 153. His batting average and OBP are both the highest of his career, and he is on pace for 44 steals if he can stay healthy. Acuña does not have enough at-bats to qualify, but if he did, he would lead all NL outfielders in OPS+.
There is a chance he does not make the team, and not just by getting snubbed by the fans. The players/commissioner’s office may not select him as a reserve since he missed 29 games so far. Only time will tell since there is still some time left to make up ground.
Max Fried and Kyle Wright are grouped together here because they have almost identical stats.
They are both tied for 5th in the NL In fWAR, they have similar ERA with 2.64 and 2.57 respectively. Ahead of them in fWAR are Aaron Nola, Joe Musgrove, Zach Wheeler, and Sandy Alcantara, with Carlos Rodon being tied for 5th as well. Again, players/commissioner’s vote on these players, so popularity among fans does not factor in.
Statistically Fried may have the slight edge over Wright because he is walking fewer batters at 1.44 per 9 innings to Wright’s 3.05, but Fried is giving up more home runs.
Fortunately, these two are not competing against each other for a spot. On the All-Star roster they are allotted to have 12 pitchers before injury replacements factor in. As stated earlier, they both are tied for 5th in fWAR.
It should be noted that every single team must be represented in the All-Star game, so this could put one of Wright or Fried on the fringe. However, with injury replacements almost certain to happen, we could potentially see 3 Braves pitchers selected as All-Stars (Including Minter).
The longest win streaks of the Atlanta Braves. dark. Next
There are plenty of other honorable mentions on this roster like Austin Riley, Kenly Jansen, Travis d’Arnaud, and others. Unfortunately for them, the guys that they are going against look to rake in more votes due to their fan bases and slightly better performances. Don’t forget, if you want your favorite offensive player to start, you need to vote!