Andrew McCutcheon deserves your vote Don't ask me why. I do. I don't watch any other sports exhibitions. I don't care about them. I doesn't make any sense, I know.
To whit, I take the voting of the starters for the American and National leagues extremely seriously. I do not like how guys are grandfathered in and how much of a popularity contest it all becomes. I don't like that veterans, past their prime, get the vote due to legacy or whatever.
I don't like that teams campaign for unworthy players. I don't mind if the Texas Rangers want me to vote for Michael Young, Elvis Andrus or Adrian Beltre. But Yorvit Torrealba, Nelson Cruz and Ian Kinsler, frankly, do not deserve to play in the midsummer classic.
With that said, here are some worthy players deserving of your vote, should you chose to exercise that priviledge:
National League
1B - Prince Fielder
Milwaukee Brewers
Joey Votto may be the best player in the league. But Prince Fielder has more home runs, doubles, a worthy .303 average and a higher OPS. Plus, Fielder has 10 more walks than strikeouts.
2B - Rickie Weeks
Milwaukee Brewers
A thin crop. Weeks doesn't have all the best numbers, but he's the lead-off hitter for a first-place team. He leads all NL second basemen in just about any power category.
3B - Chase Headley
San Diego Padres
One name I didn't think I'd include here. Just two home runs, but he leads all NL third basemen in doubles and his head over heels better at on-base percentage. Not a lot of super strong candidates; however, that shouldn't take away from Headley deserving a look.
SS - Jose Reyes
New York Mets
The easiest pick here. Having a monster year. Killing it in all angles of the game.
OF - Matt Kemp
Los Angeles Dodgers
A really nice comeback year. Like Reyes, kind of the head of the class in the outfield playing for an awful team.
OF - Andrew McCutcheon
Pittsburgh Pirates
Numberswise, there might be more worthy candidates (the NL outfield situation is deep). Probably one of the more emotional picks for me. His numbers are comparable although he doesn't overshadow anyone quite like Kemp. He is also the best offensive player for a Pirates team that is not the worst thing in the world. If you want to see a superstar of the future for more than half an inning, pick McCutcheon.
OF - Justin Upton
Arizona Diamondbacks
A nice year for the Diamondbacks and Upton. A really nice, sleek year. Hitting well. Up there in doubles and hits. Nothing to complain about.
C - Brian McCann
Atlanta Braves
Yadier Molina is better defensively and is having a great year. McCann's a clean-up hitter, who can call a pretty nice game himself.
American League
1B - Adrian Gonzalez
Boston Red Sox
The hottest/coldest team of the year. Started off as bad as you can get. Then Gonzalez turned it around and the BoSox got really good, really quickly. No-brainer. A brilliant year so far.
2B - Robinson Cano
New York Yankees
Off years from Dustin Pedroia and Ian Kinsler make this an easy pick.
3B - Adrian Beltre
Texas Rangers
Beltre goes toe to toe with any third baseman in the AL in any hitting category outside of average and on-base percentage. However, he's been a big part (53 RBI) of a first-place team and he plays probably the best defense in the league at the hot corner. I think he means more to the Rangers than, say, Kevin Youkilis (a very deserving guy) does to the Boston Red Sox.
SS - Asdrubal Cabrera
Cleveland Indians
Is tops or top three in every hitting category for shortstops. Is the engine of the most surprising team in Major League Baseball.
C - Alex Avila
Detroit Tigers
Name someone better in the American League.
DH - David Ortiz
Boston Red Sox
Quietly back to his former self.
