Astros: Alex Bregman’s out to be an All-Star for the first time

With his offensive explosion in June, Alex Bregman should be one of the many Astros representatives in the 2018 All-Star game.

Unless there is a massive Astros fans ballot push, Alex Bregman will not be a starter in the All-Star game. As of the last All-Star ballot update, Jose Ramirez had 1,319,651 votes to hold the lead for the AL at third base. Bregman sits in third place with 718,814 behind Miguel Andujar and Ramirez. Fan voting stats via Anthony Castrovince. The fanboy in me wants to cry foul, but Ramirez should be the starting third baseman with his numbers this year.

Via Baseball-Reference, Ramirez is batting .291 with 24 homers and 53 RBI while stealing 14 bases. After hovering around .500 most of the season, the Indians are now 44-37 with a +54 run differential. Part of the reason for their success has stemmed from the two potential All-Star starters in Francisco Lindor and Ramirez.

Andujar was expected to be good, but not too many expected the successes that he and Gleyber Torres have had. In his rookie season, Andujar is batting .280 with 12 homers and 38 RBI. While those numbers are decent, he is getting votes from Yankees fans around the country. The Yankees and Red Sox are in a brutal battle for supremacy in the AL East.

Don’t sweat the slow starts.

In typical Bregman fashion, he got off to a slow start to the season. At various points this season. Bregman has been the leader or top five in the AL in OBP, walks, and doubles. Bregman’s homer power didn’t really show up through the first three months. Before June, Bregman was batting .262 with five homers with a .799 OPS. In June, Bregman broke out batting .306 with 11 homers while driving in 30 runs like Evan Gattis.

What we saw in June should be what we see for the remainder of the season. He may not hit 11 homers in a month again, but he should be a major factor in the offense. With proven success in the playoffs in 2017, it’s amazing what confidence can do for a player like Bregman. The Diamondbacks are probably regretting taking Dansby Swanson instead of Bregman in the 2015 MLB Draft.

Bregman is now batting .277 with 16 homers with 53 RBI and seven stolen bases. Those stats would definitely top Andujar, but Ramirez is still looking to be the starter with the next update coming Tuesday.  Ramirez is putting MVP like stats and will likely challenge Mike Trout, Jose Altuve, and the Judge dude. Outside of the top three votes, Adrian Beltre and Mike Moustakas are the next available options.

Bregman is looking like a backup third baseman on the All-Star roster.

You would think that AJ Hinch can load up the roster with all of his boys, but that’s not how it works. According to Anthony Castrovince, The manager doesn’t get to pick players like they used to, but instead, 17 reserves are voted on by the players. The fans vote in the nine starters. Then the commissioner’s office gets to pick six players, but those are normally to make sure that all teams are represented.

Next: Astros may resort to in-house options instead of making a trade

Then you have the final vote, where the fans get to pick one of five players to add to the roster. Normally, if a Yankees or Red Sox player involved in the final vote, they have an advantage. With his recent surge, Bregman has positioned himself nicely to become an All-Star for the first time. The thing to worry about is if Moustakas needs to be on the team as the lone Royal player.  Hopefully, Collin McHugh will be another first-time All-Star as a reliever.