CTH Staff: Which Astros deserve to be All-Stars?

Kenny Van Doren, Site Expert

At the moment, there aren’t any clear-cut Astros that will be taking their talents as starters to Colorado in July. Reserves are the way to go, and with three infielders posting All-Star numbers, I think we will see a few Houston players at the Mid-Summer Classic.

The Automatics

Yuli Gurriel is definitely an All-Star, and the only way he would fall out of contention is if he doesn’t hit a baseball again. This won’t happen. Vlad Guerrero Jr. is in the running for AL MVP at the moment and is the best first baseman in baseball, so there’s no doubting he will be the starter come July. Gurriel is slashing .323/.392/.536 with 10 home runs thus far, and at 37-years-old, the Cuban baseball player will make his first All-Star game of his career.

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Then comes the best middle infield duo in the AL West; Jose Altuve and Carlos Correa will most likely finish second at their respected positions. This is in part to fan votes being biased against the Astros and the superstar seasons from Xander Bogaerts and Marcus Semien. Altuve currently has a 2.0 WAR, that is quickly climbing toward Semien’s 2.9, but fans will make the final call on the starter. Correa has been on a tear, and with his change in approach, the right-hander has a .868 OPS and five defensive runs saved.

The Dark Horses

Pitchers making All-Star games are sometimes a tossup. While the coaching staff will help dictate it, some teams’ only selection comes as a pitcher, which will be tough for two Astros bordering an appearance.

Luis Garcia is pitching out of his mind, but without much chatter on his success, he might fall into the abyss. The right-hander has a 2.98 ERA in 63.1 innings pitched this season. While maturing into an everyday starter, Garcia is an All-Star caliber player, but it comes down to if he keeps bumping his ERA down.

Another pitcher in All-Star contention has to be Ryan Pressly. The closer has a renovated ERA at 2.08 through 26 innings of work. With not the most save opportunities this season, the right-hander has fallen to two bad pitches that have placed his ERA above the 2.00 mark. If it weren’t for limited spots for relief arms, we would see Pressly as a shoo-in, but he will need to keep limiting runs to make it to Colorado.

Outside Looking In

Outfield competition will come down to many fans voting for Mike Trout, who won’t even play in the game or the eight weeks before. Paying attention to games played and health doesn’t come into discussion when discussing votes.

For the Astros, three players that are on the outside looking in are Alex Bregman, Kyle Tucker and Yordan Alvarez. These three positions are stacked this year and probably don’t stand as top two at their jobs in the AL. For the case of Michael Brantley, his stint on the injured list is probably holding him back from being selected by managers, but he is still destroying the ball.

Phase 1 of All-Star voting ends June 24th. This vote can be conducted on MLB.com five times every 24 hours to help boost your favorites to the next round of voting. For final starter votes, it starts on June 28th and ends July 1st. The All-Star Game is Tuesday, July 13th.