Major League Baseball announced the starting lineups for the 2023 All-Star Game this evening. This year’s All-Star Game will take place at Seattle’s T-Mobile Park on July 11. The starting pitchers and reserves will be announced at a later date.
American League
- Catcher: Jonah Heim, Rangers (1st selection)
- First Base: Yandy Díaz, Rays (1st selection)
- Second Base: Marcus Semien, Rangers (2nd selection)
- Third Base: Josh Jung, Rangers (1st selection)
- Shortstop: Corey Seager, Rangers (4th selection, 2nd consecutive)
- Outfield: Randy Arozarena, Rays (1st selection)
- Outfield: Mike Trout, Angels (11th selection, 11th consecutive)
- Outfield: Aaron Judge, Yankees (5th selection, 3rd consecutive)*
- Designated Hitter: Shohei Ohtani, Angels (3rd selection, 3rd consecutive)
National League
- Catcher: Sean Murphy, Braves (1st selection)
- First Base: Freddie Freeman, Dodgers (7th selection, 5th consecutive)
- Second Base: Luis Arraez, Marlins (2nd selection, 2nd consecutive)
- Third Base: Nolan Arenado, Cardinals (8th selection, 8th consecutive)
- Shortstop: Orlando Arcia, Braves (1st selection)
- Outfield: Ronald Acuña Jr., Braves (4th selection, 4th consecutive)
- Outfield: Corbin Carroll, Diamondbacks (1st selection)
- Outfield: Mookie Betts, Dodgers (7th selection, 7th consecutive)
- Designated Hitter: J.D. Martinez, Dodgers (6th selection, 5th consecutive)
* Currently on injured list with sprained toe
National League is spot on!
McCutchen over Martinez
Lol, no.
dcahen – Heck no!
Congrats to Mookie & JD, great guys who are teammates again and also All-Stars together again.
What no Mets? Lol
They have to pick at least one and my vote goes to Dave Robertson RP.
The rest of them are undeserving especially Lindor.
Pete Alonso will represent in the HR derby.
Lindor leads all SS’s in homeruns and RBIs and will be voted in by the players and coaches. Nimmo will probably make it and maybe Alonso
McCutchen
G PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB
69 291 239 36 67 10 0 9 25 9
CS BB K AVG. OBP SLG
3 47 57 .280 .395 .435
JD Martinez
G PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB
64 274 251 37 67 19 2 19 55 1
CS BB K AVG OBP SLG
0 16 82 .267 .310 .586
It’s really not even close JD is far more deserving. Even in 5 less games he is dominating McCutchen. In 5 less games they have the exact same amount of hits. Just the majority of JDs are extra base hits.
JD has more than double his HRs, & RBIs. The only stat McCutchen has an advantage is walks.
Congrats to the Braves, AA, and Snit, so many fans questioned AA’s acquisition of Murphy, and questioned the Braves handling of their SS situation.
Well, I’d say so far it turned out pretty well with two starting All-Star spots..Couldn’t be happier for Murphy or for Arcia, they both have worked extremely hard and deserve their recognition.
Also, how is that Murphy extension looking now?? It is still too early to truly tell, but it is looking more and more like a steal the longer Murphy is in a Braves uniform…
Really wanted to see Olson and Albies start but FF and Arraez are the right calls.
Yeah, I completely agree, but that doesnt mean they still can’t join them on the squad as reserves!! lol
Olson
Albies
Riley
Elder
Strider
Chavez!!!
The crazy thing and this is just my opinion but Ozuna should have at least been mentioned for DH. Similar numbers to JD this season and slightly higher WAR.
For some reason, the online ballots had Travis d’Arnaud listed in the DH section and Ozuna in the OF section. TDA only had 7 games as a DH and Ozuna only had 2 games on the OF. If either had been voted in by the fans the Manager could play them wherever he wants I guess. It does look odd though with players are listed out of position like that.
There’s only one AA that I know of and that’s The Enforcer Arn Anderson…What’s he got to do with the Braves? 4
BfD
Outstanding comment
Alex Anthopoulos the president and GM of the Braves.
The Braves moves were good ones, no disagreement there, but Arcia as the best NL shortstop is pretty sad. Not a bad player at all but I think him getting the nod says more about how bad other NL shortstops have been than anything.
I’d have to agree…it’s great that fans recognize Arcia career year vs. just name recognition. But it does say more about the poor play of the upper tier SS’s in the NL this year.
Pretty laughable that JD Martinez has 6 all star selections despite being mediocre at best his entire career except for 2 seasons.
Possibly the dumbest statement on this forum and that’s saying something. Has 300 career hr already a career avg of 287 and averages over 30hr a season.
Seriously, Martinez has been way better than mediocre every year since 2014 except 2020.
The dumb statements just keep-a-comin’ here at MLB Trade Rumors. Yesterday we were told that Ohtani probably isn’t going to be a Hall of Famer. Today we hear that JD has been mediocre but for 2 seasons. Lol.
Indeed and good on you for calling it out!
The All Star game is supposed to be for THIS year play. He IS mediocre at Best
I think it has actually helped him understand these circumstances that’s he’s strictly only a DH.
Other players that occasionally DH can typically get lost in the balloting because they get classified under the position that they play. While Martinez will always only be a DH..
I could be wrong, but I think it has probably benefitted him a bit over the years..
Dude has 6 seasons of a 130 wRC+ or higher and 3 over 150. His WAR will always be low because DH, but he was one of the best DHs for a while.
Fans voted for Martinez. He earned it. Fans picked this one not some dumb AI bot. Notably absent are the overpriced Mets, Yankees and padres players. Even their own fans must not think of them Too highly to start.
> not some dumb AI bot
PICNIC!
Problem
In
Chair,
Not
In
Computer
Also, super excited about the Braves excellent start to the season, despite then having to navigate through some really tough injuries. It isn’t often you can miss your Ace and a potential Cy Young candidate, you’re #2 SP, your closer, one of the best setupmen in baseball in Matzek, and then having at least two other bullpen and starting arms injured at the same time as well, AND allthewhile dealing with injuries to several starters in and out of your lineup, and somehow still come out with the best record in the NL.
HECK, even 40 yr old Jesse Chavez just might have earned himself an All-Star nod with the work he’s done to help the Braves bullpen stay afloat!! Lol
If not for Chavez, Elder, Strider, Morton, Yates, McHugh, Tonkin, and Anderson this staff could have easily crumbled under all the pressure.
Devers over Jung.
Devers is hitting 247 this year
Devers has a 3 HR, 14 RBI edge on Jung but Jung is far better defensively so its not really a bad choice
Jose Ramirez really deserved it more than Jung, even as a Rangers’ fan.
Jose Ramirez is the clear AS caliber starter in the AL, Jung is only receiving the nod due to MLB allowing fans to pick the starters. Jung is a solid player, but he’s not elite and he’s not even the clear-cut best 3B in the AL West. Bregman has very similar numbers with much better BB/K ratios. The advanced statistics also show that Jung is getting a fair amount of luck on balls in play and benefiting from an offensive heavy team.
Ramirez is still doing Ramirez things while playing on a below .500 team.
Bregman? That’s hilarious! No doubt does Ramirez deserve the starting nod at 3B for the All-Star game, but Bregman is laughable. And he’s somehow elite, yet Jung’s not? Gotta love Astros fans. Heads completely stuck in the sand.
You lost me on Bregman man. I get the argument for Ramirez, he is clearly getting hurt by playing for a bad team. But Bregman has struggled to be a league average hitter most of the year, he’s 60 pts behind Jung in OPS, 4 behind in HRs and has made 3X the errors that Jung has at 3B. Not sure I am buying that one, you don’t send guys to Allstar games for BB/K rate, Jung is simply an aggressive hitter.
When did I say Bregman was elite? I didn’t. What I said is that Jung is on a similar level to Bregman, and not Ramirez. I don’t think Bregman or Jung are worthy of being an all star.
Reading comprehension is a booger, people only see what they want to see.
Jung is in no way on a similar level to Bregman. Jung’s a rookie. His career path is on the upswing. Bregman on the other hand. Jung is the best 3B in the AL West, at this moment, and easily better than Bregman. No contest between those two.
No
Slap in the face to at least a couple giants.
So its the Rangers vs the NL?
> So its the Rangers vs the NL?
4 Rangers‘ all-stars vs 9 NL all-stars?
Well okay, if you insist.
wouldn’t that be great? you gotta think Garcia makes it along with Dunning, Gray , and Eovaldi. Duran should make it too but probably won’t. The Rangers are so good this year that they’d probably beat the NL All-stars
Garcia and Eovaldi will make it, but I doubt Dunning, Gray, or Duran makes it, whether they deserve it or not
As a guy predicting 85 wins as a 10th percentile outcome this year, even this is way too optimistic for my taste. They may have a chance at first, but their bullpen would serve up 10 runs in the late innings.
More like the Braves against the Rangers including reserves.
Well deserved for Yandy
Yordan is injured but he should’ve been the 3rd outfielder
> Yordan is injured but he should’ve been
But he’s only hitting .277!!!
Thats 277 hits every 1000 at-bats!!!
or or or
Pete Rose had 664478 hits every 1000 at-bats!!!
Judging a hitter by his batting average tells me you know absolutely nothing about baseball congrats
Yes, there was a guy on here the other day crowing about Pete Rose and his average, and how Yordan was only hitting .277. I made a lengthy post about how Yordan is extremely valuable. I’m not going to repeat it and I agree with you.
Fair enough you forgot the sarcastic font though so I thought you were really one of those avg/hr/rbi are the only numbers they count type of person. Yordan will make plenty of all star games in his career
Dismissing batting average shows a person knows nothing about baseball…especially hitting.
FYI – batting average is the percentage of successful hits a person has when he swings the bat. Usually a good batting average correlates with other offensive categories. See Luis Arraez. See other guys in MLB history that posted high batting averages. When a guy can hit for a good average, he almost always is doing damage in some way.
Ya maybe for you simple minded folks who can’t understand advanced stats. Here I’ll slow it down and make it easy obp is much more important than avg there you go hope this education lesson was helpful
Just remember: The batting champion is determined by BATTING AVERAGE, not these inconsequential analytics.
Ok. Boomer
Who’s talking about the batting champion? If you think avg outweighs obp you should probably go watch basketball
Wow, so “advanced stats” are the second line of a triple slash now?
OBP is incredibly valuable. Being on base for any reason without surrendering an out is awesome. Don’t try to talk down to people with one of the most highly regarded classic stats for a baserunner though, you just come out looking like an A-hole.
> Dismissing batting average shows
> a person knows nothing about baseball…
> especially hitting.
Batting average (Avg) equally weighs all hits. A bunt single to third base, a ground ball up the middle, a line drive double down the LF line, or a homerun to CF. Those hits count the same in his Avg but they each have different values to his team. Looking at Avg alone will not show anything about the quality of the hitter’s hits.
@Awesom O
When did I say something about advanced stats in my post?
For you simple-minded folks who see a post and can only digest one part of it, please reread my post.
@Hemlock
You have a better statement.
Now let’s look at OBP. It takes BBs and equates them to hits, which, like hits, does not cover the different values to a team or the quality of how a BB compares to extra basehits. BBs also don’t cover when an error occurs after/during the hit that gives extra bases. BBs also don’t give runners who are already on base the chance to advance multiple bases. And finally, BBs are solely dependent on a pitcher not being able to throw a strike 4 time in an AB. BBs are almost solely from a pitcher giving up a walk instead of a hitter doing anything other than keeping his bat on his shoulders, while hitting is when a pitcher has control of his pitches and is hitting the strikezone, but the hitter has done something about it by swinging the bat and being successful.
And again, I don’t see in my post where I said that hitting is the only thing to look at. I pointed out that anyone dismissing batting average does not know anything about baseball.
I pay attention to certain advanced stats, but certain ones are garbage. And FYI – OBP isn’t an advanced stat. It’s been around and paid attention to for a long time (generations). It’s the stats dimwits that claimed it for their own and started saying that it carries more weight than batting average, which is very faulty logic And it points to a contradiction in stats dimwits who say that people should look at a larger number of stats to get a better picture, but then will dismiss batting average, which is the percentage of successful hits a batter gets when he swings the bat.
> And finally, BBs are solely dependent
> on a pitcher not being able to throw
> a strike 4 time in an AB.
I saw this and I wanted to reply. Hitters who walk frequently often demonstrate a more selective approach at the plate. Those hitters have a skill to recognize pitches and what to swing at. Pitchers cannot get them out easily with pitches out of the strike zone. Plus, they can work the pitchers more with longer at-bats, letting every other hitter after them face a more tired pitcher. I think that is a valuable player to have on a team.
Right or wrong, there’s nothing worse than a stat snob.
I hope it makes you feel great to like your own posts. Hey maybe the marlins will actually stay relevant it’s been quite some time
I’ve never been a fan of that either. The guy has clear All-Star numbers while still playing a good chunk of the season (about 75%). He should get the honor and then be replaced.
As an Astros fan he is truly amazing to watch. Unfortunately, we are always waiting to see what his next injury will be…
Beff,
Any relation to Joff Digwell or Biff Driwall? One owns a construction company, the other a well digging company. Can’t recall who owns what but they’re both outta Virginia. Or was it Iowa? No matter, they’re both out there somewhere.
We’re all distant cousins.
Jonah Heim over Adley?
That is the only one I didn’t vote for that got in.
So happy for my fellow Venezuelans Arraez (la regadera), Arcia (el menor) and of course Acuña Jr (El abusador)
Heim has better offensive numbers and better defensive metrics this yr
Adley would’ve been great, but Heim is the guy.
Except Adley is the best catcher in bb. How do I know that? I put down my calculator and watch him play.
Remind me to change my oil or visit the all-night Laundramat the night of the All-Star Game. And if anyone wants to screw up their power-hitter for the last 40% of the season, enter him in the Home Run Derby. If it were within baseball’s rules, I’d pay my best slugger the equivalent of the winning prize NOT to enter that silly contest.
No Vogelbach? Bull***t.
That dude would win the MVBC award every year! (Most Valuable Beer Chugger)
There’s probably a beer league softball team he’d absolutely rake on somewhere
Bummed Adley didn’t win the vote, but would’ve also been upset if Arraez missed out. I always like to be able to go back and look at an all star game and get a little snap shot as to what the storylines were at that time. The chase for .400 is for sure historical and something that even if he doesn’t get, will be cool to look back on when I inevitably look up old all star rosters and see Arraez in the lineup
The All Star game has lost a lot of luster, at least for me in recent years. But my favorite moments over the long time I’ve been following the game would be in order:
1993 John Kruk’s AB against Randy Johnson. It’s still hilarious to watch even to this day.
1997 Larry Walker turning his helmet backwards to bat right handed against Randy Johnson
2001 Alex Rodriguez insisting he and Cal Ripken Jr. Swap positions allowing Cal to play SS in his final ASG. Ripken would subsequently homer off of Chan Ho Park in first AB
2002 Torii Hunter robbing Barry Bonds of a Home Run and Bondd’ reaction afterward in the game that will forever be known as “the tie”
Great list rsox.
Not to be the guy. I understand fans wanting to see Judge, but, how is he there?
He won the vote but the number two will start in his place.
AL lineup is a JOKE. Four Rangers, two Angels, two Rays… and a Yankee. Real representative
Those 4 Rangers have massive arguments at their positions.
I know the O’s catcher is a more well-thought of player but Heim has been better in basically every category. Seager is maybe 15 games from qualifying for the batting title and is every bit an MVP candidate. Semien leads the league in runs and has powered the best offense in baseball and Jung is the best overall 3B and leads in a majority of statistics.
Say what you will about the rest, but after YEARS of being awful, the Rangers deserve this.
Seager should have been a lock, and Semien is the one-eyed king in the land of blind second baseman, but I don’t get how Jose Ramirez didn’t make it far and how a big name like Devers didn’t get more votes to advance. The Heim thing is probably just RBI obsession on a top offense, but 2 of those had to be starters for this to make any sense. You have some point about the other 2.
Who would you have put in there, Mr.Expert?
John Fogerty, Mr.Expert!
Is there any point to watching a game that has 3 teams making up a large chunk of the roster?
Why not? We regularly watch games that have only 1 team making up a large chunk of the roster.
I’ll also add a ‘why not’. Why not watch because it’s the only way that E!SPN will cover and talk about guys who don’t play for the Red Sox, Yankees and Mets.
So true, MFB.
I hate that each team has to be represented. Nobody on the A’s or Royals deserves to be there. These teams are both on pace to set the record for the least amount of wins EVER before the All Star break.
Participation trophies for all, Hooray everyone wins!
It’s not about the players on those teams. It’s about giving the fans of those teams a reason to watch. I know my Rockies have not had a good year, but the only reason I am going to be watching the ASG is because I know at least one of them will be there with all the other teams. Fans of these teams already know they are not going to see their team in the postseason, why would you take away the ASG too?
Even bad teams have good players. They deserve some kind of recognition. Ryan Noda of the A’s and Aroldis Chapman of the Royals are both having All Star caliber seasons.
World Series preview? Jk lol… but remember 2010?
Will Smith snubbed again at Catcher.
Exactly my thoughts! Hopefully he sneaks in as a backup
NL should destroy.
It’s a fricking exhibition game. Why say one side would destroy the other?
NL would have until Derek Shelton was announced as one of their coaches.
We’ve got Arraez for the Marlins, I’m not sure who else gets in for the Marlins. They’re having an excellent season, but only Arraez has been the clear standout. Soler has had a strong HR season, but often is all or nothing. Puk would be a good choice, but he was injured for a little bit, but he’d be my guess of the Marlins possibly having a second All Star.
I’ll just be happy if the Rockies get something better than a third string player. My guess is Elias Diaz gets in at catcher and maybe Ryan McMahon sneaks in at third. Or vice versa.
Looks fine but I don’t think the 2nd baseman SS and 3B should all be from the same team. That one year where it was like half mariners wasn’t even like that.
I mean the only case you could really make is 3B with Jose Ramirez, I think has a fair argument. The other positions are not really even close.
True but the game is in Seattle…you need one Seattle starter. Does that mean Luis Castillo starts??
Sure I am down with that, he’s a great pitcher. But that lineup is pretty bad I am not sure who you could make a case for in that batting order.
Well they always find a way, even without the public vote. So Judge probably opts out cause of injury and they plug in Julio.
You don’t have to start a mariner…it’s always cool when home team has starter in game but many all star games don’t have local team starter. Team just has have at least one player represented. 2021 Denver game had no rockie starter.
This isn’t about what you think is fair it’s about the best players at each position.
If there’s a legitimate argument for those Rangers not to start, by all means make it.
“They all play for the same team” isn’t a legitimate argument.
No I think the all star game is more about players from different teams coming together to play
No man that’s not an allstar team, that’s a participation trophy team. Here your team sucks and isn’t good enough to beat most minor league teams because your owner is clearly trying to screw you over (Oakland), but we will give you an allstar anyway.
Danby Swanson 330 PA .340 wOBA
Orlando Arcia 220 PA .350 wOBA
What are we doing here man
You can make a case for either Turner or Lindor getting the nod, given that there’s no shortstop in the NL having a great year. They are established stars who are having down years, and in my opinion are more deserving than Arcia. You could make a similar case for Ramirez or Devers for AL 3rd baseman, although Jung is having a very good year and has made a good case to start.
Matt McLain has played 19 less games and has 40 less at bats than Arcia but his numbers are right there with him or better in a lot of categories. I’m not advocating for McLain to start but if Arcia’s numbers are the same as his, there has to be a more deserving starting SS in the National League than Orlando Arcia. The fan vote has gotten a lot better over the years but they still miss on a couple every year and Arcia is a miss.
Fan voting needs to end…
I think you can make a case for Brandon Drury over Marcus Semien at 2B.
No, you can’t.
Compare their stats before responding with a knee-jerk reaction.
I did. Three more home runs. You can make a case for Drury, but not over Semien. There aren’t many good 2B to choose from.
And higher slugging and OPS percentages.
Yes, due in part to the 3 more Home Runs.
And 30 less runs scored
And 20 less hits
And 7 less doubles
And 10 less RBI
And 7 less steals
And 17 less walks
And 24 MORE strikeouts
And a lower batting average
And a lower on base percentage
And we haven’t even talked about defense
Very easy call
and Semien has also played in more games resulting in 63 more ABs, which is why he has slightly more overall hits, RBIs, etc. The stats that matter prove that Drury is having a better offensive season than Semien.
Semien:
.284 AVG / 11 HR / 55 RBI / .461 SLG / .806 OPS / .345 OBP
Drury:
.277 AVG / 14 HR / 45 RBI / .500 SLG / .822 OPS / .322 OBP
Games played, and AB’s, do not matter whenever you are talking about All-Star game qualifications. That’s not Semien’s fault, or Drury’s. The league doesn’t project what numbers a player may have if they had played in more games. You either have the numbers, or you don’t. Semien’s numbers are better, almost across the entire board. You should know this. It’s not even a tough decision.
And 20 hits is not slightly. And 10 RBI is not slightly.
I never said that the number of games or ABs mattered for all-star qualifications, but you are the one that began grasping at straws by bringing up stat totals which can easily be written off due to Semien having 63 more ABs—this is a significant amount and explains why Semien has slightly more totals, but if Drury had these extra 63 ABs, he’d easily have 17-18 HRs with 60+/- RBI, making it an easy call in Drury’s favor (but this isn’t even my argument).
I’m focusing on the big picture stats (i.e., home runs, batting average, RBIs, OPS, and slugging) and that’s where it’s far from “an easy call” as Drury has better OPS and slugging percentages with a lot more home run power. And you want to talk about defense, Drury mostly plays 2B but regularly has shifted to 1B (and some 3B, I believe), so he has much more value defensively due to his flexibility around the infield.
But re-read my original statement that a case can be made for Drury being the starting 2B all-star for the AL. You don’t even have to agree that he’s “better” than Semien but that a case can be made for him. I’m sure you can see that?
“Compare their stats before responding with a knee-jerk reaction.”
“but you are the one that began grasping at straws by bringing up stat totals which can easily be written off due to Semien having 63 more ABs”
You’re flailing at this point.
I love how hits, runs, and OBP are conveniently not “big picture stats” when making your argument. I think baseball would disagree.
And now position flexibility makes a player All-Star worthy? I’m laughing hard. I’m sorry, but C’mon Man!
I said you can make a case for Drury to be an All-Star. I’d take him over Bregman everyday of the week. But Semien has him hands down at 2B. There is no debate. You don’t project stats for All-Star qualifications. It’s that easy.
Hits and runs scored are secondary stats compared to the more important ones such as AVG, HR, RBI, OPS, and SLG – these latter stats reveal a more accurate picture of the quality of a player, versus accumulated numbers that become relative based on number of games played and ABs.
This is baseball 101 stuff.
By your logic, you could argue that Semien is a better player than Judge because he has more hits, doubles, runs, stolen bases, etc.
“I love how hits, runs, and OBP are conveniently not “big picture stats” when making your argument.”
I explained how hits and runs are relative numbers, but I listed OBP (see below). And I also stated how Drury would have 17-18 HR with around 60 RBI if he had the extra 63 ABs that Semien has… all of sudden Drury would be the clear-cut favorite.
Semien:
.284 AVG / 11 HR / 55 RBI / .461 SLG / .806 OPS / .345 OBP
Drury:
.277 AVG / 14 HR / 45 RBI / .500 SLG / .822 OPS / .322 OBP
“And now position flexibility makes a player All-Star worthy? I’m laughing hard. I’m sorry, but C’mon Man!”
I never said that having defensive flexibility makes a player an all-star. That’s a strawman. You brought up defense earlier and I merely pointed out Drury’s value defensively due to his infield flexibility which ANY manager would value significantly.
I never said Semien was better than Judge, but you know that. I know one player he’s definitely better than. One of them will be at the All-Star game. One won’t.
Also, you still don’t seem to understand projecting stats, which you’re also doing incorrectly, doesn’t matter for All-Star selections.
Cherry pick all you want, but Marcus deserves the starting nod as the AL second baseman, hands down. His numbers are better.
Adley got robbed.
Trout and Betts are there on name only. Both are having sub-par seasons but the California people are stuffing the boxes.
And Aaron “glass” Judge being a starter isn’t an “on name only” decision? Sounds more like the NY people are doing the stuffing.
miltpappas – “Trout and Betts are there on name only.”
Of course they are. It’s largely a fan vote selection process, not performance based. The fans usually love the guys doing well, but that’s not a requirement. Otherwise there would be a minimum performance threshold. Pujols, for example, made the ALG in 2015.
Mookie Betts has a 135 OPS+ and 3.4 WAR. And this is before tonight, where he went 4-4 with 2 HR, 1 2B, 2 BB, 3 R, 4 RBI.
I’m ok with this list. I just hope Bryson Stott makes it as a reserve player. He’s earned it this year.
Very little transgendered representation on the roster this year.
Rangers and Braves fans stacked the ballots I see
I never said that the number of games or ABs mattered for all-star qualifications, but you are the one that began grasping at straws by bringing up stat totals which can easily be written off due to Semien having 63 more ABs—this is a significant amount and explains why Semien has slightly more totals, but if Drury had these extra 63 ABs, he’d easily have 17-18 HRs with 60+/- RBI, making it an easy call in Drury’s favor (but this isn’t even my argument).
I’m focusing on the big picture stats (i.e., home runs, batting average, RBIs, OPS, and slugging) and that’s where it’s far from “an easy call” as Drury has better OPS and slugging percentages with a lot more home run power. And you want to talk about defense, Drury mostly plays 2B but regularly has shifted to 1B (and some 3B, I believe), so he has much more value defensively due to his flexibility around the infield.
But re-read my original statement that a case can be made for Drury being the starting 2B all-star for the AL. You don’t even have to agree that he’s “better” than Semien but that a case can be made for him. I’m sure you can see that?