Making the case for the Miami Marlins’ top All-Star Game candidates
The Miami Marlins have two of the National League’s top three RBI producers, including the outright leader in the statistic who is also playing Gold Glove-caliber defense. They have three starting pitchers ranked in the top 25 in ERA. They have an energetic, household-name-becoming rookie middle infielder putting up quality numbers at a position with little fanfare.
Will all six make the All-Star Game? Highly doubtful.
Only two Marlins position players — Jesus Aguilar at first base and Jazz Chisholm Jr. at second base — were among the top 10 vote-getters at their position when the latest voting update was unveiled Monday. Voting for the first round ends at 4 p.m. Thursday, at which point the top three players at each infield position and top nine outfielders will advance to a second round of voting to determine the starters for the Midsummer Classic on July 13 at Denver’s Coors Field. Pitchers and backup position players are decided by a combination of player ballots and selections made by the Commissioner’s Office.
With that said, here are the cases for Miami’s six main 2021 All-Star candidates. All stats and rankings are updated heading into Monday.
The Marlins’ top three starting pitchers
The trio of Sandy Alcantara, Trevor Rogers and Pablo Lopez have been Miami’s workhorses this season.
Combined, the three have combined for a 2.63 ERA (76 earned runs over 260 innings) with 267 strikeouts. Only six times this season have those three allowed more than three earned runs in a start in 44 combined starts.
Individually, all three rank among the top 16 in the National League in ERA — Rogers is third (1.87), Lopez is 14th (2.86) and Alcantara is 16th (3.09).
Barring an injury or setback during his final starts before All-Stars are announced, Rogers should be a lock. In addition to the ERA, Rogers is ranked in the top 10 among qualified NL starters in strikeouts per nine innings (ninth, 10.47) and quality starts (tied for ninth with nine) while also ranking 11th in batting average against (.199).
One rough start — eight earned runs in 1 1/3 innings against the Los Angeles Dodgers — likely eliminated Alcantara from a chance to give the Marlins multiple pitcher nominees. Removing that start from Alcantara’s season total drops his ERA nearly a full run from 3.09 to 2.35, which would rank tied for ninth in the National League. Alcantara also leads NL pitchers by forcing 12 groundball double plays and is tied for third with 11 quality starts.
Lopez is 14th in the NL in strikeout-to-walk ratio (4.05) while working eight quality starts.
Jesus Aguilar
Aguilar has received 7 percent of the votes among NL first basemen when the first poll standings were released last week, which put him fifth. The top four vote-getters: the Los Angeles Dodgers’ Max Muncy (22 percent), Atlanta Braves’ Freddie Freeman (17 percent), Chicago Cubs’ Anthony Rizzo (13 percent) and San Diego Padres’ Eric Hosmer (8 percent).
Statistically, Aguilar leads the quintet and is tied for second in the NL overall with 50 RBI, ranks third with an .803 OPS (behind Muncy’s .946 and Freeman’s .823) and is fourth at the position with 12 home runs (behind Freeman’s 16, Rhys Hoskins’ 15 and Muncy’s 14).
Aguilar is also campaigning for votes down the stretch. He partnered with Doggi’s Arepa Bar to give a free arepa catira to fans who show proof of an All-Star Game vote for Aguilar and purchase of juice at one of their three locations in South Florida. The promotion will extend to July 1 if Aguilar makes it through the first round of voting.
Adam Duvall
The Marlins signed Duvall this offseason with the hopes he would provide power to the middle of their lineup. While the offensive production has been inconsistent, the numbers he has produced are among the top in baseball.
He leads the National League and is tied for sixth in all of MLB with 52 RBI. His 16 home runs are tied for fifth in the NL and behind just the Braves’ Ronald Acuna Jr. (19), the Washington Nationals’ Kyle Schwaber (18) and the Cincinnati Reds’ Jesse Winker (17) among NL outfielders.
Even more: Duvall’s 11 defensive runs saved lead MLB outfielders, according to Fangraphs. His six outfield assists rank behind only the Colorado Rockies’ Charlie Blackmon’s seven in the NL.
But Duvall also only has a .216 batting average and .732 OPS. A 31.4 percent strikeout rate doesn’t help, either. He was also not among the top 15 outfielders in the first voting update.
Jazz Chisholm Jr.
Chisholm, who ranked 10th among NL second basemen in the first voting update, has been one of MLB’s top rookie position players this year. He’s in the top 10 among qualified rookies in stolen bases (second, 10), home runs (tied for sixth with eight), OPS (seventh, .777) and on-base percentage (ninth, .332), among others.
But Chisholm missed 20 games with a pair of injuries and has a steep road in the voting process.
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