ST. LOUIS (KMOX) - Voting for MLB All-Star Voting went underway earlier this week, with Phase 1 of voting beginning.
Representing the Cardinals on the ballot are Paul Goldschmidt, Nolan Gorman, Masyn Winn, Nolan Arenado, Willson Contreras, Brendan Donovan, Lars Nootbaar, Michael Siani, and Alec Burleson.
While it is incredibly unlikely any of them will be voted into the All-Star Game through the ballot, a Cardinal player will represent the club at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas, who could that representative be?
The answer likely will be Cardinals closer Ryan Helsley, who leads all of MLB in saves with 20 at the moment, while posting top-25 numbers in the National League in numbers like ERA, expected ERA (xERA), Fielding Independent Pitching (FIP), expected FIP (xFIP), and SIERA according to FanGraphs.
While Helsley will likely represent the Cardinals in Arlington, is there a chance the Cardinals could have more than one player in Texas in mid-July? Mike Claiborne doesn't think so, outside of one player.
"The only other person I would consider is Masyn Winn, everybody else, there is no other All-Star candidate on this roster as we speak," said Claiborne on the Chris and Amy Show Friday. "That doesn't mean they can't be, but Winn has been the most pleasant and welcoming surprise of this team in 2024."
Claiborne says that while the concerns with Winn's offense after an unsurprisingly rough 37-game stint with the Cardinals were fair, he has more than shown he can hit in the Major Leagues.
"Winn put some work in in the off-season and he is bearing the fruit of it right now, but he be the only guy I would remotely consider being an All-Star outside of Helsley," said Claiborne. "After that, they don't have any other All-Stars on the team as we speak."