Bryan Reynolds is an All-Star. There is no question that he is having an all-star caliber season. The question is – will Reynold actually play in the All Star game?
Fans can vote on the All-Star finalists starting Monday through Thursday noon but they can no longer vote for Reynolds who did not finish among the top 9 in the first round of voting. In fact, even he though he is among NL leaders in almost every offensive category, Reynolds wasn't even close to the top 9.
His .312 averages ranks third, his .399 on-base percentage is second, his .532 slugging percentage ranks fifth and his .931 OPS is fourth.
Yet, he is conspicuously absent from the list of those who have a chance to be voted starters in the Al Star game.
NATIONAL LEAGUE
First: Ronald Acuña Jr., ATL
Second: Nick Castellanos, CIN
Third: Jesse Winker, CIN
Fourth: Mookie Betts, LAD
Fifth: Chris Taylor, LAD
Sixth: Juan Soto, WSH
Seventh: Bryce Harper, PHI
Eighth: Joc Pederson, CHC
Ninth: Mike Yastrzemski, SF
The first 5 players are having legit seasons; so are Soto and Yastrzemski (grandson of my childhood hero Big Yaz). Harper and Pederson don't belong, at least not this half-season.
Just to prove this is not a Pittsburgh-centric beef, Kyle Schwarber - who leads the league with 22 home runs – should also be a finalist but he doesn't play for the Cubs any more so that takes away any fan-vote advantage he may have once enjoyed. To get back to the local angle, I am honestly surprised Adam Frazier made the top 3 at second base even though he is far and away the best second baseman in the league this season.
Of course, we're talking about fans voting so this stuff is often subjective which helps players on the most popular teams. As a young fan, I always thought the players often got it wrong when they voted for the starters, since they tended to favor the established players over more deserving up-and-coming stars.
So Bryan Reynolds will not start I the All Star game.
Actually, he wouldn't have started even if was among the 9 finalists as he should have been. But will he go to Denver?
Maybe not. My guess is that Atlanta's Ozzie Albies will win the fan vote at second base but Frazier is a shoo-in to be selected as a reserve. Despite their recent run of mild success, the Pirates still have the third worst record in the majors and may only merit one all-star player which would leave Reynolds on the outside looking in.
But knowing Reynolds just a little bit, should that happen he will simply shrug his shoulders and look forward to enjoying a long weekend off.
