As voting for the 2022 MLB All-Star game continues, and the Atlanta Braves winning streak continues, Jon Chuckery explained why there are seven Braves that have built up legitimate cases to be All-Stars this season.
1.) Dansby Swanson
Simply put by Jon Chuckery “Dansby has been arguably the best defensive shortstop in baseball this year.” Dansby’s offensive numbers have also been very solid this year as he is hitting .295 with 9 home runs and 37 RBIs in 64 games with 234 at bats.
According to Baseball Reference and FanGraphs, Dansby Swanson has the second best WAR, (wins above replacement), among all shortstops in the MLB.
With Dansby’s very solid offense and Gold Glove caliber defense I think it’s safe to agree with Jon Chuckery when he says “Dansy should be a lock.” when it comes to the 2022 MLB All-Star Game.
2.) Austin Riley
I think it’s safe to say you are pretty good when you are tied for the lead in home runs in the National League, and tied for second place in home runs in the entire MLB. Austin Riley’s eighteen home runs has him second to only Aaron Judge when it comes to home runs this year in Major League Baseball.
The only thing going against Austin Riley when it comes to being an All-Star starter is that he isn’t quite the household name that Manny Machado and Nolan Arenado are, and because of that Jon believes Riley will end up with a bench spot saying “Machado and Arenado are probably going to be the fan vote when all is said and done, Riley probably gets a bench spot out of it.”
3.) Max Fried
The Braves ace pitcher has been just that for the defending World Series Champions. In 13 starts Max is 7-2 with a 2.90 ERA with 75 strikeouts and only 13 walks. Jon says “Max Fried has earned his way, and he’s done enough over the few seasons.” Jon also says that “I think Max Friend and or Kyle Wright should be locks, and you can probably make a case for both.”, and that quote leads us right into number four
…you guessed it
4.) Kyle Wright
Wednesday night on the show Jon explained how he believes Kyle Wright has been one of the young guys that have been a big part of the Braves fourteen game winning streak because of the way he has stabilized the back-end of the Braves rotation saying “If you didn’t have Kyle Wright I don’t know what you would’ve had right now.”
Jon calls what Kyle Wright has done this year “outstanding”, and Jon’s right, in Kyle’s twelve starts this year he has a 7-3 record, a 2.57 ERA, with 73.2 innings under his belt, 80 strikeouts, and only 25 walks, which is nothing short of outstanding.
However, Jon does admit if he had to pick between Max Fried and Kyle Wright for an All-Star selection he would pick Max Fried saying “Look if I have to pick one or the other, with all due respect to Kyle Wright Max Fried has earned his way, and he’s done enough over the few seasons.” Hopefully there ends up being room for both Wright and Fried on the All-Star roster because they both have definitely earned it.
5.) Kenley Jansen
As of late we haven’t heard too much about Kenley Jansen because during the Braves fourteen game winning streak they have been blowing teams out and have a run differential of +69, so Kenley hasn’t had to make many saves during this stretch of Braves dominance, but despite that he still finds himself third in saves in the MLB with eighteen, and the leader Taylor Rogers, only ahead of him by two with twenty.
The thirteen year veteran was successful in his first nine save opportunities as an Atlanta Brave and is 18-21 on the season overall. Jon says “I would not be surprised at all if he makes it.” With 38 strikeouts and only 8 walks in 27.2 innings pitched, and being 18-21 on his saves this season, I wouldn’t be surprised if Jansen gets his fourth All-Star selection this season either.
6.) A.J Minter
Now this is one that Jon believes could be tough to make happen because of Minter’s role with the Braves as a setup guy saying “Obviously the thing that hurts a guy like Minter is just the role that he plays, All-Star games you like starters and closers.”
However, A.J is making quite the case for himself, with a 0.98 ERA in 27.2 innings pitched, 36 strikeouts, and only 4 walks, A.J has been nothing short of dominant with the Braves and he deserves All-Star recognition, and Chuckery shares the same sentiment saying “Minter has had an outstanding year. You look at all of his analytics, all of his numbers, and everything along with it, it would be hard to not let a guy like that on the All-Star team.”
7.) Ronald Acuña Jr.
You thought I forgot about Ronnie? Not a chance! However, with Acuña missing a chunk of the start of the season he is a little bit behind the eight ball when it comes to his numbers, but ever since the Braves superstar has come back from his torn ACL in April his presence and impact has been felt in a major way.
In 35 games Ronnie has 6 home runs, 16 RBI’s, 11 stolen bases, and is hitting .284 in 134 at bats. While those numbers don’t necessarily blow you away Jon acknowledges the fact that Acuña could get the fan vote off of his name alone saying
“Ronnie is going to be the interesting one because his impact in the time that he’s been there you see he’s still one of the best players in Major League Baseball. I wonder if the number of games that he’s played is going to hurt him, and I don't know where he’s going to be as far as voting for your starters if now he’s got a big enough national reputation, but he should be right there in the mix.”
If you ask me, I think the world wants to see Ronald Acuña Jr. in the MLB All-Star Game.
With this historic winning streak the Atlanta Braves are on, them being the defending World Series Champions, and having one of the best and arguably the best player in all of baseball you have to think all of that is going to result in them having a few all stars. Jon makes his final Braves all-star prediction saying “I think Dansby and Fried and Riley definitely will be there, probably Jansen too.”
Time and votes will tell as fans can vote up to five times a day, and oh with with Brian Snitker being the National League manager for the All-Star Game this year I’m willing to bet he’s going to pick a few of his players to bring with him.