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Who should the Diamondbacks’ All-Star be?

By Christopher Gaine

Jun 23, 2016; Denver, CO, USA; Arizona Diamondbacks relief pitcher Brad Ziegler (29) pitches in the ninth inning against the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field. The Diamondbacks won 7-6. Mandatory Credit: Isaiah J. Downing-USA TODAY Sports
Jun 23, 2016; Denver, CO, USA; Arizona Diamondbacks relief pitcher Brad Ziegler (29) pitches in the ninth inning against the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field. The Diamondbacks won 7-6. Mandatory Credit: Isaiah J. Downing-USA TODAY Sports /
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Based on the latest voting totals, it doesn’t look like the Diamondbacks will have an elected starter in the All-Star game. The only player they have in the top five of voting at any position is Paul Goldschmidt at first, and he’s over 1.5 million votes away from Anthony Rizzo for the position’s lead.

Even with this, the Diamondbacks will still have at least one player on the All-Star team, as will every MLB franchise. They will probably only get one, since other teams with winning records are likely to occupy most of the other spots. So who will their All-Star be?

The obvious choice here would be Paul Goldschmidt. “Goldy” has been the Diamondbacks’ best hitter this season and is the face of the franchise. He’s been especially good of late; he’s batted .344/.439/.567 since May 9.

Jean Segura would probably be the next-most likely position player to be named to the team. He’s batting .312/.359/.435 with 101 hits, the second-most in the bigs. He has experienced a career resurgence not seen since his All-Star 2013 season.

If the team opts to go another route, however, they could end up taking Zack Greinke. Greinke is 8-1 with a 2.58 ERA since April 30, so he is trending in the right direction. After Goldschmidt, Greinke would presumably be the next Diamondback to be selected for the game– especially if he keeps pitching at this pace.

The only other two Arizona players who have a defensible All-Star case are Jake Lamb and Brad Ziegler. He’s batting .288/.365/.598, with the latter-most percentage leading the NL, and 18 homers and 56 RBI. Lamb trails only Nolan Arenado and Kris Bryant amongst NL third basemen in homers and RBI. Ziegler has converted on 16 of 18 save chances this year. So both could make a case for the All-Star Game– though their odds of actually making it aren’t particularly strong.

The teams will be announced next week, so fans will still have some time to vote. But as of now, it looks like Goldschmidt or Greinke will be the team’s All-Stars.

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