:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/64036159/usa_today_12918599.0.jpg)
The 2019 MLB All-Star Game is now less than three weeks away. While voting updates have been rather depressing as former Detroit Tigers catcher James McCann inches toward a starting spot, Tigers fans have been paying close attention to statistical leaderboards. Both Matthew Boyd and Shane Greene have received various amount of local and national hype this year, and in our biased opinion, both should be All-Stars.
That’s not always how All-Star week works, though. The Tigers, currently sitting at a dismal 26-43, are only guaranteed one All-Star. While both Greene and Boyd have been excellent this year, teams mired in or near last place don’t often get multiple representatives in the mid-summer classic. This is reflected in Zachary Rymer’s All-Star predictions for Bleacher Report. He projects that Greene will be the Tigers’ lone representative, with Boyd staying home.
That brings us to our Question of the Day.
Which Tigers players will make the 2019 All-Star team?
My answer: Sadly, I think only one of Boyd and Greene make the All-Star team this year, and I’m leaning towards Greene. He leads the league with 21 saves and has an ERA under 1.00, two stats that will make even the most savvy of new-school managers take pause. Other AL relievers have managed better advanced numbers — Greene is tied for 12th in the league with 0.7 fWAR — but Greene will almost certainly make the cut, especially given how reliever-heavy All-Star teams have become over the past few years.
Boyd is also a deserving All-Star, of course, but I think he gets snubbed — at first, at least. Starters are a bit more fungible when it comes to All-Star appearances because of how close the final couple games of the first half fall to the All-Star festivities. Both he and Greene are candidates to be added to the roster if another starter is unavailable to pitch, along with righthander Spencer Turnbull if you really want to get crazy.
That last one won’t happen, though. The Tigers will do well to get both Greene and Boyd onto the roster.