The Boston Red Sox have plenty of players worthy of mid-season recognition for their strong play.
With the All-Star balloting open on Wednesday, many Red Sox players will be in the conversation. The 2022 MLB All-Star game will take place on July 19 in Dodger Stadium, and fans will vote in the starting rosters from each league.
Let’s take a look at Red Sox players that deserve to be sent to Los Angeles:
Rafael Devers
Devers should be a lock to make the American League All-Star team. He’s hitting .342 with a league-leading 23 doubles, a triple, 12 home runs, 31 RBI and a .977 OPS. He also leads the league in hits with 80 and total bases with 141. His resumé speaks for itself.
J.D. Martinez
Martinez is another no-brainer to send to Los Angeles for the Midsummer Classic. He’s hitting an incredible .359 with 20 doubles, five home runs, 23 RBI and has a .974 OPS. Despite battling nagging injuries throughout the year, the Red Sox designated hitter has been racking.
Xander Bogaerts
Bogaerts is the last of the notable three-headed monster deserving of votes. He’ll have to battle Tim Anderson for the starting spot, but there is a case to be made for that as well. Anderson has a slightly higher OPS, and higher average but played 15 fewer games. Bogaerts on the other hand has eight more hits, six more doubles, one more home run and seven more RBI than his A.L. shortstop rival.
Regardless of his spot on the team, Bogey’s .320 average with 15 doubles, six home runs and 26 RBI put him far ahead of his peers not named Anderson.
Christian Vázquez
Vázquez is surging at the moment and has a case for making the All-Star team. He’s hitting .288 with ten doubles, two home runs, 23 RBI with a .734 OPS. He has not displayed the pop that he has been capable of in the past, but he’s been a huge piece of the rotation’s success with his game-calling and defense on top of some clutch hitting and consistent ability to get on base.
The 31-year-old backstop likely would be a reserve or backup should he sneak onto the roster, but his competition at the catcher position are not doing much to create separation. The lack of overall production from his peers is what makes Vázquez worthy of a vote.
Michael Wacha
It would not be surprising to see Wacha become overlooked in the voting process, which would not be right. He’s not going to lead the league in strikeouts but he is not far away from the ERA title — though he is technically not a qualified pitcher due to his time spent on the injured list earlier this season.
Wacha is 4-1 (not that pitcher wins mean much) with an insane 1.99 ERA and has a 33-to-15 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 49 2/3 innings — nine starts. His most recent start was a complete-game shutout in a 1-0 win over the Los Angeles Angels on Monday. He also has more strikeouts than hits allowed (30) this season.
