Phillies figure to have plenty of All-Stars, but it’s not the usual suspects
The Philadelphia Phillies haven’t had more than two All-Stars in a single season since 2012. Given that the Phillies have the best record in baseball, that trend will almost certainly end in 2024.
But if you were to project prior to the season what players were most likely to represent the Phillies at Globe Life Park, it would have looked quite differently than those who will probably take the field in Arlington on July 16.
The Phillies current roster includes six multiple-time All-Stars: Bryce Harper, J.T. Realmuto, Trea Turner, Nick Castellanos, Kyle Schwarber and Gregory Soto.
Of those six, Harper seems to have the best shot to be an All-Star currently, as he’s homered 13 times and has a .942 OPS, while having generally adjusted well to his first full season at first base. Turner was hitting .343 before he went down with a left hamstring strain, but he’s missed enough time that he’s not going to have a real shot. A great month could propel Realmuto and Schwarber to another All-Star Game, but currently those two appear unlikely to be All-Stars, the same fate as Castellanos and Soto will have.
The most deserving All-Star candidates on the Phillies currently aren’t any of the six players who have played in the midsummer classic twice. In fact, four of the top candidates have never played in an All-Star Game.
LHP Ranger Suárez: He’s 9-0 with a 1.36 ERA and minuscule 0.788 WHIP. The biggest question for Suárez may not be whether he ends up making the All-Star Game or not, but whether he is able to beat out Chicago Cubs lefty Shōta Imanaga to be the starter for the senior circuit.
3B Alec Bohm: While his five home runs don’t stand out when compared to other All-Star candidates, Bohm is hitting .317 with 46 RBIs, the third-most in baseball. Bohm has already set a new single-season career-high with a 2.2 WAR. According to FanGraphs, the next highest WAR among NL third basemen is 1.4, a mark shared by Matt Chapman of the San Francisco Giants and Ryan McMahon of the Colorado Rockies. In terms of merit, Bohm deserves to be the starter at third base.
Reliever Matt Strahm: Since allowing two earned runs in an Opening Day loss to the Atlanta Braves, Strahm has made 20 consecutive scoreless appearances for the Phillies. Strahm’s 0.87 ERA is sixth among qualified relievers, while he leads all senior circuit bullpen arms with a 1.1 WAR. The one-year extension that the Phillies signed Strahm to in Spring Training looks like a stroke of genius right now.
Reliever Jeff Hoffman: One of the best stories in baseball a season ago, Hoffman has managed to be even more dominant in 2024 than he was at times in 2023. Among NL relievers, Hoffman is in the top eight in terms of ERA (1.19), FIP (2.07) and WAR (0.9). The 31-year-old will be a free agent after the season, and has made himself a ton of money with his performance so far this year.
Elsewhere, Zack Wheeler and Aaron Nola have each made only one All-Star Game appearance in their careers, despite unquestionably being among the 10 best pitchers in the sport over the last half decade.
Wheeler is on track to change that. Among NL pitchers, the 33-year-old righty is seventh in WHIP (0.98), third in strikeouts (76), third in WAR (1.9) and second in innings pitched (67 2/3). In bizarre fashion, he only got to face one batter in the 2021 All-Star Game, which was managed by Dave Roberts of the Los Angeles Dodgers. You can bet this time around he won’t be the 10th pitcher to come in for the NL.
Meanwhile, Nola leads the NL in innings pitched at 71, and is one of three pitchers with a complete-game shutout on their resume this season in the senior circuit. His 3.79 FIP and 1.2 WAR right now are a bit underwhelming when compared to other All-Star candidates, especially when you consider how many other likely All-Stars the Phillies have. Every team having to have one representative may very well work against Nola, who was previously an All-Star in 2018. But he certainly belongs in the discussion.
Even Edmundo Sosa and Cristopher Sánchez are performing at very high levels in 2024. Not everyone will get to be an All-Star, but it’s hard to remember another year where the Phillies had this many deserving candidates, and so many were unexpected before the season.
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