Yankees: Five players who are on track to make this year’s All-Star Game

Numbers: .242 BA, 10 HR, 32 RBI, 27 R, 24 BB, .833 OPS, 

Voit was the Yankees MVP during April and even though he’s cooled down a bit in May he’s still in good shape to make his first career All-Star game. Right now Voit has 10 HR and leads the Yankees in RBI with 32 which is the second most among AL first basemen and four behind last year’s starter Jose Abreu.

Abreu is probably the leader to start this year’s game again but Yankee fans might have something to say about that given Voit’s popularity among the fan base. If he doesn’t start Voit should earn a spot as a reserve especially when you consider the backup 1B selected last year was Mitch Moreland who’s numbers weren’t very All-Star worthy at all.

Voit has a .242 BA right now, but he broke out of an 0-22 slump Wednesday night by going 3 for 4 with two RBI so that average figures to rise in the coming weeks. Nonetheless, his overall production has been great and all season he’s been extremely clutch with RISP, hitting .353 with 22 RBI. Based on his performance so far Voit has already proven that last season was no fluke but after he makes this year’s All-Star game he’ll shut up all of his doubters for good.

Numbers: .322 BA, 2 HR, 21 RBI, 46 H, 10 2B, 23 R, .371 OBP

LeMahieu has been a savior for the Yanks through the first month and a half and without him, there’s no they’d be 10 games over .500. There hasn’t been a more consistent hitter in the Yankees lineup up to this point or a more clutch one for that matter. With RISP, DJ is hitting an incredible .471 with 17 RBI in 34 at-bats.

Defensively he’s been sure-handed at second, third and even first on occasion. Right now he’s the primary second basemen for the Yanks and Gleyber Torres is the shortstop with both Didi Gregorius and Troy Tulowitzki still out. Once one of them returns that could change but no matter where he plays we’ll continue to see him in the everyday lineup.

His power numbers aren’t great but in a day and age where all anybody seems to care about is launch angles and home runs LeMahieu has shown the value of putting the ball in play and hitting to the opposite field. He’s exactly what the Yankee lineup needed and deserves serious consideration to earn his third All-Star nod in the coming weeks.

We’ve seen utility players get selected to the All-Star game more and more over the past couple seasons and this year there’s no one better to represent the AL than LeMahieu.

Numbers: 8-1, 2.50 ERA, 50.1 IP, 52 K’s, .179 OPP BA, 0.95 WHIP

Domingo German is not only on his way to his first All-Star game selection but right now there’s a decent chance we could see him start the game for the AL. Outside of maybe Justin Verlander there isn’t a starter in the AL more deserving than him.

After picking up another win on Wednesday German now leads baseball with 8 on the season and is fourth in OPP BA and eighth in WHIP. German has always had the stuff to be a successful big league starter but this year’s he’s put it all together on a consistent basis. The key for Domingo has been his ability to pound the strike zone with three plus pitches (fastball, curveball, changeup). It’s allowed him to have a lot of quick innings and pitch deeper into games.

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Wednesday night he was able to finish seven innings for the first time in his career and in six of his eight starts he’s pitched at least six innings. Another key for German has been getting off to a fast start by putting up a zero in the first inning. Last season his ERA in the first inning was 8.36 and so far in 2019, it’s 1.13.

In the absence of Luis Severino, German has been a breakout star and has emerged as the ace of the staff after he wasn’t even supposed to begin the season in the starting rotation. It will be interesting to see if he can continue to pitch at this level as his inning total mounts because if he can the Yankees will be in a great position to win the AL East.

Numbers: 2.16 ERA, 11/12 SVO, 16.2 IP, 25 K’s, .206 OPP BA, 0.96 WHIP, 13.5 K/9

Since taking over as the Reds closer in 2012 Chapman has made five All-Star teams. This year will be number six. After picking up the save in both games of Wednesday’s doubleheader Chapman looks like he’s rounding into mid-season form. His fastball of late has been clocked at 101 mph pretty consistently and over his last three outings, he’s struck out six in 3 IP.

The Yankees bullpen as a whole is starting to dominate as we all expected and as they continue to do so Chapman’s AL lead for saves will continue to increase. Chapman is as healthy as he’s been since becoming a Yankee and as long as he can stay on the field there’s no doubt we’ll see him representing New York in the ASG for the second season in a row.

Honorable Mentions:

Gio Urshela: .330, 2 HR, 15 RBI, 31 H, .874 OPS, 9 2B, .407 W/RISP

Urshela has been the Yankees biggest unsung hero so far and if not for all the talented third basemen in the AL he would have a shot at making his first ASG. His defense at third base has been gold glove caliber as advertised while his knack for getting big hits has been constant. It’s unlikely he’ll continue to hit .330 from here on out but he’s definitely earned the right to be the Yankees everyday third basemen moving forward.

Gleyber Torres: .290, 8 HR, 20 RBI, 45 H, 10 2B, .510 SLG%

Torres got off to a slow start but he’s picked it up of late hitting .341 in May with three home runs (all during Wednesday’s DH). With Jose Altuve injured and not posting his usual All-Star type numbers so far Torres could be the favorite to win the fan vote at second base even though he’s played mostly at shortstop with Didi out. As we get closer to July his numbers figure to be All-Star worthy.

Tommy Kahnle: 1-0, 1.08 ERA, 16.2 IP, 23 K’s, .121 OPP BA, 0.78 WHIP

It’s hard to make the ASG as a reliever who’s not a closer but Kahnle has definitely put his name in the mix. This season’s been a total turnaround for Kahnle after he really struggled during an injury-plagued 2018 campaign. He’s been the Yanks most reliable reliever thus far and Aaron Boone has taken notice by putting him in more high leverage situations with each passing game.

By the time selection day rolls around a handful of other Yankee relievers could be All-Star worthy but right now Kahnle is the most.