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

We’re just under two months away from this year’s Midsummer’s Classic in Cleveland but that doesn’t mean its too early to start making roster predictions. So far the Yankees have a handful of players who are making a strong case to earn a selection on the AL squad. Which of them will earn the nod?

Despite having 13 players currently on the injured list the Yankees record sits at 26-16, just a .5 game behind the first place Rays. Many of their top contributors are still on the IL including former All-Stars Aaron Judge, Luis Severino, Dellin Betances, and Giancarlo Stanton. 

Heading into the season I’m sure a lot us expected them to add another All-Star appearance to their collective list of accolades but they’ve already missed too much time so that’s not going to happen. That being said there’s still a number of healthy Yankees who are in the running to represent the pinstripes come July 9th. Here they are:

C Gary Sanchez, 1x All-Star

Numbers: .263 BA, 12 HR, 22 RBI, 15 R, .663 SLG%, 1.009 OPS

Sanchez made his first All-Star appearance back in 2017 in Miami as a reserve and this season he’s the heavy favorite to start the game for the first time in his career. After an injury-plagued season in 2018 that definitely prevented him from putting up his usual numbers Sanchez is back to being the best offensive catcher in baseball.

He leads all catchers with 12 HR despite only appearing in 26 games and has an OPS of 1.009. Sanchez continues to barrel up to the ball better than any hitter in baseball as 8 of his 12 homers have left the ballpark at 110 mph or harder while six of them have traveled at least 425 ft.

On the defensive side, Sanchez has been much better now that his left shoulder is 100% healthy. He’s also cut down on the passed balls and does a great job of controlling the running game and managing a pitching staff that’s one of the toughest to catch in the game. With all the injuries the Yankees have suffered they needed Sanchez to step up and carry the load more than anyone and he’s done just that. He’s a shoo-in to start this year’s game for the first of many times.

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.