Yankees: Predicting who will make the AL All-Star team and who will just miss the cut

Thursday night the All-Star starters were announced and the American League lineup will feature two Yankees in catcher Gary Sanchez and second basemen DJ LeMahieu. With the rest of the rosters set to be announced on Sunday which of their teammates will join them in Cleveland?

The Yankees enter this weekend’s series in London sitting atop the AL East with a record of 52-28. It’s been an outstanding first half for the Yanks so far and come July 9th they should be very well represented once again at this year’s Midsummer Classic. On the pitching staff and in the lineup they have a handful of candidates worthy of putting on the pinstripes for the AL squad.

For the second time in his career, Gary Sanchez will be an All-Star (first start) and for DJ LeMahieu this year will mark his third appearance (second start) and first with New York. They were each obvious choices to start the game, but besides them who else from the Yankees will make it? It’s time to make some predictions.

SS/2B Gleyber Torres

Torres made it to the final round of voting amongst AL shortstops but came in second to the Twins Jorge Polanco who is having a breakout campaign. Despite coming up short in the fan vote Torres should be a lock to make the team as a reserve for the second year in a row.

The American League is stacked with talent at the shortstop position but nobody has hit for more power than Torres up to this point. In 74 games he’s hit 19 HR and driven in 47 runs while posting an impressive .291 BA and .549 SLG%. As he showed with his walk-off single to win Wednesday’s game he’s been even better with RISP, hitting .371 with 7 HR and 34 RBI. Any way you look at it he’s an All-Star and at just 22-years he should be for years to come.

1B Luke Voit

Voit missed out on starting at first base for the AL after coming in second to Cleveland’s Carlos Santana in the fan vote. We’ll have to wait and see how many more 1B will be selected to the AL roster but if they take another two Voit has a great chance to make his first career All-Star appearance.

After his breakout campaign in 2018 Voit has proven that he is no fluke as he’s been a consistent power threat in the heart of the Yankees order throughout the first half of the season. Voit is top five in every major offensive category among AL first baseman hitting .270 with 17 HR, 49 RBI and has an OPS of .877.

He’ll face stiff competition from guys like Jose Abreu (CHW) and CJ Cron (MIN) if they’re only taking one more 1B to back up Santana but his impressive .386 OBP could give him an edge.

CL Aroldis Chapman

Chapman is a lock to be an All-Star for the sixth time in his career and the second year in a row with the Yankees. The big left-hander leads the AL with 23 saves in 25 chances and has posted an ERA of 1.45. Chapman has cut down on the walks in 2019 with only 9 so far and has a WHIP of 0.97 while his opponents are only hitting .188 off of him.

With his health issues from a season ago fully behind him, Chappy is back to his dominant self and if AL skipper Alex Cora was smart he’d hand him the ball in the ninth if his team has a lead.

Just missing the cut

Edwin Encarnacion

Based on his power numbers alone (24 HR, 54 RBI) Encarnacion is All-Star worthy but his .230 batting average might not be good enough to earn him a spot as a reserve. The bulk of his production came with the Mariners and in nine games with the Yanks, he’s launched three HR but he’s only hitting .152 in 33 at-bats.

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Before the season is all said and done he’ll get hot and that average will increase but his slow start in New York could keep him from making another All-Star appearance.

Gio Urshela 

Urshela has been a savior for the Yanks and one of the team MVPs so far on both sides of the ball. His defense has been as good as advertised and in 64 games he’s hitting .303 with 6 HR and 35 RBI. He’s been extremely clutch as well hitting .373 with RISP and has produced multiple go-ahead hits late in games.

However, his power numbers are lacking compared to some of the other deserving AL third basemen. I’d love to see Gio earn his first career All-Star selection but now that the Yankee offense is pretty much back to full strength he’s not really an everyday player anymore which could be another thing that prevents him from earning the nod.