Okay, so...the All-Star Game's coming up in a few weeks. Voting for the starters is wrapping up this week. Then Boone and Roberts go about deciding the rest of the rosters. In that comes the tricky business of deciding at least one nominee from each team, even the crappier ones. For some, it's easier than others: I think the nominee for Pittsburgh is a done deal, and I could *guess* who'd get picked from Colorado but it wouldn't exactly sell merch. But this is how the ASG works, every team is accounted for, and every team has good players on them worthy of merit.
But...how do you reward a team like the White Sox? Who on this team should be remembered for anything? Last year at least they had Garrett Crochet and Erick Fedde, now they have a lot of young no-names, a few veterans who aren't hitting, and some fringe guys doing their thing. Who do you recognize from that? Who do you put next to people like Bobby Witt Jr., Tarik Skubal and Cal Raleigh?
Well...I have some ideas. They're not all good ideas, but they're ideas. So let's see
-Miguel Vargas. Statistically, Vargas is the White Sox's best player. Yes, he's only hitting .234, but he's got 10 homers and 34 RBIs. In May he hit .263 with 7 homers and 17 RBIs. He's accurate, he doesn't strike out much, he's good at contact and he's a young, hip infielder the fanbase can hopefully get around. My issue with Vargas is that there really isn't much to him. Like, what can you say about those stats? Oh great, he's...producing but not advancing, and if he was still in LA he'd be benched for this. I think logically Vargas has the best chance of getting a nod, but I don't think on its own these stats would be ASG-worthy. Similarly,
-Chase Meidroth. Big rookie contact guy. Steals bases, plays great 2nd base, hitting .263. It's good for this team, but considering that Jacob Wilson will be on the ASG team, it doesn't make sense. If you're putting up a rookie, they've gotta be really burning the league down, and Jacob Wilson is doing that as a contact bat. Comparatively Meidroth has 56 hits in 58 games, which is good but not the same.
-Shane Smith. He set some records early, had some great starts, and the White Sox are coming off a season with a true rotation standout. Smith has started 15 games, has a 3.38 ERA, 68 Ks and a 1.272 WHIP. Those are good numbers. They maaay be enough to sneak him into an SP spot, but considering how contentious the starting positions are for this roster, and considering that there's a lot of great pitchers [Framber Valdez, Yusei Kikuchi, Bryan Woo, Chris Bassitt] who aren't even guaranteed a spot right now, I don't know how likely it is that they can justify Smith over the majority of them.
-Adrian Houser. Statistically, Houser is the best pitcher on the White Sox. He's also only been there for 6 starts. That doing pretty well for 6 starts gets you a 1.5 WHIP and a ride to second on the leaderboard says more about the White Sox than Houser. And yes, he's looked good, with a 2.27 ERA in that time, but that's a very small sample size for ASG berth. Paul Skenes had more starts before July last year.
-Steven Wilson. Steven Wilson is the guy I am honestly thinking SHOULD get the nod for the White Sox, and I know this is a contentious point because all of you are going 'who??' Steven Wilson is....well, Steven Wilson is a progressive rock musician known for his music with the band Porcupine Tree, but Steven Wilson the PITCHER is a former Padres reliever netted in the Dylan Cease deal. Right now, Wilson is one of the best players on the White Sox because he's been steady in the face of mess. He has a 1.73 ERA, a 1.3 WAR, and 25 Ks through 26 innings. Nothing on this team has been steady, yet Steven Wilson has been steady. And so I think it should be him. There is the issue of nobody having heard of him, but...people still haven't heard of Evan Meek, Bryan LaHair or Kevin Correia, so that's not much of a serve.
Maybe it's none of them. Maybe they go with Luis Robert or Andrew Benintendi regardless of statistical evidence suggesting the contrary. Who knows? I certainly don't. But whoever gets it will likely remember every second of the experience, because who knows if it'll ever happen again.
Coming Tonight: Got booted out of Philly for a guy who barely lasted, and has provided a surprising amount of security since arriving in his new city.
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