These players deserve to be first-time ASG starters

Read our story on the balloting format, which includes two phases of fan voting to determine the All-Star starters.

Have you filled out your 2023 Scotts MLB All-Star ballot yet?

Yes? Great! But you can do it again. And again and again, up to five times every 24-hour period.

During Phase 1 of voting, which lasts until noon ET on June 22, each league’s leading vote-getter will be automatically inserted into their team’s starting lineup. Plus, your votes can help decide which players move on to Phase 2 of the voting, which begins June 26.

So why not make your voice heard as many times as possible?

• VOTE NOW: 2023 Scotts MLB All-Star Ballot

There is no shortage of players who deserve to be starting on July 11 at T-Mobile Park. Mike Trout, Mookie Betts and Paul Goldschmidt are included in that group. However, each of them has started at least four All-Star Games, and although they are obviously fantastic, maybe you would like to use your ballots to reward a player looking to earn his first All-Star start. If so, consider what follows to be a cheat sheet of sorts.

Here is one player at each position who should make their first All-Star start this year.

All stats updated through Friday’s games.

Catcher: Sean Murphy, Braves
Choosing which National League catcher gets your vote might be the toughest decision on the entire ballot. Why side with Murphy? He is in the midst of the best offensive season by a primary catcher in more than a decade. His 153 wRC+ would be the greatest over a full season at the position since Buster Posey’s 164 in 2012. Murphy has made across-the-board improvements in the batter’s box. That’s highlighted by a 17.6% barrel rate -- up from 10.5% last season -- that sits among the top 15 in the Majors. Meanwhile, the 2021 Gold Glover remains exceptional behind the plate, too.

First base: Yandy Díaz, Rays
Pop quiz, hot shot: You are a pitcher facing Díaz. You want to get him out. What do you do? You can try to see if he will fish for something out of the zone, but considering his low chase and whiff rates (21.0% and 18.0%, respectively), you will likely end up walking the Rays’ leadoff hitter. And if one of your pitches ventures into the zone - duck! Díaz’s .665 slugging percentage on pitches in the zone is fourth best in the big leagues (min. 150 plate appearances ending on in-zone pitches). It's illustrative as to why he has a .968 OPS, which is behind only Aaron Judge and Yordan Alvarez in the American League.

Second base: Nolan Gorman, Cardinals
Yes, the more obvious choice here is Luis Arraez, who is doing one heck of a Ted Williams impression. We’ll make it up to Marlins fans later in this piece. Oversight aside, there is another worthy choice at the keystone. Playing in his second season, Gorman was a top-three hitter as recently as two weeks ago. Although he is currently mired in a bit of a slump, he still leads all second basemen with 15 home runs, which surpasses his 2022 total. He is also at the top of the position -- and in the 90th percentile or better among qualified hitters -- in barrel rate (15.7%) and hard-hit rate (50.7%).

Third base: Josh Jung, Rangers
You can partially credit Gorman’s breakout sophomore season to better swing decisions: hack away at strikes, pass on balls. And you can say the same about the Rangers’ own second-year slugger, except Jung’s gains have been even more drastic. Chase rate, zone swing rate, walk rate -- Jung’s plate discipline has improved by significant margins in numerous areas. His strikeout rate has plummeted nearly 12 percentage points from his 26-game stint last year. This has allowed him to showcase the bat skills that made him the club’s No. 1 prospect entering this season. Still rookie-eligible, Jung leads that group of players in hard-hit rate (50.3%) and is tied for ninth among all hitters in total bases (121). With his fantastic .291/.340/.517 slash line, Jung has shown why he belongs right in the middle of MLB’s highest-scoring lineup.

Shortstop: Bo Bichette, Blue Jays
Bichette is doing all he can at the plate to become the Blue Jays’ first All-Star starter at shortstop. That includes leading the Major Leagues in hits (90) and the American League in total bases (145). He’s batting an AL-best .324 for a team that hasn’t had a hitter record an average better than .315 over a full season since 2006. The secret to Bichette’s success? He feasts on fastballs. They make up more than 60% of the pitches he sees, and he is batting .369 against them with a .953 OPS. Only MVP candidate Ronald Acuña Jr. has a higher average this year vs. fastballs (min. 150 plate appearances).

Outfield: Randy Arozarena, Rays
We could just litter this list with Rays and call it a day. They have six hitters with at least 150 plate appearances who own a wRC+ of 140 or better. We’ve already mentioned Díaz, and although we like to spread the wealth, it feels proper to give the best team in baseball a second entry. Arozarena’s year-to-year improvement in walk rate, barrel rate, chase rate and hard-hit rate each rank inside the top 10 among qualified hitters. His .288/.402/.493 slash line features nothing but full-season career highs, and he’s on pace for 31 dingers with 23 steals. Arozarena has simply become a complete offensive force in his age-28 campaign.

Outfield: Corbin Carroll, D-backs
The All-Star Game should be a showcase for not only the best players in baseball but also the most fun to watch. The D-backs' star rookie belongs in both categories. You want speed? Carroll’s top-notch sprint speed and 18 steals are proof of his elite feet. You want great catches? He is in the 92nd percentile in Outs Above Average and routinely does something amazing in the outfield. You want big hits? Carroll has a .966 OPS on the year and has bashed eight homers over his previous 20 games. Add it all up and you can understand why no player has a greater fWAR (3.1) than this 22-year-old dynamo.

Outfield: Masataka Yoshida, Red Sox
This final outfield spot was originally reserved for Yordan Alvarez, but an oblique injury has muddled his All-Star outlook. Instead, we’ll go from the top rookie in the Senior Circuit to the AL Rookie of the Year Award frontrunner. It took Yoshida a few weeks to acclimate to Major League pitching, but he has been absolutely locked in since April 20. From that point, he has posted a league-leading .349 average. His .949 OPS and 166 wRC+ during this period rank in the top five in the American League. And it’s safe to say that he knows how to handle MLB velocity. Yoshida is batting .406 against four-seamers, which is third best among all hitters with at least 75 plate appearances ending on that pitch type. If Yoshida does become an All-Star starter, he will be the sixth Japanese-born player to earn the honor, following Hideo Nomo, Ichiro Suzuki, Hideki Matsui, Kosuke Fukudome and Shohei Ohtani.

Designated hitter: Jorge Soler, Marlins
Soler’s injury-marred 2022 season was a slog. This season is all about slug as he has looked every bit the player who left the yard 48 times in 2019 and was the World Series MVP in 2021. Coming off a massive May, Soler’s 17 homers are tied for fourth most in the big leagues. And he seems to have a flair for the dramatic with his dingers. Soler has recorded an MLB-high five homers and a .429/.511/.964 slash line across 28 at-bats in close/late situations. Although Arraez rightfully grabs the headlines, Soler’s rebound is a key reason why the Marlins are in playoff position and on pace for their most victories since their title-winning 2003 season.