The Brewers’ Most Deserving All-Star

So who is the Brewers MVP and best rep for an All-Star nod to this point? That was teh question posed to me by Fandsided’s blog Call to the Pen.

Here is Call to the Pen’s most excellent review of each team’s All-Star.

It’s been a rough season for the Brewers, and its equally difficult to try and single out any players as “All-Stars” on a team that has been massively disappointing. But two players stand out from the on-set as deserving participants of the Mid-Summer Classic: Corey Hart and Ryan Braun.
Let’s take a closer look to see who is the most warranted All-Star THIS YEAR.
Firstly, just to get it out of the way, both are different, but still sour degrees of bad as corner outfielders. Braun is among the worst in the game defensively (-19.8 UZR for Braun over his time as a leftfielder, on pace for a -25.7 UZR/150 right now !) at his position so far, while Hart is merely below average, with a -3.6 UZR/150 over six seasons as a right fielder, though he is suffering his worst fielding season of his career thus far, with a -14.7 UZR/150 currently).
I feel comfortable giving neither player any edge here. Though Hart is clearly better, he’s been poor and not helpful. So it will be up to the better bat to decide this.
Let’s look at the stats:
Corey Hart: .267/.344/.610, .401 wOBA; 17 HR, 9 2B, 41 RBI, 28 R
Ryan Braun .299/.364/.490, .383 wOBA; 9 HR, 17 2B, 39 RBI, 41 R

These are two pretty close players. Hart owns a healthy 3 HR lead among National League leaders, which is pretty much sure to punch him a ticket (with Braun, who will likely be voted in), however, is he deserving? The answer is yes.
I mean, sure, the majority of his numbers are high because of those homers, which explain the monstrous .610 slugging percentage. He only had 9 doubles to go with these, so Hart’s production has for the most part been homer or bust, since he’s not hitting for high average.
Braun on the other hand is having a much more balanced and sustainable season and the kind we’ve come to expect from him by now. His home runs will probably go up, but beyond that he’s been outstanding. If the award were to grade the better player, or the player more likely to continue their season, Braun would win easily.
But Hart, to this point, has been the Brewers’ All-Star.