Which Other Milwaukee Brewers Players Deserved to Be All-Stars?

The Milwaukee Brewers have one All-Star and one more possible through fan votes, but can arguments be made for a few others?

Jonathan Lucroy was announced as an All-Star yesterday and Ryan Braun can be an All-Star through fan votes. (Don’t forget to go to mlb.com or simply put #VoteBraun on Twitter). While Lucroy and Braun were the obvious choices, what other Milwaukee Brewers players can make a good argument to be on the NL All-Star team?

SS Jonathan Villar

Villar can make the biggest argument to being an All-Star, but having a fan vote certainly mixed the NL roster up a bit with Addison Russell taking the SS position. But, narrowing down how he compares to the infielders selected, he outdoes everyone in SBs (27), where Jean Segura is the only one officially on the roster who comes close (15).

He’s at the top of the NL in BABIP (.400) and at least top 27 in AVG (.290) and OBP (.375). While he might not give you the power Seager, Murphy, and Russell have (if Russell’s 11 HRs is considered “power”), he’d certainly be a great fit late in an All-Star game when a power hitter gets on base and need a quick runner.

RHP Jeremy Jeffress

With Jeffress, there is no argument until seeing Fernando Rodney. All the relief pitchers chosen are just ahead of the Milwaukee Brewers closer in the saves department, but Rodney has gotten 17 saves compared to Jeffress’ 22 (before last night).

More from Brewers News

• Brewers: 4 Players Who Must Step Up for the Crew to Make the Playoffs
• Brewers: Yet Another Huge Promotion For Top Prospect Jackson Chourio
• Brewers Making Colossal Mistake With Corbin Burnes’ Contract
• Which Players May Be In The Final Month Of Their Brewers Careers?
• Brewers: Where Does Devin Williams Stand In NL Reliever Of The Year Race?

So, they chose the RHP who had all his saves with the Padres (not the Marlins) and has only pitched 4 innings for the Marlins so far. It makes sense they rewarded him for his 1.10 ERA, but already being a former 2-time All-Star might’ve won this one.

RHP Tyler Thornburg

Villar and Jeffress are the two with the biggest arguments, but Thornburg has been impressive throughout the season. All 5 relievers are closers and one relief pitcher who’s not a closer would’ve been fair.

So far Thornburg has had a 3.22 xFIP and 12.12 K/9 in 32.2 IP. Other non-closers can make an argument like Nationals’ Shawn Kelley and Cubs’ Pedro Stop, but Thornburg deserves any type of recognition so far this season.

1B Chris Carter

Alright, I’ll be honest. My bold prediction this year was that Chris “Sleepy” Carter was going to be an All-Star and he obviously isn’t, so I have to make an argument here no matter how well he’s done. With players like Anthony Rizzo and Paul Goldschmidt, he’d definitely have to up his game. Carter has gotten the power down with 20 HRs, tied 1st with Anthony Rizzo and 4th in RBIs with 49 among 1st baseman.

Next: Santana's Injury - Biggest Downer of First Half?

Unfortunately, just looking at the pure basics, his batting line (.230/.314/.498) falls compared to Wil Myers (.290/.357/.539) who was selected as a reserve. But, all in all he was a pretty good signing so far and will hopefully continue to line up to his ZiPS projections.

All in all the Milwaukee Brewers All-Star selections were fair when you’re 10 games under .500 before the selection begins. The most important action fans can make once again is to go to mlb.com and continue to vote for Ryan Braun. As the trade deadline comes around, you never know what can happen, so it’ll be nice to honor Lucroy and Braun together in the 2016 All-Star game.