The opening of All-Star voting to fans last week quickly brought ‘‘Vote McCann’’ and ‘‘Vote TA7’’ tweets from the White Sox, backing catcher James McCann and shortstop Tim Anderson.
Do they have solid by-the-numbers cases? Let’s take a look and run numbers for third baseman Yoan Moncada and first baseman Jose Abreu, too. (Right-hander Lucas Giolito, the Sox’ leader with a 2.5 fWAR, is excluded only because fans don’t vote for pitchers.)
McCann: With a .424 batting average on balls in play boosting a .338 batting average, McCann has a 1.5 fWAR. That’s tied for the American League lead among catchers with the Red Sox’ Christian Vazquez and the Yankees’ Gary Sanchez.
It’s going to be difficult for fans to look past Sanchez’s 18 home runs to McCann’s four. But with all facets of offense considered, McCann’s 140 weighted runs created plus is second to Sanchez’s 156 among AL catchers.
This is heady territory for McCann, who entered this season as a career .248 hitter with a career 81 wRC+, which meant he had been 19 percent less productive than an average hitter. But his production so far in 2019 has been star-caliber.
Anderson: It has been a top-heavy season for offense among AL shortstops. With a .330 batting average and nine homers, Anderson is strong with a 134 wRC+, but that’s outranked by three AL shortstops. The Twins’ Jorge Polanco leads at 159, followed by the Red Sox’ Xander Bogaerts (145) and the Astros’ Carlos Correa (142).
Anderson is at minus-1.3 defensive runs at Fangraphs.com. Once that’s factored in, his 1.7 fWAR is sixth among AL shortstops. Bogaerts (2.8) and Polanco (2.7) top the list.
Moncada: After moving from second base to third, Moncada has had a breakout season so far, with 10 homers and a 120 wRC+.
But competition is fierce at third, with nine AL players at 116 wRC+ or better. The Royals’ Hunter Dozier (158) and the Astros’ Alex Bregman (154, 17 homers), are 12th and 13th among all AL qualifiers in wRC+.
With defense included, Moncada’s 1.7 fWAR for a third of a season would be All-Star-caliber in many seasons, but Bregman (2.6), the Athletics’ Matt Chapman (2.6) and Dozier (2.2) are the leaders.
Abreu: The AL RBI leader with 50, Abreu doesn’t fare as well by advanced metrics. Modern metrics try to factor out team influence, and RBI are dependent on teammates getting on base.
With a .246 batting average and walks in only 6.3 percent of his plate appearances, Abreu’s on-base percentage is a low .292. A .504 slugging percentage brings his OPS to .797, and that’s eighth among AL qualifiers at first base. Factor in park effects and opposition, and his 105 wRC+ is ninth, with the Indians’ Carlos Santana and the Yankees’ Luke Voit tied at the top at 139.
Santana is the first-base leader with a 1.7 fWAR, while a minus-5.9 defensive runs drag Abreu’s fWAR down to 0.2.
Abreu’s metrics case isn’t as strong as those for McCann, Anderson or Moncada, but plenty of fans no doubt will want to vote for the RBI leader.
