He should have been selected outright as a National League All-Star, but fans have a chance to make up for manager Mike Matheny’s mistake by voting Chicago Cubs’ first baseman Anthony Rizzo in as the final member of the National League squad.
Rizzo, along with Justin Morneau of the Colorado Rockies, Anthony Rendon of the Washington Nationals, Casey McGehee of the Miami Marlins and Justin Upton of the Atlanta Braves make up the participants for the 2014 National League Final Vote. Fans now have the opportunity to vote in which player they feel best deserves to land that final spot on the National League roster.
With all due respect to the rest of the participants, the inclusion of Rizzo on the NL roster appears to be a no-brainer. The Cubs’ slugger is hitting .276/.384/.487, and is tied for fourth in the National League with 17 homeruns. Rizzo’s .871 OPS is also easily the best out of the rest of the competitors in the Final Five.
While the All-Star game is mostly based on offensive numbers, Rizzo’s defensive game deserves some credit as well. He is great defender at 1B, with his 2.2 UZR being the sixth best when it comes to National League first baseman, and that is with a couple of part time players ahead of him.
The Cubs are also asking their fans to vote for Rick Porcello of the Detroit Tigers. While Porcello may not be such an obvious choice like Rizzo, his 11-4 record, 3.13 ERA and 1.13 WHIP easily makes him a deserved selection.
Voting takes place on the Final Vote page on MLB.com. MLB will also tally votes on Twitter, by counting votes based on a player specific hashtag. Vote early and often for Rizzo using the #VoteRizzo hashtag in your tweets, and #PickRick for Porcello. Voting ends Thursday, July 10th at 4 PM ET.