The final vote is one of the most thrilling events that happens when it comes to the All-Star balloting. Everyone has their opinions on who should advance and who should stay home, probably none as crazy as last year when the vote was between Freddie Freeman and Yasiel Puig. With the Chicago White Sox and Washington Nationals teaming up in the vote, let's review the reason why White Sox ace Chris Sale deserves to play in the mini-apple for the 2014 All Star Game on July 15, 2014.
Chris Sale is one of the top pitchers this era. Unfortunately, he is on a team that has a tough time generating wins, a key statistic in voting. He has been on the All-Star team each of the past two seasons, the only two seasons he has been a starting pitcher. Plus, every team can use a lefty out of the bullpen, which would be a major weapon in getting home field advantage in the World Series. Currently this season he is 8-1 with 96 strikeouts, a 2.16 ERA, and a 0.87 WHIP. He had spent time on the disabled list earlier this year, but has the lowest ERA of all the pitchers in the competition, the only WHIP under 1, and the best hashtag of all the players in the contest, #TargetSale. It's clever because pitchers throw the baseball at the strike zone, which is their target. Target stores are headquartered in Minneapolis. The All-Star game is being played at Target Field. Even though the Twins are a divisional rival, it's still a clever marketing pitch.
The person on the National League side of the ballot is Anthony Rendon. He was called up last year from the Harrisburg Senators initially when Ryan Zimmerman went to the disabled list. He is versatile because he came back up in June to replace Danny Espinosa and he played second base instead. Since then, he has been playing second base ever since for the Nationals. This season he has been very balanced with a .282 batting average, .340 on base percentage, and .483 slugging percentage. Here are some of his highlights from earlier in the season.
The main reason that National League fans should vote for Rendon though, is that he has eight stolen bases, which is the highest amount of all of the final vote representatives. Rendon could come in handy off of the bench as a pinch-runner and can field at second or third base, giving him some good versatility. That is why Rendon should be voted in to the final spot for the National League All-Star Game.
So make sure that these two fine gentleman get the roster spots that they deserve, so that they can be enjoyed on the Target Field as they each try to win home field advantage in the World Series.