Democracy in action: MLB fans got it right with 2022 All-Star Game starters | Opinion

Hey, let’s not stop here. Can the fans select the MLB All-Star Game reserve players too?

How about the pitching staff?

Go ahead, let them decide which pitchers will start the game for the American and National Leagues.

The fans nailed this year’s All-Star balloting.

We can certainly nit-pick the fans’ selections of the starting lineups in the All-Star Games through the years, but all in all, it’s impossible to have a Chris Sale blow-up over any of their picks in 2022.

The biggest second-guess may be Shohei Ohtani’s selection as the American League DH over Yordan Alvarez. Alvarez is having a year for the ages, and a threat to halt top Aaron Judge’s runaway MVP candidacy, hitting .312 with 26 homers and 59 RBI, leading the American League with a .665 slugging percentage and 1.076 OPS. Ohtani is hitting .257 with 18 homers, 53 RBI and a .833 OPS.

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The difference, of course, is that Ohtani is today’s modern-day Babe Ruth as a pitcher too, and just so happens to be the face of baseball.

Xander Bogaerts of the Boston Red Sox should have been voted the starting shortstop over Tim Anderson. Certainly, nothing against Anderson, the former batting champion who is hitting .313 with five homers, 20 RBI and a .774 OPS this season. But he also has missed 26 games. Bogaerts is hitting .311 with seven homers, 34 RBI and an .839 OPS but didn't even make it to the final vote, with Bo Bichette finishing runner-up.

The NL second-base spot became a free-for-all with Atlanta’s Ozzie Albies suffering a  broken foot. Tommy Edman of the St. Louis Cardinals, who is having the best defensive season of any second baseman, could have been a replacement, compiling a 4.1 WAR while hitting .261 with seven homers and 32 RBI. Instead it went to the Marlins’ Jazz Chisholm with his 2.6 WAR, with 14 homers and 45 RBI, beating out Albies in the final round of voting. The trouble for Edman is that he not only plays multiple infield positions, but barely anyone outside of the 314 area code can identify Edman. You can’t miss Chisholm’s charisma and hair colors.

Bryce Harper won’t pick up a bat until August, but, hey, why not still reward him? But the best DH in the league these days is his Phillies teammate, Kyle Schwarber, who has hit 16 of his 27 homers in the past five weeks. Hopefully, future Hall of Famer Albert Pujols, selected by commissioner Rob Manfred in the legends category, will be brought in for a critical moment, too.

Otherwise, the fans came through, voting with their intellect, and not necessarily with their heart.

There may not a more hated player in baseball in opposing cities than Jose Altuve, who is viciously booed wherever the Astros go for being on the 2017 World Series team that benefited from the infamous cheating scandal.

Well, guess what? He was still voted the starting AL second baseman.

San Diego Padres third baseman Manny Machado gets booed wherever he goes, too. He still got the starting nod over popular third baseman Nolan Arenado of the St. Louis Cardinals.

There was no voting bloc who showed more muscle that the Toronto Blue Jays, who tried to get all nine of their position players in the starting lineup, and succeeded with two as catcher Alejandro Kirk and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. were voted in.

Really, the only position that voters appeared to select their favorite biggest and brightest stars was in the AL outfield with Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton of the Yankees winning two of the spots, and Angels center fielder Mike Trout grabbing the other with his 10th All-Star nod.

Certainly, Byron Buxton of the Minnesota Twins is having a finer year than Stanton. Don’t forget about Astros right fielder Kyle Tucker and Blue Jays center fielder George Springer, too. And the best of them all may be Houston's Alvarez, who plays left field in addition to being a DH.

But you know the voting works when Kirk wins the All-Star balloting over Jose Trevino, despite playing for the Yankees and their massive fanbase.

So, take a bow, fans.

This is your game. These are your picks.

And, man, did you ever get it right.

Now, you mind giving some suggestions to Dusty Baker and Brian Snitker about their choices for which pitchers will get the start?

It’s almost guaranteed they’ll be second-guessed a whole lot more than the fans.

Follow Nightengale on Twitter: @Bnightengale 

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: MLB All-Star Game voting: The fans got it right with starter picks