Fernando Tatis Jr., Vladimir Guerrero Jr. top this year's roster of full-season All-Stars

Welcome back, All-Star Game. We missed you.

With last year’s game canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we also missed out on the annual debate over which players deserve to start. Traditionally, we’ve looked at players’ stats from not just the half-season already in the books, but the past full season’s worth of stats. But as we know all too well, we didn’t get a full (or even half) season in 2020.

So this time around, we’re combining numbers from last year’s 60-game regular season with the first half of 2021. Yes, the two “halves” aren’t quite equal. However, the idea remains the same: identify players who’ve excelled for more than just three months.

With some assistance from BaseballHQ.com, here are the statistical leaders at each position from July 23, 2020, through July 1, 2021 – to make a case for the most deserving All-Stars. (Players are listed at their primary position in 2021 fantasy drafts. Our picks for AL and NL starters are in bold.)

CATCHER

There’s really no contest in the American League. Salvador Perez blows away everyone else at the position with a major league-leading .298 batting average, 30 home runs and 80 RBI over the past year.

Christian Vazquez is a distant second, hitting .270 with decent power numbers and pacing all catchers with 12 stolen bases.

In the National League, things are much closer at the top. J.T. Realmuto (18 HRs, 62 RBI, 59 runs scored) gets the nod by a slim margin over Willson Contreras (20 HRs, 56 RBI, 72 runs) thanks to his 28-point advantage in batting average (.265 to .237) and twice as many steals (8 vs. 4). The Dodgers’ Will Smith (.272, 18 HRs, 53 RBI, 58 runs) isn’t far behind.

Also, you won’t see the fans’ choice in the NL, Buster Posey, on our catcher leaderboards because he opted out of the 2020 season. However, his .328 average and 12 homers in just 32 games (compared to 108 games for Realmuto, 129 for Contreras and 103 for Smith) are quite impressive.

FIRST BASE

The changing of the guard has officially taken place in the American League with Vladimir Guerrero Jr. moving ahead of 2020 MVP Jose Abreu into the top spot. Guerrero is the only first baseman in the major leagues to hit over .300 for the past full season (.306). He ranks first overall at the position with 35 home runs and is second in RBI (99) and runs (98).

With 114 RBI, Abreu was the only first baseman to drive in more than 100 runs over the past year, while Oakland’s Matt Olson is right behind Guerrero with 34 homers and 95 RBI. And Jared Walsh didn’t become a regular with the Angels until last September, but he still racked up 29 homers and 84 RBI while hitting .285.

In the NL, no one comes close to reigning MVP Freddie Freeman. He led the league in average (.295), homers (30), RBI (97) and runs (104).

SECOND BASE

Whit Merrifield is the most well-rounded second baseman in the game. He leads all major leaguers with 34 stolen bases over the past year – and is the only second baseman to rank among the top 10 at the position in all five Roto categories. Over that span, he hit .285 with 17 homers, was tied for first in RBI with 75 and second to Jose Altuve in runs with 87.

Brandon Lowe is the top power hitter with 30 home runs and 75 RBI, but those also came with a subpar .232 batting average.

In the NL, Ozzie Albies gets a lukewarm nod despite his .267 average. He does have decent power with 21 homers and 75 RBI, in addition to making the position’s top 10 in runs (70) and steals (14). The Dodgers’ Chris Taylor doesn’t have Albies’ speed, but he was close in homers (18), RBI (71) and average (.265) – and he led NL second basemen in runs (85).

THIRD BASE

Jose Ramirez can flat-out do it all. The Cleveland stalwart is among the top five third basemen in all five categories – leading the way with 35 home runs and 98 runs scored. That said, fan-voted starter Rafael Devers, with 30 homers, 84 runs and a position-leading 107 RBI, is a solid alternative.

Meanwhile, Manny Machado is very nearly Ramirez’s equal on the NL side. It’s a virtual dead heat in batting average (.297 vs. Ramirez’s .277), RBI (97 vs. 96) and steals (14 vs. 16), with Machado slightly behind in home runs with 28 and runs with 84.

Eugenio Suarez had the power numbers (31 HRs, 82 RBI, 67 runs) to challenge Machado, but his .185 batting average over 133 games takes a huge bite out of his fantasy value. Justin Turner led all third basemen with a .293 average over the past full year.

SHORTSTOP

Perhaps the closest race at any position is AL shortstop. Xander Bogaerts, Marcus Semien and Bo Bichette are separated by two runs, two RBI, three steals and six homers. But Bogaerts comes out on top because of his AL-leading .318 batting average.

If there’s any question who the No. 1 player in fantasy baseball is right now, consider this: Fernando Tatis Jr. led all major leaguers over the past year in home runs (43) and runs scored (111). He’s also third in RBI (101) and fourth in steals (27), while sporting an excellent .288 average. And that’s despite not playing in 18 of the Padres’ 142 games.

Tatis’ dominance tends to overshadow another outstanding NL shortstop. Trea Turner led the majors with a .325 average and 30 stolen bases over the same span. Turner was also second at the position with 96 runs, 26 homers (tied with Javier Baez) and 79 RBI (tied with Brandon Crawford).

OUTFIELD

A calf injury in mid-May has kept Mike Trout from making his annual appearance among the full-season leaders. That creates an opening the Blue Jays’ Teoscar Hernandez is more than happy to fill. Hernadnez ranked fourth among AL outfielders in batting average (.294), second in homers (27) and fourth in RBI (81). He also chipped in 11 stolen bases. Kyle Tucker is another all-category contributor, with his combined total of 166 runs and RBI the most in the league.

Shohei Ohtani hasn’t started a game in the outfield, but he has made five appearances there this season – which in some fantasy leagues is enough to gain in-season eligibility. If he were eligible, he would lead AL outfielders in home runs (35) and rank third in both RBI (87) and steals (18) over the past year. If there’s an All-Star team, Ohtani needs to be on it.

The three official NL starters are all validated by the numbers. Ronald Acuña Jr. led the position with 36 home runs (tied with Kyle Schwarber), 24 stolen bases and 109 runs scored. Meanwhile, Nick Castellanos (.294, 30 HRs, 87 RBI, 90 RS) was the only outfielder to place in either league’s top five in four different categories. Cincinnati Reds teammate Jesse Winker came close though, with a .300 average, 31 homers, 71 RBI and 83 runs.

PITCHER

Reigning AL Cy Young award winner Shane Bieber led all pitchers with 252 strikeouts over the past full season. He was also second overall with 15 wins and had the league’s best ERA at 2.52.

Gerrit Cole also had 15 wins and was just behind Bieber in ERA (2.73) and whiffs (223). Cole also had the AL’s third-best WHIP (0.93). Lance Lynn (2.71 ERA, 13 wins) gets the nod over Tyler Glasnow as the third AL starter.

Top-end pitching talent is more prevalent in the NL, led by the incomparable Jacob deGrom.

No one’s even close to his 1.48 ERA and 0.73 WHIP. He was also second in the league with 226 strikeouts. Trevor Bauer (2.24) and Yu Darvish (2.25) ranked second and third overall in ERA, plus both had sub-1.00 WHIPs and over 200 K’s.

Liam Hendriks (2.12 ERA, 35 saves) is a lock as AL closer, while Josh Hader’s combination of 33 saves and 86 strikeouts give him the edge in the NL.

Contributing: Matt Cederholm, BaseballHQ.com

Follow Gardner on Twitter @SteveAGardner

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Full-season MLB All-Stars: Vladimir Guerrero Jr. leads the list