ASG Worthy? Nestor Cortes Jr.

The Yankees will be sending 6 representatives to the 2022 Midsummer Classic. This week, we're going to see if each player is worthy to go.

The History of All-Star Selections/Voting:

Starting in 1933, outside of a few instances (1945 and 2020), the All-Star Game has been a yearly occurrence at about the halfway point during the MLB season. In the early years, the All-Star teams were quite small (18 players in 1933. 20 from 1934-1938, 25 from 1939-1981) and in recent years rules have been implemented that each MLB team must have at least one representative at the game. In 1982, the rosters were expanded to 30 active players then it moved to 32 in 2003, 33 in 2009, and has been at 34 since 2010.

Alongside roster changes and expansions, the league has also had many different solutions to how a player makes the All-Star team. In the first two years, the fans voted for the 18 starters- including the starting pitcher- while the rest of the roster was compiled by the manager. This changed from 1934-1946 where the full roster was selected by the manager of the team. In 1947 fans were allowed to vote again for the starting 8 (no pitchers)...which was then stopped after Cincinnati Reds fans "stuffed the ballot" in 1957. It then became a decision by the managers and MLB again through 1969. In 1970 fan voting came back for the starting 8, though from then until 2003, the managers solely selected the back-up players. In 2003 the players were also given a voice in the voting process for the non-starters. The final voting changes occurred from 2002 to 2018 where fans had a vote for the final player on the roster, and a new rule for 2022 (and going forward) where the commissioner of the MLB is allowed to make a "legacy selection" for the All-Star Game. (This year the selected legacy players are Albert Pujols and Miguel Cabrera.)

All-Star Flubs and Snubs:

Now, with a history that is nearly 90 years going and the many many changes to team sizes, selection processes, and even positions to vote/select for (the outfield used to be separated by specific position), there should be an expectation that there are some players who snuck their way onto the team and others who should've been slam-dunk choices.

Take 2015 for example. The Kansas City Royals rallied their troops and got shortstop Alcides Escobar elected as the starting shortstop for the All-Star Game. By that time in the season, Escobar was hitting to a respectable .290/.327/.372/.700 quadruple slash and as a glove-first player with a 98 OPS+ it was not seen as out of the picture. However, at that same point in the season Xander Bogaerts (who didn't make the team at all) was hitting to a .304/.338/.411/.750 quadruple slash. (To put it into perspective, that .050 difference in OPS is the same between 2022 Giancarlo Stanton and 2022 Eugenio Suarez.)

Also to that point, let's highlight 2022 All-Star Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and non-all-star Ty France. Vladito is hitting to a .266/.346/.483/.829 quadruple slash with 19 home runs and 54 RBI's while France is hitting to a .306/.379/.460/.840 quadruple slash with 10 home runs and 45 RBI's. Are they comparable? Yes. However, did fan voting for a Toronto Blue Jay help elevated Guerrero over a more deserving player? Also, yes.

All that being said, let's see if the 6 Yankees 2022 All-Star Game selections are worthwhile.

The 2022 Statistics of Nestor Cortes Jr.:

An early contender for the AL Cy Young through the first 1/4th to 1/3rd of the season, Nestor Cortes is and has been a great story to follow. A non-fireball pitcher, Cortes is a master at deception and timing work to mess with opposing hitters and he has been able to hone down a good multi-pitch repertoire. That, and the mustache is absolutely great. At this point in the season, Nestor Cortes Jr. is pitching to the following line: (Key: Leads MLB, Leads AL Starting Pitchers)

17 Games Started, 7-3 Record, (.700 Winning Percentage), 2.63 ERA (143 ERA+), 3.56 FIP, 95.2 Innings Pitched, 99 Strikeouts (9.31 K/9), 1.003 WHIP, +2.4 bWAR/+1.9 fWAR

Across qualified American League starting pitchers Nestor Cortes Jr. has the:

Tied for 15th in Games Started (14 pitchers tied for lead with 18)
Tied for 11th in Wins (Justin Verlander leads with 11)
5th in ERA (Shane McClanahan leads with 1.71)
7th in ERA+ (Shane McClanahan leads with 209)
13th in FIP (Kevin Gausman leads with 1.84)
Tied for 21st in Innings Pitched (Framber Valdez leads with 115.0)
13th in Strikeouts (Shane McClanahan leads with 147)
8th in K/9 (Dylan Cease leads with 13.09)
5th in WHIP (Shane McClanahan leads with 0.80)

Like I said yesterday, there are 13 starting pitchers on the American League team this year, so as long as our pitcher is a near-Top-10 in most statistics then we can be pretty certain that they are deserving of being an All-Star. Outside of some other accumulation numbers (Wins, IP, Starts), Nestor Cortes has been one of the better pitchers in the American League this year. For rate metrics, Cortes can compete with Cole (who was a clear All-Star) and his numbers, including Cortes having a better ERA and WHIP.

It's clear that after being one of the early candidates for the AL Cy Young (before Shane McClanahan started to just dominate), Nestor Cortes- while he's had a few iffy starts- is deserving of being an All-Star.

So far, after looking at the three starters for the New York Yankees, they are 5 for 5 with deserving players.