MLB's First Month All-Stars

Even though it's completely ridiculous to waste any time voting for all-stars based off of one month, I do it every year just to keep up on who might end up in Cincinnati for the July 14th game.
With all that said, here's my April all-star ballot based off of me overreacting to one month of baseball games.

AL Roster

Catcher: Stephen Vogt (Oakland Athletics) - Vogt for Stephen Vote or something like that. .358 batting averages and 7 homers will lock you into those juicy first-month votes, especially at the weakest offensive position (Catcher). Honorable Mention: Salvador Perez (Kansas City Royals) - The Royals backstop is batting over .300 with solid production in all of the other flashy offensive statistics plus, he's a superior defender to Vogt and coming off of a World Series will always inflate a player's vote total.

First Baseman: Miguel Cabrera (Detroit Tigers) - If someone has an on-base percentage over .400, chances are they are an All-Star. If that same person is playing the best offensive game of any player at his position and has a reputation of doing that for years, like Miguel Cabrera, then he's a lock for the All-Star Game. Honorable Mention: Prince Fielder (Texas Rangers) - The strongest Comeback Player of the Year candidate, Fielder has become the player Texas wished he would be last year before he injured himself and lost 4-5 months. Fielder's .354 average isn't digging Texas out of last place in the AL West but, it certainly is not hurting them.

Second Baseman: Jose Altuve (Houston Astros) - After winning the batting title in 2014 with 225 hits and a .341 batting average, the 5'6'' Altuve is on pace for even better statistics this year. He's becoming an annual lock for the mid-summer classic before our very eyes and is vital to Houston's success this year. Honorable Mention: Devon Travis (Toronto Blue Jays) - Acquired this off-season from Detroit for Anthony Gose, Travis has made his presence known with a position-leading 7 home runs and is the strongest AL Rookie of the Year candidate thus far. Time will tell if he can keep batting .309 but, the power seems very real and he should challenge 25 homers at least.

Third Baseman: Josh Donaldson (Toronto Blue Jays) - It's surprising to see Toronto's consistent stars like Edwin Encarnacion and Jose Bautista struggle to start the season on a good note while Travis and Josh Donaldson take over the reigns as the new stars of Canadian baseball in their first seasons in Toronto. Donaldson, so far, is the only 3rd Baseman to keep a nice batting average along with his power (.303-6) and is not quite an AL MVP candidate yet (as I called this preseason) but, he is still playing better than any Blue Jay and that is impressive. Honorable Mention: Mike Moustakas (Kansas City Royals) - Moose Tacos are in season as Mike Moustakas has pulled off the first nice April of his career. A consistently-bad starter, Moustakas has saved his job for a couple of months by batting above .300 instead of below the Mendoza line. 

Shortstop: Jose Iglesias (Detroit Tigers) - Where did this come from? Known for his defense and not his offense, Iglesias has been flashing his glove AND bat throughout the month of April with an impressive .354 batting average that would call for him to go up in the order in lesser lineups but, this is the land of Miguel Cabrera and Yoenis Cespedes and a small sample size from Iglesias is just an added bonus, not the focus of the entire team's offense. Honorable Mention: Jed Lowrie (Houston Astros) - Another former Red Sox Shortstop, Lowrie is off to a good start with his strongest (4 homers) start to a season yet with his typically good defense still in tact and a .300 average to really nail home his early All-Star case.

(Tommy Gilligan, USA TODAY Sports)
OF Adam Jones, Orioles

Outfielders: Adam Jones (Baltimore Orioles), Mike Trout (Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim) and Hanley Ramirez (Boston Red Sox)

Amid all the turmoil happening in Baltimore, Adam Jones has been the one thing to come out of that city this year that has been super positive. Jones is playing like he's coming for Mike Trout's throne as the AL MVP. Leading the race for the batting title (.396), Jones has performed exceedingly well in all categories and has not shown any signs of slowing down through the first week of May.

Mike Trout is, once again, still Mike Trout.

Hanley Ramirez's transition to the Outfield has worked unbelievably well as he has only recorded one error and has taken total advantage of the batter-friendly Fenway Park with 10 home runs (2nd in MLB). He did suffer a sprained left shoulder recently however, and it has yet to be seen if he can keep up his gaudiest power numbers yet in his decade-long career.

Honorable Mentions: Josh Reddick (Oakland Athletics), Jake Marisnick (Houston Astros) and Michael Brantley (Cleveland Indians)

Designated Hitter (AL-only): Nelson Cruz (Seattle Mariners) - Duhhh. .326-14-26 is the most impressive stat-line for any American League batter so far this young season and it would take a miracle (or an injury) to knock him out of the All-Star Game already. Honorable Mention: Kendrys Morales (Kansas City Royals) - The former Mariners' DH is playing his best baseball since he stepped on home plate and tore his ACL many years ago.

NL Roster

Catcher: Derek Norris (San Diego Padres) - A slightly controversial choice as A.J. Pierzynski has the better stats but, with less at-bats. I chose Norris because he's played the most time at the Catcher position among all the Catchers in the majors and he's still batting .310 and knocking runs in (16 to be exact). Honorable Mention: A.J. Pierzynski (Atlanta Braves) - After stealing the job from prospect Christian Bethancourt, Pierzynski has played out of his mind with a .344 batting average and keeping Atlanta afloat despite a terrible roster.

First Baseman: Adrian Gonzalez (Los Angeles Dodgers) - One of two players (the other being Bryce Harper) to hit three home runs in a game this season, Gonzalez has displayed his power often this April and is proving to fans that his dip in power numbers since leaving San Diego are nothing to become concerned with. Honorable Mention: Paul Goldschmidt (Arizona Diamondbacks) - Even with all of Arizona's problems, Paul Goldschmidt is still playing like the top-3 First Baseman we have come to expect every year. 

Second Baseman: Dee Gordon (Miami Marlins) - Apparently Gordon's 2014 season was no fluke. The Major League leader in batting average through May 6th (.422) is really coming back to bite fantasy owners who passed him up for the just-as-speedy likes of Billy Hamilton. Gordon does not have any power but 12 stolen bases and 11 RBI's are enough proof that his presence can majorly enhance a lineup's production. Honorable Mention: DJ LeMahieu (Colorado Rockies) - A similar player to Jose Iglesias in the fact that neither showed much potential on offense while both were outstanding defenders, LeMahieu must have an extra long bat or something because his .392 batting average is ridiculous, even by Coors Field standards.

Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports
3B Matt Carpenter, Cardinals

Third Baseman: Matt Carpenter (St. Louis Cardinals) - Matt Carpenter has never been as aggressive of a hitter as he has been so far in 2015. He is on pace for career highs in every major category and, as always, is a run-scoring machine. His defense might not be as flashy as the honorable mention at his position but, he is also an effective third baseman defensively. Watch out for him if his power numbers keep up. Honorable Mention: Nolan Arenado (Colorado Rockies) - Arenado is probably the Platinum Glove winner so far this season (the award handed out to the best defensive player at any position in all of baseball) and his batting is still supremely impressive on it's own. 

Shortstop: Adeiny Hechavarria (Miami Marlins) - Pronounced carefully, this Miami Shortstop is one of the most underrated defensive players in the sport. The one negative to his game previously was that he never hit like the potential he showed in his cup of coffee with Toronto in 2012. This year, he is starting to show some of the potential from his Toronto days again, batting .310 with two home runs and 16 RBI. He will almost certainly fall off at some point but, what if he doesn't and becomes a slower Dee Gordon instead? Honorable Mention: Zack Cozart (Cincinnati Reds) - I have to dig pretty deep for an NL Shortstop with good production outside of Starlin Castro and Hechavarria.

Outfielders: Bryce Harper (Washington Nationals), Giancarlo Stanton (Miami Marlins) and Juan Lagares (New York Mets)

It is time. We have all been hearing about how great Bryce Harper is supposed to be since he was sixteen years old and despite flashes, he never quite broke out of his above-average shell. Voted as the most overrated player in baseball by his pears at the beginning of the season, Harper has fed on all of the world's hatred and it has fueled him into becoming a worthy (unlike his previous appearances) All-Star.

After being struck in the face by a Mike Fiers fastball, many fans wondered how Giancarlo Stanton would recover and if he would return to the constant 40-homer threat he had been. On pace for around 35-40 home runs, Stanton is adjusting just fine to his new batting helmet and should be representing the National League come July if he keeps this up.

Juan Lagares does not have much of a fair chance at the All-Star Game with "sexier" votes like Matt Holliday and Matt Kemp being candidates for the same position. Lagares has no power (a disadvantage from a fan-vote perspective) and the main reason I chose him is his superior defense to any of the other National League Outfielders (might not have been the case had Carlos Gomez stayed healthy). The .311 average after 106 at-bats does not hurt his case for my vote either.

Honorable Mentions: Matt Holliday (St. Louis Cardinals), Justin Upton (San Diego Padres) and Charlie Blackmon (Colorado Rockies)

In case you were wondering if I have any biases, here are the players that are on my "Soler System" fantasy team that I try hard not to gush over...

Catchers - Russell Martin, Wilson Ramos, Mike Zunino

1st Basemen - Paul Goldschmidt, Victor Martinez, Lucas Duda, Mike Napoli

2nd Basemen - Daniel Murphy, Jason Kipnis, Scooter Gennett

3rd Basemen - Matt Carpenter, Manny Machado, Miguel Sano

Shortstops - Starlin Castro and Brandon Crawford

Outfielders - Yasiel Puig, Jorge Soler, Kole Calhoun, Starling Marte', Ryan Braun, Marlon Byrd

Starting Pitchers - Clayton Kershaw, Matt Harvey, Michael Pineda, Michael Wacha, Mat Latos, Drew Hutchison, Kendall Graveman

Closer - Craig Kimbrel

and please, DO NOT ask me about the rules of this overly-complicated league or why I still have Kendall Graveman after he was sent down to Triple-A. 

Lastly, I will be attending another Brewers-Twins game at Target Field next month and will have seats behind Home Plate so, I'll make sure to share some of my experiences in some form as we kick off another incredible Summer.