2023 MLB All-Star Game: These 9 National League Players Should Start

Here are the nine players that should start the 2023 MLB All-Star game for the National League.

Peter van den Berg-USA TODAY Sports

MLB All-Star voting is now in its second stage of voting, and voting will run through Thursday, June 29.

Major League Baseball announced the All-Star finalists last week. The top two vote-getters at each position now square-off head-to-head in the final round of voting this week. As always, fans vote on position players for the All-Star Game, while pitchers are selected by the Player Ballot.

As is usually the case, the fans were on the money for some positions, and off-base for others.

Here are our selections for who should start at each position in the All-Star Game for the National League:

Catcher — Will Smith, Los Angeles Dodgers

The fans got this one right. Will Smith of the Los Angeles Dodgers and Sean Murphy of the Atlanta Braves are the best two catchers in baseball right now, given each player's prowess behind the plate and in the batter's box.

Murphy and Smith's numbers have been nearly identical to one another, but I'd lean Smith. Smith has a higher On Base Percentage, and right now, the Braves have a significantly better lineup than the Dodgers do. More is needed out of Smith than Murphy. Smith is more valuable to his team at this time than Murphy is, and that says something. This one is remarkably close.

Will Smith: 57 games, .291/.407/.925, 12 HR, 41 RBI, 1 SB, 4 DRS, 2.9 WAR

Sean Murphy: 59 games, .290/.388/.925, 12 HR, 43 RBI, 0 SB, 5 DRS, 2.5 WAR

Elias Diaz: 59 games, .289/.345/.816, 9 HR, 41 RBI, 0 SB, -2 DRS, 2.0 WAR

First Base — Freddie Freeman, Los Angeles Dodgers

Freddie Freeman is a slam dunk at first base. He has been the National League's best player at the position by a wide margin. He leads a competitive field.

Freeman will face the man that replaced him in Atlanta, Matt Olson, in the final round.

Freddie Freeman: 77 games, .317/.397/.946, 14 HR, 48 RBI, 10 SB, -2 DRS, 3.2 WAR

Matt Olson: 77 games, .236/.350/.891, 25 HR, 60 RBI, 1 SB, -1 DRS, 1.8 WAR

Christian Walker: 70 games, .282/.346/.867, 15 HR, 53 RBI, 4 SB, 2 DRS, 2.2 WAR

LaMonte Wade Jr.: 70 games, .283/.416/.881, 9 HR, 27 RBI, 2 SB, 4 DRS, 2.6 WAR

Paul Goldschmidt: 75 games, .286/.376/.862, 13 HR, 40 RBI, 8 SB, 3 DRS, 2.4 WAR

Spencer Steer: 75 games, .274/.361/.838, 11 HR, 43 RBI, 8 SB, -2 DRS, 1.4 WAR

Second Base — Luis Arraez, Miami Marlins

Luis Arraez is the runaway favorite at second base in the National League. The newly-acquired Marlins infielder is batting an astonishing .399. We haven't seen anything like this in a full, 162-game Major League season in a long, long time.

Fun fact: Marquee Sports Network and SNY host, reporter and analyst Elise Menaker played softball at Cornell, and in her sophomore season, she also batted .399, just one point shy of .400.

Diamondbacks second baseman Ketel Marte has bounced back nicely and will be a worthy All-Star reserve. He however will not be up for election this week, as Ozzie Albies will be battling Arraez instead.

Luis Arraez: 73 games, .399/.451/.944, 3 HR, 37 RBI, 1 SB, 1 DRS, 3.5 WAR

Ketel Marte: 73 games, .294/.373/.891, 14 HR, 42 RBI, 6 SB, 5 DRS, 3.3 WAR

Ozzie Albies: 77 games, .266/.319/.821, 18 HR, 55 RBI, 6 SB, 4 DRS, 2.5 WAR

Third Base — Ryan McMahon, Colorado Rockies

Third base in the NL hasn't been as strong of a position as it normally is, largely in part to Nolan Arenado, Manny Machado and Max Muncy off to lackluster starts.

Arenado and Austin Riley are the finalists at this position, but I personally would have gone in a different direction from the fans.

Statistically, the best three third basemen this season in the NL have been Ryan McMahon, J.D. Davis and Jeimer Candelario. It's a close race between the three of them, but Davis' defensive limitations has me favoring Candelario and McMahon. Fielding is important. Players spend nine innings manning their defensive positions, while only getting four chances to impact a game at the plate. Both McMahon and Candelario have been quite strong. Even with the Coors Field factor, I'll lean McMahon because of his 10 Defensive Runs Saved. I would have the man that replaced Nolan Arenado starting the All-Star Game, and he's not even in contention anymore, while Arenado is!

Ryan McMahon: 77 games, .263/.346/.830, 12 HR, 41 RBI, 4 SB, 10 DRS, 2.4 WAR

J.D. Davis: 72 games, .285/.364/.833, 10 HR, 44 RBI, 1 SB, -3 DRS, 1.3 WAR

Jeimer Candelario: 73 games, .261/.338/.809, 10 HR, 36 RBI, 2 SB, 4 DRS, 2.6 WAR

Austin Riley: 77 games, .265/.333/.773, 13 HR, 38 RBI, 2 SB, -1 DRS, 1.3 WAR

Nolan Arenado: 74 games, .268/.315/.786, 15 HR, 50 RBI, 2 SB, -3 DRS, 0.7 WAR

Manny Machado: 62 games, .253/.298/.706, 9 HR, 33 RBI, 3 SB, 2 DRS, 1.0 WAR

Max Muncy: 60 games, .191/.323/.797, 18 HR, 45 RBI, 1 SB, -2 DRS, 1.0 WAR

Shortstop — Geraldo Perdomo, Arizona Diamondbacks

You have no idea how much I wanted to put Elly De La Cruz in this spot. For all the hype surrounding the young shortstops in the game today — many of whom collected large paydays over the past two years — this has been a pretty underwhelming and unimpressive position this season. Dansby Swanson has been fine in Chicago. Trea Turner, Willy Adames, Francisco Lindor, Xander Bogaerts and Tommy Edman have all underperformed in the season's first half.

De La Cruz is a superstar in the making. He's must-see TV, but he's only played 17 Major League games. I wouldn't be surprised if he makes the All-Star team because of the 'wow' factor. Despite this position being somewhat 'meh' across the board, there are a pair of worthy candidates in Geraldo Perdomo and Orlando Arcia.

Arcia has a higher batting average, OBP and OPS than Swanson does. With Arcia assuming Swanson's role, the Braves haven't missed a beat. I give a slight edge to Perdomo, though, who has played more games, swiped more bases, knocked in more runs, and posted a higher WAR, while maintaining an excellent .296/.398.852 slash line.

Perdomo is not a finalist in the fan vote, though. It's Arcia versus Lindor. Vote Arcia.

Geraldo Perdomo: 64 games, .296/.398/.852, 5 HR, 41 RBI, 9 SB, 1 DRS, 2.6 WAR

Orlando Arcia: 56 games, .318/.374/.832, 6 HR, 26 RBI, 1 SB, 5 DRS, 2.2 WAR

Dansby Swanson: 74 games, .267/.357/.767, 8 HR, 34 RBI, 4 SB, 10 DRS, 3.0 WAR

Matt McLain: 37 games, .325/.380/.921, 5 HR, 22 RBI, 4 SB, 3 DRS, 1.7 WAR

Elly De La Cruz: 17 games, .333/.395/.989, 3 HR, 10 RBI, 8 SB, 0 DRS, 0.7 WAR

Outfield — Ronald Acuna Jr., Atlanta Braves; Corbin Carroll, Arizona Diamondbacks; Fernando Tatis Jr., San Diego Padres

Selecting three outfielders in the National League was actually quite easy. Ronald Acuna Jr. is the odds-on favorite to win NL MVP, Corbin Carroll is emerging as an MVP challenger, and Fernando Tatis Jr. has excelled in his new position in right field. Tatis leads NL outfielders with 13 Defensive Runs Saved, while slashing .286/.354/.898.

Ronald Acuna Jr: 77 games, .328/.402/.963, 16 HR, 47 RBI, 35 SB, 5 DRS, 4.2 WAR

Corbin Carroll: 76 games, .290/.369/.927, 16 HR, 41 RBI, 23 SB, 0 DRS, 3.7 WAR

Fernando Tatis Jr.: 58 games, .286/.354/.898, 15 HR, 36 RBI, 14 SB, 13 DRS, 3.7 WAR

Lane Thomas: 76 games, .295/.344/.847, 13 HR, 39 RBI, 7 SB, -2 DRS, 2.3 WAR

Juan Soto: 78 games, .273/.425/.927, 14 HR, 41 RBI, 6 SB, 0 DRS, 3.4 WAR

Mookie Betts: 74 games, .258/.354/.866, 19 HR, 47 RBI, 6 SB, 1 DRS, 2.8 WAR

Nick Castellanos: 75 games, .313/.359/.849, 9 HR, 44 RBI, 5 SB, -4 DRS, 2.0 WAR

Designated Hitter — Christopher Morel, Chicago Cubs

He won't be up for election this week, but the starting DH in the All-Star Game for the National League should be Christopher Morel.

In 36 games, Morel has 13 home runs and 30 RBI. He's been the team's best position player, and he strangely didn't even crack the Cubs' Opening Day roster, while the likes of Miles Mastrobuoni (slashing .145/.254/.431) and Edwin Rios (.071/.235/.449) did.

If you want somebody that has played more games this season, please see veteran Andrew McCutchen. At age 36, Cutch has discovered the fountain of youth in his return to Pittsburgh. He's slashing an impressive .271/.394/.825 in 66 games.

Neither McCutchen or Morel will be in the running for the starting spot, with Bryce Harper and J.D. Martinez jockeying for the starting position this week.

Christopher Morel: 36 games, .285/.338/.969, 13 HR, 30 RBI, 1 SB, 1.0 WAR

Andrew McCutchen: 66 games, .271/.394/.825, 9 HR, 24 RBI, 9 SB, 1.3 WAR

Bryce Harper: 45 games, .286/.390/.789, 3 HR, 17 RBI, 5 SB, 0.7 WAR

Jorge Soler: 75 games, .247/.345/.869, 21 HR, 45 RBI, 1 SB, 1.2 WAR

Joey Meneses: 72 games, .293/.332/.713, 2 HR, 39 RBI, 0 SB, 0.2 WAR

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