Cleveland Indians: Francisco Lindor deserves an All-Star nod

Francisco Lindor is one of the best and most marketable faces in baseball but he isn’t getting enough support in the All-Star game voting. This is a call to get the Cleveland Indians shortstop into the game.

When you think of some of the best shortstops in baseball, a few names come to mind. One of those names is Cleveland Indians shortstop Francisco Lindor. He’s one of the most marketable faces in baseball and now perhaps the most marketable in Cleveland sports.

Now, yes the American League is stacked with shortstops. Carlos Correa of the Astros is a stud, and Manny Machado is having a great year. I’m here to tell you that Lindor has earned the right to be among those names and deserves your All-Star vote.

Currently, Lindor sits behind Correa and Machaco by about 200,000 votes. That’s not a huge gap for Lindor to jump, and if he continues to play as he is now. He could clear that gap with relative ease. Here’s a look at how he compares to his competition.

Carlos Correa

Currently Carlos Correa is on the disabled list and it’s possible he would be unable to play the All-Star game. On top of that Correa’s numbers this season don’t compare to Lindor’s. Correa has a slash line of .268/.352/.480 with an OPS of .832. Compare that to Lindor’s .298/.373/.581 line and .954 OPS.

Lindor has played nine more games than Correa and figures to play even more as Correa continues to sit on the DL. But he’s also hit 10 more home runs and 11 more doubles. Correa is close to Lindor in RBI’s but Lindor is ahead of Correa in virtually every batting stat. Not to mention Correa isn’t healthy.

Manny Machado

This is a much closer competitor. Machado has a better batting average and OBP than Lindor but Frankie is slugging better and has way more extra base-hits. His OPS is slightly better than Machado’s.

I understand the argument to put Machado in the All-Star game. He plays on the worst team in baseball and in the arguably most top-heavy division in the MLB. If you look at their last seven days, Lindor and Machado have identical batting averages with .375. For Lindor; however, he’s turning that batting average into extra base-hits. With enough of those he could make a final push to pass Machado.

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Didi Gregorius

I feel like I shouldn’t have to mention this one, but the Yankees fans have Didi Gregorius within striking distance of Lindor’s votes. As far as batting numbers go, the two aren’t close. Didi Gregorius has 15 homers to Francisco Lindor’s 18. Gregorius is also slugging sub .500 and is almost .200 below Lindor in OPS.

On top of all of that, Lindor is 4th in the MLB in fWAR with 5.0, while Gregorius’s 2.2 fWAR is good for only 39th in baseball. Didi has cooled off substantially since his remarkable month of April, but Yankees fans will always keep their players close in the voting, and for good reason. They aren’t the best team in baseball for now reason.

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Lindor still has a ways to go to catch up to Manny Machado. But we still have one more week before the selection show, If he keeps playing as he has recently. He has a chance to secure his spot in the game. So what are you waiting for? Let’s get our guy in the All-Star game, vote here!