If the All-Star Game was held today, who would be the Reds lone representative?
Having reached the end of April with a record of 3-18, the Cincinnati Reds have gotten off to a horrendous start. But that doesn't mean that every player on the roster is playing subpar baseball in 2022.
Each and every summer, the MLB All-Star Game features the brightest stars in the game. There is a caveat, however, in that every major league team must be represented by at least one player.
Oddly enough, the Reds have sent more than one player to the All-Star Game for 11 straight seasons. The game was not played during the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, and the last time Cincinnati sent just one player to Midsummer Classic was in 2009 when Francisco Cordero was the sole representative.
Right now, Alexis Diaz would be the Reds lone All-Star.
If the All-Star Game were to be held today, Alexis Diaz would likely be the Cincinnati Reds lone representative. Diaz, a rookie reliever, has made nine appearances out of the bullpen this season and has looked very good on the bump.
Diaz, the brother of New York Mets closer Edwin Diaz, was part of the Reds Opening Day roster despite never competing above the Double-A level. Diaz spent the entire 2021 season with the Chattanooga Lookouts, striking out 70 batters over 42.1 innings of work.
The 25-year-old has some great analytic numbers if you take a look at Baseball Savant. Alexis Diaz is among the best in the league at fastball spin-rate, hard-hit percentage, xERA, xwOBA, and xBA. Essentially, all of that information means that Diaz has been dominating opposing batters.
Diaz is currently second on the team in bWAR (0.4), trailing only, believe it or not, fellow reliever Jeff Hoffman who I'm sure some fans wish was no longer on the team.
Of course, once Jonathan India is back in the lineup on a regular basis and Tyler Stephenson returns from the IL, Alexis Diaz might have some competition for that elusive spot on the NL All-Star roster. If Nick Lodolo returns from the Injured List rather quickly, he might join the conversation as well.
The Cincinnati Reds have no shortage of talented players, but those players are not performing up their typical standards. Joey Votto, Mike Moustakas, and Tyler Mahle don't even rank among the top 12 players on the team in terms of bWAR, and they'd have to play exceedingly well in May and June in order to join the All-Star conversation.