Before we get into the hardcore analysis (or plain silliness) that you expect from me, I want to tip my digital cap to a Reds legend, Dave Parker, who passed away over the weekend at age 74. His four-season stretch in his hometown coincided with my coming of age as a baseball fan. While he was brilliant on the field in that span—two top-5 finishes in National League MVP balloting—what I’ll remember most is that he was the coolest player I’d ever seen in my life. And he still is. Rest in peace, Cobra.
Parker represented Cincinnati in two All-Star Games, neither of which were played in Atlanta (and his greatest ASG highlight was in Seattle). This year’s Mid-Summer Classic, however, will be played in July in Atlanta, and that’s no place for the faint of heart, especially if you don’t enjoy 95-degrees with high humidity. Two weeks from now, the sport will again decamp to baseball’s blast furnace for the All-Star Game, and the Cincinnati Reds—who haven’t placed more than two players on the National League roster since 2018—have a legitimate shot to crash the party with a trio (or perhaps even a quartet?) of fresh faces.
Let’s begin with Elly De La Cruz, the first Red to play in the first 85 games in back-to-back seasons since (you guessed it) Dave Parker. Since May 24, the 23-year-old shortstop has slashed .345/.422/.689 with 10 homers and 24 RBIs. He leads NL shortstops in homers (18) and steals (22) and is on pace to join Eric Davis, Barry Larkin, and Brandon Phillips in Cincinnati’s 30-30 season club. He remains the most exciting player on this planet and perhaps any planet.
And yet Elly finished third in the fan vote at his position, boxed out by Mookie Betts’ star wattage and Francisco Lindor’s Q-score. De La Cruz seems like a good bet for a second consecutive selection to the team as a reserve, but since he once again declined a Home Run Derby invite we’ll have to wait to see if he’ll be in Atlanta.
Reserves and pitchers are selected via player vote and MLB’s commissioner’s office. Yes, that’s correct: We have to depend on Rob Manfred and a collection of rival players (including Cardinals!) to do what we, the voting public, did not and put the sport’s singular talent on the sport’s singular stage.
I wrote about De La Cruz first because he’s made an All-Star team before and also because, well, he’s Elly. But if he supplies the sizzle, Andrew Abbott brings the cold, efficient burn. The left-hander opened the year on a rehab assignment but now sports a 7-1 record with a dazzling 1.79 ERA. His complete-game three-hit shutout in Cleveland on June 10 was the high point, but his start-to-start consistency is Abbott’s calling card.
“A starter for the All-Star Game? Yeah,” catcher José Trevino said. Abbott’s 3.3 bWAR ranks fourth among NL pitchers despite two fewer weeks of runway. In an era of bullpenning, he gives Cincinnati length (12 of 14 outings have gone five-plus, which is actually impressive in this day and age) and gumption. He looks like he drives a Trans Am to the park, and he’s as gritty as it comes once the baseball is in his hands. If the players really vote on merit—and not merely on recognizable names—Abbott should be on the charter to ATL, if not warming up in the first inning.
I’m rooting for Abbott to make the team since he and I share an alma mater, but TJ Friedl is actually my sentimental choice for the NL roster. Friedl has reincarnated the old blueprint of speed-and-contact atop the order with modern on-base savvy. A year removed from shoulder woes, the center fielder is batting .284 with a .373 OBP, reaching base from the leadoff spot more than any player in the league not named Ohtani. He bunts, he stretches gap shots, he swipes bases, and he steals homers (see: June 3, Brewers, game-saving robbery).
I’m going to make a confession here. This time two years ago, Friedl was in the midst of a breakout season at age 27. He hadn’t been a highly-coveted or highly-rated prospect, and I was rooting for him to make the NL All-Star team that year for one reason: I thought it was likely to be the only time he’d ever have a shot at making it. He seems like a good guy who plays exceptionally hard, and I like seeing guys like that rewarded.
And yet here we are again. Friedl continues to defy expectations, and he’s a big reason the Reds continue to hang around in the NL Central race. So, yeah, I’m rooting for him again. And I’ll try to stop underestimating him.
I guess there’s one other player we should mention here, though I’m not particularly optimistic about his chances of making the club. That’s Emilio Pagan, no one’s ideal of the quintessential closer who is somehow tied for second in the NL with 18 saves. His 3.09 ERA doesn’t exactly jump off the newspaper page, but you have to concede that he’s stabilized an otherwise shaky bullpen. I don’t expect to see him on the field in Atlanta in a couple of weeks, but the fact that we’re actually talking about it means that Pagan has been a surprisingly effective closer. And that’s a good thing, right?
Recent history says Cincinnati will be limited to two invites at most unless the voting bloc becomes uncharacteristically generous. If I had to predict—and that’s exactly what my brilliant and erudite editor here at The Magazine has asked me to do—I will say the Reds have two locks: Abbott will make the club by virtue of his elite stats and even more elite mustache, while De La Cruz will be selected because MLB loves a marketable dynamo and because leaving him home would border on malpractice.
Friedl, alas, is on the bubble. But I may be rooting for him more than anyone.
Even if the Reds exit Atlanta with no more than a pair of nameplates above the lockers, the organization will still register on All-Star Weekend’s undercard. Third-base prospect Sal Stewart (.327/.390/.498 at Double-A Chattanooga) and catching prodigy Alfredo Duno (.269/.422/.453 at age 19 for Low-A Daytona) will suit up in the Futures Game. Reminder: Reds farmhand Cam Collier won the Futures Game MVP last year.
Fan voting ends at noon ET on July 2, with starters announced that evening. The reserves will be announced shortly thereafter. Atlanta awaits. So does the sauna. For Abbott, in particular, the heat shouldn’t be an issue. He’s been cooking for months.
Chad Dotson helms Reds coverage at Cincinnati Magazine and is co-author of “The Big 50: The Men and Moments That Made the Cincinnati Reds,” revised, updated, and available in bookstores now. His newsletter about Cincinnati sports can be found at chaddotson.com. Hear him guesting on the We Love Our Team podcast.
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