The National League came to play in June. Every NL player worked to earn their spot in the official game, and these guys had the best month.
First Baseman Bryce Harper was the top vote getter in the entire NL, earning an automatic starting spot in Arlington, Texas. On this All-Star team, he’s joined by one teammate in SP Cristopher Sanchez. A pair of San Francisco Giants made the roster too. After that, the rest of the players arrive stag to this all-Star roster. It will be interesting to see if the recency bias of a strong June helps any of these borderline MLB All-Stars make it to the game.
C Patrick Bailey
1B Bryce Harper
2B Ketel Marte
3B Austin Riley
SS Francisco Lindor
LF Heliot Ramos
CF Jackson Merrill
RF Bryan Reynolds
DH Shohei Ohtani
SP Cristopher Sanchez
RP Trevor Megill
NL East Beasts
Four players from the NL East are on this team: Harper, Riley, Lindor, and Sanchez. Harper has been dominant and looks poised to lead Philadelphia through a long postseason run. He did it all in June and did it all well. That included a .374 average, seven home runs, and 1.9 WAR. Sanchez threw masterfully in five starts and 33 innings. A 1.64 ERA during the month was the icing on the cake in a month with a 3-0 record.
A little further north, Lindor was one of the best of either New York team in June. He hit .290 with four home runs, 20 runs, and seven stolen bases. The Mets are hovering around .500 and will need some problems to arise for the Atlanta Braves and Phillies to have a shot at the NL East title. Speaking of the Braves, Austin Riley was a workhorse for them in June. He led all third basemen in WAR (1.2) and OPS (.909) in the month. He’s almost made Braves fans forget they lost OF Ronald Acuña Jr. Almost.
NL West’s Bests
Every team from the NL West has a representative on the team, except the Colorado Rockies. I hope I do not get too many complaints from all 45 of the Rockies fans out there. DH Shohei Ohtani is Shohei-ing everyone why he is one of the best hitters in baseball. Something about pitching for a team in red, then going to a team from New York seems to bring out the best in a hitter. I know it’s a bit of a stretch, but the Dodgers are originally a Brooklyn team. Ohtani led the league with 12 homers, third in runs (26), and was fourth in RBIs (24). The transition to leadoff after the SS Mookie Betts injury clearly went seamlessly.
The San Diego Padres are making the Los Angeles Dodgers sweat a little in the NL West standings thanks to OF Jackson Merrill. Merrill is the player most disappointed by the Pittsburgh Pirates calling up SP Paul Skenes because Skenes is the only player ahead of him in the NL RotY odds right now. Either way, underestimate Merrill at your own peril. He hit .320 with nine home runs and 20 RBIs in June. Merrill was a triple away from the cycle on June 29 versus the Boston Red Sox. He could be a building block long into the future for the Padres, and this month showed him at his best.
NL West Fest Continued
The Dodgers and Padres are atop the West, but the Arizona Diamondbacks and San Francisco Giants are still close enough to smell their pine tar. Arizona was hoping to build on last year’s World Series run. That has not happened yet, but 2B Ketel Marte is making his first All-Star Game since 2019. In June, the Ketel was certainly boiling. Marte was fifth in WAR for the month, behind players who all made the AL or NL squads for the month. His seven home runs, 20 RBIs, and 20 runs led all MLB second basemen, and his .341 average was second.
The Giants thrived after finishing at the bottom of the NL West in the past. Now, the Rockies deny them that opportunity, so they have been trying to find other ways to win. OF Heliot Ramos and C Patrick Bailey were a key part of that this month. Ramos was first amongst NL outfielders in RBIs (24), second in home runs (8), and second in WAR (1.4). The player he trailed in dingers and WAR was Merrill. Bailey provides solid hitting along with effective defensive work while donning the tools of ignorance.
NL Central’s Instrumentals
Something special has been brewing in Wisconsin this year, and it certainly isn’t the Milwaukee Bucks. The Milwaukee Brewers are leading the NL Central at the halfway point in the season. It also must have been nice to end the month by taking two of three games against their former manager, Craig Counsell. They went 16-11 in June thanks to OF Christian Yelich returning to form. The contributions of RP Trevor Megill must not be forgotten, either. Megill made 13 appearances, earning 9 saves while only giving up one earned run.
The Pirates showed signs of improvement in June with OF Bryan Reynolds leading the way. It remains to be seen if their improvement is a sign of things to come or merely a blip on the season. His line for the month was .330/.388/.604 with six home runs, 15 runs, and 16 RBIs. He also played in every one of the Pirates’ 26 games in the month. As the saying goes, “The best ability is availability,” so his daily presence gives him the nod over some other deserving candidates.
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