It may be hard to believe but we are less than a month away from MLB’s All-Star Game, which will be hosted at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia on July 14. Voting is underway for the National League and American League squads so now is a great time to check in on a few Cubs hitters who have made a strong case that they should be part of the festivities in Philadelphia. I’ll do a similar look at Cubs pitchers later this week.
Pete Crow-Armstrong
The most obvious candidate to represent the Cubs in Philadelphia
is their star centerfielder, Pete Crow-Armstrong. While he’s not quite on the 30/30 pace he was setting early last season, picked up the pace since some early season struggles and is currently slashing .267/.343/.463 with 12 home runs, 16 stolen bases and a wRC+ of 126. He’s also setting the standard for elite defense in the National League, his 13 outs above average are tied with rookie shortstop JJ Wetherholt for the NL league. That defense has him leading the National League in fWAR as of this writing with 3.5 WAR, just a smidge above the Nationals’ James Wood. PCA represented the Cubs in last year’s game, which led to this adorable moment where he told his young fans to be themselves:
He’s also the top vote getter for the Cubs so far according to MLB with 265,408 total votes (next up in raw vote totals is right fielder Seiya Suzuki with 239,224 votes). However, he’ll need a push to make the team as a starter. That vote tally is good for just 14th overall in the balloting.
Michael Busch
After a slow start to the season the Cubs’ first baseman has been carrying the offense for more than a month. Recency bias certainly matters for these types of contests and Busch has been slashing .301/.436/.517 with a wRC+ of 169 and six home runs in 181 plate appearances since the calendar flipped to May. He’s got an 11.6 percent barrel rate on the season despite the slow start and a 14.4 percent barrel rate with a monster 51.9 percent hard hit rate since May. If Busch can stay hot he could make a case to the coaches that he should be the guy to back up whoever wins the fan vote race for a starter that currently looks like a two-man contest between the Dodgers Freddie Freeman and the Braves Matt Olsen.
Ian Happ
Ian Happ is in the final year of his contract with the Cubs and leading the team with 16 home runs midway through June. That’s good for a tie for seventh overall in the National League in bombs. While the .224/.337/.478 slashline doesn’t jump off the page, the 126 wRC+ indicates he’s been 26 percent better than league average at creating runs. He’s barreling the ball at a 15 percent clip, which is the highest barrel rate of his career. He’s also hitting the ball hard, with a 46.3 percent hard hit rate according to Statcast. Are there question marks about whether Happ should be in the All Star Game this season? Yes, and Happ isn’t currently in the top 20 outfield vote getters for the NL so far according to MLB. But he’s been the face of this franchise since 2021 and it’d be a joy to see him back in the Midsummer Classic representing the Cubs one more time.
