ESPN’s Schoenfield chooses Goldschmidt in All-Star ballot

David Schoenfield, a writer for ESPN, made his National League All-Star ballot which featured Paul Goldschmidt as his top choice at first base when the two leagues face off July 12 in San Diego.

1B — Paul Goldschmidt, Arizona Diamondbacks: With Joey Votto off to a slow start and Anthony Rizzo putting up good but not dominant numbers, the two-time MVP runner-up gets my vote over Brandon Belt. Goldschmidt hasn’t had much support due to the season-ending injury to A.J. Pollock and the DL stint for David Peralta, so he’s drawing a ton of walks as teams pitch around him. The power numbers have been climbing back into Goldschmidt territory, however, and with an OBP north of .400 and his usual great defense, he leads NL first basemen in WAR.

Although Goldschmidt started the season slow hitting .247 with an OBP of .425 , he has turned it around with a .289 average in the month of May and an uptick in OBP with .427.

With Goldschmidt now hitting .263 with a .419 OBP and 33 RBIs, it looks as though he has come out of his early-season slump, but two other D-backs deserve a look at making the All-Star team as well.

Second baseman Jean Segura began the season hitting .333, an OBP of .362 and slugging .523, while Goldschmidt was trying to find his rhythm.

He now leads the team with .301 from the plate, along with 68 hits and sits only behind Jake Lamb and Goldschmidt in RBIs with 27.

The other player that should get considered for the All-Star roster is starting pitcher Zack Greinke.

Like Goldschmidt, Greinke started off the season out of sync to find himself 0-2 with a 9.90 ERA after three starts.

Since then, he has turned it around, winning seven of his last eight games and dropping his ERA from 5.50 in April to now 4.29.

In his most recent outing against the Houston Astros, he only gave up four hits through seven innings pitched and added 11 strikeouts in a 3-0 win.

Related

ASU officially names NHL coach Dave Hakstol new hockey coach on 5-year dealEnter to win tickets to ASU vs. Kansas StateKoby Brea drains 3-pointer without a shoe on during Suns preseason gameSuns rest main players, lose to Spurs in penultimate preseason gameLuke Kennard exits with injury in Suns preseason game vs. SpursWhen is Carson Beck going to get his shot in Arizona?