MLB Writer Predicts Dodgers Have First-Time All-Star This Season
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The MLB season is rapidly progressing. We're already almost into June, meaning it's time to start talking about the Midsummer Classic.
In the next six weeks or so, the MLB All-Star voting will take start and end, and we'll know who will be representing each team in Seattle this year.
The Dodgers are sure to have their fair share of representatives — as they always do — but one guy is making a case to be there for the first time in his career.
Dodgers catcher Will Smith is off to an incredible start this 2023 season.
Through 33 games, Smith is slashing .317/.412/.550 with seven home runs, 27 RBIs, seven doubles, 22 walks and just 12 strikeouts. He has an incredible OPS of .962, and maybe the most impressive statistic, the Dodgers are an incredible 23-10 when he plays and 8-10 when he doesn't.
There are tons of great catchers in the National League, but Smith has done more than enough to finally make the All-Star team, something he's should have been a part of the past two seasons. Over at Bleacher Report, Joel Reuter wrote an article picking the most likely players to be first-time All-Stars this season, and the Dodgers catcher was on his list. Here's what he had to say:
"It’s hard to believe Will Smith has never been an All-Star.
"The 28-year-old entered the 2023 season with a 130 OPS+ for his career over parts of four MLB seasons, and he tallied a career-high 4.1 WAR with 26 doubles, 24 home runs and 87 RBI as one of the premier offensive catchers in the game last year.
"He missed 13 games in April with a concussion, so he does not currently have enough plate appearances to qualify for the batting title, yet he still ranks near the top in most offensive categories among catches.
"With Sean Murphy (ATL) looking like a lock for a spot on the roster and Elias Díaz (COL) one of the few worthy candidates for the Rockies, there’s an outside chance he could get snubbed again, but the NL has had three catchers on the roster last year."
If Smith gets snubbed yet again from the All-Star game, I think every single Dodger fan will riot. But fortunately, as long as he stays healthy, he has a really good chance at making the team this season, and finally getting the respect he deserves as one of the premier catchers in all of baseball.
