Texas Rangers Believe Jonah Heim 'Deserves' All-Star Game Nod
The Texas Rangers will assuredly be well represented at the All-Star Game next month. Not only is the club comfortably leading the American League West with one of the best records in baseball, but several Rangers are putting up career-like seasons so far.
Chief on that list is catcher Jonah Heim.
“He has to be there,” Pérez said after Wednesday’s 6-3 win at the Chicago White Sox. “He deserves it. Jonah’s been doing a great job. … I’ll be proud of him if he gets to the All-Star team because that’s a nice experience and you have fun. I know you’re not going to get too many days off, but it something that you’re never going to forget.”
Heim has a chance to make his debut in the Midsummer Classic on July 11 in Seattle through fan voting. He advanced to the next round and is up against Baltimore Orioles catcher Adley Rutschman.
Going into a weekend series at the New York Yankees, Heim owns a .276/.327/.465 slash line with 10 home runs and career-best 54 RBI. His previous high was 48 RBI last season, and his current total is the most for a Texas catcher prior to the All-Star break since Iván Rodríguez in 2000 (80).
“The numbers speak for themselves,” manager Bruce Bochy said, according to MLB.com. “That’s pretty strong evidence that this man should be considered to start the All-Star Game. He’s leading a staff and doing a very good job. I think you look at the defensive metrics and where he’s hitting in the order, the damage he’s done, yeah, of course, I’m gonna say that. That’s not being biased, it’s just looking at the numbers.”
The other Rangers up for AL starting spots All-Star Game fan voting are Marcus Semien, Corey Seager, Josh Jung and Adolis García.
It’s been an interesting week for Heim, who was involved in one of the more controversial replay decisions since the implementation of the review process in Tuesday’s 7-6 loss to the White Sox. Bochy called the reversal that ruled Heim blocked the plate from a sliding Elvis Andrus “one of the worst calls” he’s ever seen.
Heim bounced back the following night with a home run, mocking the replay system during his jaunt around the bases. The move to cup his hands around his ears, as if asking for a replay, was premeditated.
“I talked to some of the guys, we thought it’d be funny,” Heim said, according to MLB.com. “Anything we can do to have fun around here, we’re gonna do it. … Obviously, whenever you can help the team win, it’s good. I came up in a big situation, put a good swing on the ball and gave us some runs. In light of the situation, we were just having fun. That’s why you play the game, right? You get to have fun.”
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