Bryce Harper Is No All-Star

Bryce Harper is no all-star. Well, he is. The 20 year-old will be playing in his second all-star game, and starting in the game for the first time in the second year of his career. He was voted in by the fans to take the third outfield spot. Something I have been critical of over the years is the fans' involvement in deciding who is an all-star. This isn't just a problem in the MLB; this is a problem in all sports. I can't blame the commissioners for making it this way. They are trying to sell a product, and when they let the fans choose who they want to play in that game, they conclude that more fans will watch. I get why they want to do that from an entertainment standpoint. However, this is a big deal. Hall of Fame votes can be dependent on the number of all-star selections a player gets, and sometimes that can be misleading. The other big thing is: they are playing for something in this all-star game. In the Major League Baseball All-Star Game, the winning league gets home-field advantage in the World Series. That is HUGE. But as I was saying, when it comes to the voting, sometimes the fans get it right, and sometimes they get it very wrong (think about this: Yao Ming is an 8-time NBA all-star, thanks to the fact that he had all of China voting for him each winter). With Bryce Harper's election to start this year's all-star game, the fans have made a big mistake.

Ever since Bryce Harper was a junior in high school, the hype surrounding the dude has been larger than life. He's been called the next Mickey Mantle, baseball's LeBron, and more. I've been very critical of ESPN over the past couple of years. Lately they've magnified high-profile athletes and teams, while pushing some other sports highlights off to the side. Now I'm not saying that I'm upset that I'm not getting to see the highlights from every college lacrosse game. That's not what I'm talking about. I'm talking about how last fall, after watching a great comeback from the Oakland A's in a do-or-die playoff game against the Detroit Tigers, I started watching SportsCenter from the top of the hour, eagerly waiting for them to the show the highlights from a great game, so I could show my dad what happened when he had to get to bed early the night before. I waited. And waited. After a full-length hour show, they didn't show the highlights from what in my mind should have been the biggest headline in sports that morning. Instead, they spent their time talking to a sports psychologist about A-Rod's problems in the playoffs and NFL analysts talking about the weekend's upcoming games. I was outraged. This was a prime example of what ESPN is turning in to. ESPN doesn't spend a whole lot of time showing baseball highlights. Even when it's the only major team sport going on, they spend entire segments of the show highlighting parts of LeBron's career, before showing what happened the day before in the world of baseball. But, when ESPN does talk about baseball, what do they talk about? That's right, Bryce Harper. They make sure to show every Bryce Harper at bat there is, that is, not on the days he isn't hitting well. ESPN has been painting him in a highly positive light. Before this season started, Buster Olney called Mike Trout and Bryce Harper the 1979-80 Magic and Bird of modern day baseball. I can't really say anything bad about Mike Trout. That kid is a monster. But, Bryce Harper doesn't deserve this kind of praise.

In Bryce Harper's rookie season, he was crowned NL Rookie of the Year while posting pretty average numbers at best. I don't think he stuck out any more than rookie standouts Todd Frazier, Wade Miley, or Anthony Rizzo. He was also named to the MLB All-Star Game. Nine months after the R.O.Y. vote, he's starting the game.

What has Bryce Harper done to start among the game's elite? I honestly have no idea. He hasn't hit that well (.260 batting average through 7/6) and he hasn't mastered the outfield yet. Remember how badly he misread that fly ball in last year's all-star game?

He has shown rare flashes of brilliance, particularly on the base-paths, like when he stole home on a pitcher's pick-off move to first base.

But Harper hasn't been anything out of the ordinary. Not since he joined the big leagues, and certainly not this season. He's only played in 50 of his team's 88 games due to injury. Let's compare his numbers* to those of other top NL outfielders this season:

Bryce Harper: .260 BA, 13 HR, 28 RBI, .365 OBP, 3 SB, 31 R

Carlos Beltran (all-star starter): .307 BA, 19 HR, 51 RBI, .347 OBP, 1 SB, 46 R

Carlos Gonzalez (all-star starter): .304 BA, 24 HR, 63 RBI, .369 OBP, 15 SB, 66 R

Andrew McCutchen (all-star reserve): .301 BA,  9 HR, 45 RBI, .372 OBP, 18 SB, 53 R

Carlos Gomez: (all-star reserve): .312 BA, 13 HR, 41 RBI, .353 OBP, 19 SB, 49 R

Michael Cuddyer (all-star reserve): .337 BA, 15 HR, 52 RBI, .392 OBP, 6 SB, 42 R

Domonic Brown (all-star reserve): .281 BA, 22 HR, 60 RBI, .326 OBP, 8 SB, 47 R

Starling Marte (did not make all-star team): .292 BA, 8 HR, 26 RBI, .343 OBP, 27 SB, 56 R

*All statistics through July 6th, because that was the day rosters were announced.


Now, let me ask you this question: Does Harper jump out as significantly better than any of those guys, based on statistics alone?

I don't think Bryce Harper belongs as a starter, and I don't believe he even belongs on the team. He shouldn't have gotten the honor last season, and he shouldn't have gotten it again this season. If it weren't for the media hyping him up, he wouldn't be playing in this game.

So who should be starting? I don't think you can really go wrong with Cutch, Gomez or Cuddyer. All are having great seasons, and I'm happy for Cuddyer who is having a break-out year at age 34. But if I had to pick one, I think I would go with Cutch. Call me biased if you want because I'm a Pirates fan, but like it or not he is the best offensive player on the team with the best record in the bigs. That should count for something.

Once again I would like to clarify that just because I don't think Harper is an all-star yet, doesn't mean I think he never will be one. He's only 20 years-old. When I turn 20 next summer, I'm going to still be in college, eating cafeteria food, and staying up late working on papers. He's doing pretty well for himself. But, he does not belong in a game for the league's best. At least not yet.

I haven't talked about Yasiel Puig in this article because I plan to write an article over whether or not he should be in the All-Star Game. So we'll save that for another time.

Other than that, that's about it. So let me hear your guys' thoughts. Do you think Bryce Harper should be an all-star? Comment below or on my Facebook fan page to let me hear your thoughts. As always, you can follow me on Twitter @vellvita7 to stay up to date with all my thoughts. Thanks for reading!