David Richard-USA TODAY Sports
Prince Fielder finds himself fighting for an All-Star spot as we enter early June, and that is something that should not even be in question. The Texas Rangers slugger is having the best season of all American League first baseman and yet finds himself third in the most recent ballot update.
He currently trails both Miguel Cabrera and Eric Hosmer by over 1.5 million votes, both of whom are not putting up the numbers that Prince has so far this season.
Once again it appears that a player’s popularity is more important than their performance on the diamond. If you take a closer look you will see how worthy he is of not only playing in the Midsummer Classic, but starting in the game.
Prince currently leads MLB first baseman in batting average, as he is currently hitting .355 which is 20 points higher than Miguel Cabrera who ranks second. That batting average is boosted in the fact that he has only struck out 27 times in 211 at-bats which is outstanding. The only other first baseman with an average over .300 with less than 27 strikeouts is Anthony Rizzo.
The fact that the Texas Rangers, who are not a very good team, are still above .500 can almost solely be attributed to the play of Prince Fielder. That alone should merit an All-Star spot but after reviewing his stats, many of which rank among the best in the league, the decision is clear.
If Fielder keeps performing at this pace all season and is denied an All-Star spot, it will be an injustice to baseball and it will be a huge snub.
