KCKingdom
Fansided

Kansas City Royals: Brad Keller only realistic All-Star candidate

By Leigh Oleszczak

SEATTLE, WA - JULY 1: Starter Brad Keller #56 of the Kansas City Royals delivers a pitch during a game against the Seattle Mariners at Safeco Field on July 1, 2018 in Seattle, Washington. The Mariners won the game 1-0. (Photo by Stephen Brashear/Getty Images)
SEATTLE, WA - JULY 1: Starter Brad Keller #56 of the Kansas City Royals delivers a pitch during a game against the Seattle Mariners at Safeco Field on July 1, 2018 in Seattle, Washington. The Mariners won the game 1-0. (Photo by Stephen Brashear/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit

The All-Star Game has a rule that every team has to be represented in the event, so the Kansas City Royals will have at least one player partaking in D.C. It will likely be Brad Keller.

There really aren’t many All-Star worthy players on the Kansas City Royals, but Brad Keller should be pitching in the game, or at least suiting up for it. He’s been electric so far for the Royals after spending the first few months of the season in the bullpen.

Keller was propelled into the starting rotation when Eric Skoglund was placed on the disabled list and probably won’t be getting removed any time soon. He has a 2.09 ERA, 1.161 WHIP and a 2-3 record with 33 strikeouts throughout 56 innings.

Pitchers are interesting for the All-Star Game because unlike position players, they’re not voted in. Instead, the managers of the two conferences (so for the American League this year it’ll be A.J. Hinch of the Astros) get to pick which pitchers they want on their squad.

More from Kansas City Royals

With the Royals not leading in any of the position player voting, Keller makes the most sense to represent the Kansas City Royals in D.C. Of course there could still be extra fan votes and a Royal could make it as a reserve, but that’s unlikely to happen this year.

Whit Merrifield would be worthy of being an All-Star, but his competition at second base is significantly better than him. Jose Altuve is leading the votes at second base and he absolutely deserves to be the starting second baseman.

Normally Salvador Perez would be the obvious Royals representative, but he’s been struggling offensively this year. He also missed the first month of the season, which probably wouldn’t have hurt him too much, but his offensive struggles so far probably will keep him out of going to his sixth straight All-Star Game. Maybe his name alone will get him to Atlanta, but he’s not all that deserving honestly.

So, circling back around to the initial topic, Brad Keller makes sense to be the Royals representative in the All-Star Game. Not only is he the best pitcher on the team, but he honestly might be their best player in the first half of the season.

Does this mean Keller will see the mound during the actual All-Star Game? Maybe not, but his 2.09 ERA has earned him a spot on the American League’s roster this year. Hopefully Hinch selects Keller as one of his pitchers, but if not, maybe Merrifield will get a chance. Either guy would be making his first All-Star Game appearance.

Home/Kansas City Royals