With voting underway, who are Red Sox top MLB All-Star candidates?

The MLB All-Star Tournament is a little more than a month from now but with voting officially underway it s worth taking a closer look at which Red Sox players could conceivably take the field with the battle s best at Truist Park in Atlanta on July At this stage it appears as if the Red Sox have five plausible contenders Here s a look at each Garrett Crochet LHP Garrett Crochet has been everything the Red Sox hoped he could be and more and through the first third of the season the -year-old lefty is not only a sure bet to make the American League All-Star squad but a top candidate to earn the start Related Articles Red Sox come from behind four times win on Ceddanne Rafaela s walk-off Red Sox manager as mistakes pile up Maybe we have to change the process Red Sox coach Angels member engage in verbal altercation prior to finale Red Sox lineups Marcelo Mayer batting fifth in series finale Farm Overview Red Sox unlock Password as Garcia breaks out at Triple-A Through his first outings Crochet led the AL in strikeouts and innings pitched while also ranking third in Wins Above Replacement for pitchers and fifth in ERA Crochet has also posted eight quality starts and pitched into the seventh inning or deeper seven times establishing himself as a legitimate workhorse which was the one major question mark he had coming in after the White Sox limited his workload in the second half last season Crochet will have tough competition to earn the starting nod Reigning AL Cy Young winner Tarik Skubal is having another brilliant season as is Kansas City s Kris Bubic and Houston s Hunter Brown But whether he gets the starting distinction or not there should be no doubt Crochet will earn his second career All-Star nod when the final selections are reported Rafael Devers DH What a difference a couple of months makes Through the first week of the season Rafael Devers was among the least productive batters in baseball striking out at an alarming rate as he suddenly appeared incapable of catching up with even the bulk punchless fastball But eventually Devers worked out his timing and he s been raking ever since Devers is having one of the best seasons of his career and presently looks like the favorite to earn the AL s starting designated hitter job in his first full season at the position As of this writing Devers leads the AL in RBI and walks while also ranking among the top performers in runs scored t- nd doubles t- rd total bases t- rd on-base percentage th OPS th WAR t- th and hits t- th The only other realistic candidates for the AL DH spot are Brent Rooker from the Athletics and Baltimore s Ryan O Hearn but while both have posted strong numbers Devers has a clear edge and should cruise to his fourth career All-Star selection Carlos Narvaez C Has there been a bigger revelation in baseball this season than Carlos Narvaez An under the radar offseason addition originally expected to do little more than provide catching depth behind Connor Wong Narvaez has emerged as one of the best all-around catchers in the championship through the first third of his rookie season Offensively Narvaez has been excellent currently ranking second in the AL among catchers in WAR and third in doubles and OPS Defensively he s been even better According to Fangraphs Narvaez s plus-six defensive runs saved is tied for third best in MLB among catchers and Statcast has Narvaez as th percentile in blocks above average and fielding run value and nd percentile in framing In laymen s terms he s been elite Narvaez has no shot at starting Seattle star Cal Raleigh s scenario is unimpeachable but the Red Sox rookie stacks up well against the AL s other top contenders for the reserve spot That group includes Detroit s Dillon Dingler and Los Angeles Angels backstop Logan O Hoppe Wilyer Abreu OF There was a point early in the season where Wilyer Abreu had a strong argument for being the largest part productive outfielder in the AL not named Aaron Judge He s cooled off since but Abreu should still have a real shot at making the All-Star company especially if he performs well over the next month As of this writing Abreu is seventh in WAR among AL outfielders with behind Judge Cleveland s Steven Kwan Seattle s Julio Rodriguez and interestingly Red Sox teammate Ceddanne Rafaela whose impressive total is largely driven by his off-the-charts defensive metrics He also trails Minnesota s Byron Buxton and Harrison Bader but is ahead of notable names like Mike Trout and George Springer Judge Kwan and Rodriguez would be the largest part likely All-Star starters if the vote ended at present but Abreu has a good affair of his own Abreu is tied for seventh in the AL with home runs and boasts a strong OPS and his walks are tied for sixth among AL outfielders Defensively the reigning Gold Glove winner grades out well again too his plus-seven defensive runs saved is sixth best among all MLB outfielders and Statcast has him at th percentile or better in arm strength th range rd and fielding run value th Will fan voters appreciate Abreu s contributions If Jarren Duran s experience last summer is any indication possibly not but within the competition the second-year standout has made a strong impression so he should at least get a good look as a possible reserve Aroldis Chapman LHP What Aroldis Chapman is doing at age is pretty impressive and while he s no shoe in to make the All-Star company he certainly has a shot Last year each All-Star band had five relief pitchers selected and this year there should be at least four locks Seattle s Andres Mu oz ERA saves Kansas City s Carlos Estevez saves Houston s Josh Hader saves and Minnesota s Jhoan Duran nine saves Assuming there are once again five selections can Chapman nine saves beat out everyone else Chapman has performed better than Cleveland s Emmanuel Clase saves and Mason Miller of the Athletics saves but those two were All-Stars last year Clase each of the last three and remain highly respected around the challenge Miller is also continuing to pile up massive strikeout totals which could help various voters overlook his unsightly ERA Chapman will also have to beat out Tampa Bay s Pete Fairbanks saves and Los Angeles Kenley Jansen saves who is now the contest s ongoing career saves leader with and counting One thing Chapman has going for him besides name recognition and seven previous selections is the fact he s still bringing the gas Chapman is still regularly topping mph on the radar gun and his mph fastball to Texas Blaine Crim on May was the second fastest pitch thrown in MLB so far this season and the fastest by any Red Sox pitcher in the Statcast era Things like that resonate with the players and coaches who will select preponderance of the pitchers so it will be enthralling to see if they ll reward Chapman with his first All-Star selection since