Giancarlo Stanton and Dee Gordon are the obvious choices. Both are leading the 2015 National League All-Star voting at their respective positions and both could earn starting spots come July. While Stanton and Gordon are having a notable amount of success in 2015, so is Adeiny Hechavarria, and he too deserves to be named to the All-Star squad.
A season ago, Hechavarria would not find himself involved in such a conversation. He appeared in 146 games, posting a .276/.308/.356 batting line, one home run, and 34 RBIs. His defense was consistent and notable however he did not produce consistently enough for it to be recognized on a national level. To this point in 2015, Hechavarria has established himself as durable and consistent. With the plus defense comes an improved offensive approach, one that has allowed him to thrive batting a few slots behind Stanton each night.
Although Hechavarria got off to a slow start at the plate, he has posted a .305/.333/.406 batting line and 1.3 WAR (up from last season's 0.2 mark) through 51 games. He has hit a pair of home runs, and despite the fact he may not establish himself as a power threat in the future, Hechavarria has already driven in 22 runs.
Hechavarria has spent some time sidelined with a shoulder injury but his current batting line should prove he will have a fair amount of success throughout the rest of the 2015 campaign. He is walking less (4.5% in 2014 to 4.0% in 2015) and striking out more (15.0% in 2014 to 16.2% in 2015), but that appears to be the current trend throughout the league.
Defensively, Hechavarria is known as one of the better shortstops in the game and Miami knew that when they acquired him from Toronto. He was a Gold Glove finalist last season and could end up winning one at the end of the year. When he had difficulty offensively, his offensive inconsistencies were recognized just as frequently as his plus range. Now that he is having success at the plate, that is not necessarily the case.
Hechavarria is projected to end the season with a .268 average, 0.8 WAR, three home runs, and 35 RBIs. However, while his production may decrease at certain points over the next few months, he may have more success than that.
When it comes to the NL All-Star voting, Hechavarria almost certainly will not win a starting spot. Jhonny Peralta, Brandon Crawford, Starlin Castro, Troy Tulowitzki, and Zack Cosart were top five as of June 1. But Adeiny Hechavarria is having an All-Star-type season to this point, and he deserves to be recognized accordingly.
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