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Giancarlo Stanton is assured a spot in the 2014 MLB All-Star Game representing the Miami Marlins, even if he does not win a starting role thanks to his fourth-place standing thus far in the voting process. But there might be other Marlins who might join him in this weekend's All-Star Selection Show, which will go off on July 6 at 7 PM. We have been tracking the other potential Marlins All-Stars for two weeks, and this is the final week of the Miami Marlins All-Star Power Rankings. Who is on top and in line for an All-Star berth?
1. Steve Cishek, RHP (Last Week: 1)
Cishek remains at the top of the list of best candidates for the Marlins' second All-Star selection. He has gotten better every year, he is the team's best reliever, and his change in approach appears to be the cause of all of his recent success. The strikeout rate has jumped, his walk rate remains steadily good, and, as necessary for any reliever, he is excelling in the save department. Cishek has saved 18 of 19 games so far this season.
The save rate are critical, because Cishek at the moment does not have the raw number of saves to really impress managers and players. Craig Kimbrel, Francisco Rodriguez, Huston Street, and Rafael Soriano are all realistic bullpen candidates who could make the team who have more saves than Cishek. Shrek is also dealing with competition at his saves count, with Jonathan Papelbon and Aroldis Chapman potentially able to sneak in. But only one of those guys has blown fewer saves than Cishek (Street, who is 22-for-22 this season). The rate, combined with the impressive numbers, may get him in this season.
Chances of Selection: 90 percent
2. Henderson Alvarez, RHP (Last Week: 2)
Alvarez's two claims to fame remain intact. He still has three shutouts this year, more than any other pitcher in the National League. He also owns the third-best ERA in the NL, behind only Johnny Cueto and Adam Wainwright. Both of those guys are certainly making the All-Star Game, so why wouldn't Alvarez?
Alvarez also has an interesting test case in fellow NL East denizen Julio Teheran. Right now, Teheran's numbers are almost identical to Alvarez's. They both have ERAs of around 2.30, and their FIPs are close as well. Alvarez is ahead at 3.02, while Teheran has the innings advantage, as he has thrown 11 more innings in the same number of starts as Alvarez. In terms of FanGraphs WAR, they are identical. If Teheran gets a selection, Alvarez deserves some love.
Of course, the things going against Alvarez are also still there. There are a lot of candidates available for a selection this season. There is a good shot the three 10-game winners will make it, including the less deserving Alfredo Simon. Madison Bumgarner, Jeff Samardzija, Jason Hammel, Teheran, Tim Hudson, and Jon Niese all have varying chances as well, depending on the need to represent teams in the game. Where is the spot for Alvarez?
Chances of Selection: 30 percent
3. Casey McGehee, 3B (Last Week: 3)
The situation for McGehee is worsening in the fluid All-Star third base market. Aramis Ramirez leads the NL vote over David Wright, but by a very slim margin. He still leads all third basemen in batting average, but is now only tied with Anthony Rendon for the RBI lead. The question is whether the managers and company would select Rendon at third even though he was on the All-Star ballot for second base this season.
Rendon is the least of his concerns. Todd Frazier is getting some interest in the third base spot as well, given his 17-homer season. Frazier also trails McGehee by a slim margin in RBIs, at 47.
The voting situation will almost assuredly leave one deserving candidate left beyond McGehee, if not more. His chances are slowly decreasing.
Chances of Selection: 2 percent
4. Marcell Ozuna, OF (Last Week: 4)
Ozuna got some love earlier this week for a potential All-Star bid, which was pretty impressive. He seems like a deep bid for an All-Star candidate, but I can see the appeal. He does have 14 home runs this season, which ranks 10th in the National League. He is fifth among outfielders in RBIs with 47, behind only Stanton, Ryan Braun, Marlon Byrd, and Andrew McCutchen. Ozuna's other appeal is his defense, as he has shown off multiple times this year with his cannon arm.
But the candidates in the outfield are too numerous to count. Ozuna is not even the best hitter among the team's non-Stanton outfielders, as that mark goes to Christian Yelich and his quieter season at the plate. It is hard to make an All-Star team when you have at least eight worthy candidates ahead of you based on offensive numbers alone. Wait till next year though.
Chances of Selection: <1 percent
5. Nathan Eovaldi (Last Week: 4)
Eovaldi's chances have slipped to slim and none after a bad start last time out. He went seven innings and gave up five runs with three strikeouts and three walks, which I imagine is not good enough to get the job done. His 3.71 ERA is now well behind other worthy competitors, even if the 3.25 FIP points to better numbers. Eovaldi's loss of strikeouts continues to harm his play this season.
Chances of Selection: <1 percent