A strong first half of the month see the Royals (63-35) enter the All Star Break with the best record in baseball, just ahead of the West-leading Avalanche (62-36), with the East-leading Orioles (53-44), in a battle with the Yankees (52-46).
Over in the National League, the Mets (60-37) are the best in class, with the Dodgers (54-43) and Diamondbacks (53-44) fighting it out in the West, while the mediocre Central is led by a .500 Cubs team.
The Royals have four players selected to the All Star Game, but no outfielders for the first time in recent memory. Instead, it is Sam Hart earning his first All Star call, the Royals’ first since Jonathan Gerew’s rookie season, and he is joined by Edgar Mir, earning his second in a row. Pitchers Mike Hoffer and David Nava both earn pitching nods with Mike Bowe also selected although the Royals can’t take credit for those performances.
In addition, two former Royals earn nods, with Chris Maguire and Eric Cook both selected.
Sam Hart (132 wRC+) is having a breakout season with 13 HRs and 50 RBIs. He is just one of many high performing Royals, with only Bobby Witt Jr. (72 wRC+) and the Shortstops Tim Storer (60 wRC+) and Ed Nicholson (58 wRC+) struggling with the bat, although both offer positive glovework. The outfield is all above average, although possibly not as elite as in previous years. It is great to see Billy Mumaugh (1.1 ZR) contribute with his glove while Jimmy Goodman (8.7 ZR) is having himself a Gold Glove calibre season.
The starting rotation is one of the best in the league with three players (Mike Hoffer, David Nava, Cade Townsend) all contributing over 2 WAR already. Townsend is the only one of the pitchers to have given up 100 hits, while both he (10.1) and Nava (10.0) are striking out over 10/9.
Chris Wagner (86 FIP-) has 29 saves through 37 appearances, with Jon Holtz (29 H, 42 IP) leading the season-long relief corps. Several of the new faces have had elite first halves of the season with their previous team which the Royals will be looking for them to replicate.