Josh Bell - All-Star... starter?

Well no 

That won't happen because starter is based on votes and I don't care how good Josh Bell is hitting he's not going to outvote the more popular players. He's simply not a name, having a mismatch of good and bad years previously for a bunch of teams that haven't registered as important. 

But SHOULD he be?  

Also no

Honestly I probably shouldn't have opened with that. 

Paul Goldschmidt should be (and will be) the starter. He leads NL first basemen* in average, OBP, and slugging.  His fielding... well that leaves a lot to be desired. He was never good, but could sometimes be ok, but is aging into old now. But no one votes an ASG starters by fielding. 

Even if they did, the second choice in the voting Pete Alonso, who leads NL first basemen** in RBI and homers wouldn't get that vote because he stinks at fielding and always has even as a relatively young guy.

(Who is good fielding - Christian Walker a .200 hitting slugger, and Matt Olson who leads the NL first basemen in doubles***  Freeman is generally the best combo)

Josh Bell though does deserve a spot. 3rd in average for NL first basemen, 2nd in OBP, 4th in SLG and he's been a perfectly decent first baseman with the glove since coming to the Nats. 

But right now Bell is getting outvoted by pretty much everyone. We're not just talking Goldschmidt and Alonso and of course perennial deserving guy Freddie Freeman, who's having another good year just isn't putting balls over the fence in LA. But Matt Olson - who's good but not having a better year than Bell. And Eric Hosmer who is fine. and Rowdy Tellez who is trash with the glove and only hits homers yet hasn't hit that many homers. And the ghost of Joey Votto. And CJ Cron who is hitting .226 / .287 / .380 away from Coors. And Jesus Aguilar, who is a bad game tonight from going under .300 in OBP and the Marlins are platooning. And Brandon Belt who has played half a season of bad baseball. 

Come on Nats voters! Show some heart and vote in the one guy on the team that's trying this year. I hear praise out there for the likes of Maikel Franco for not being complete garbage, for Lane Thomas for having a hot week, for Dee Strange-Gordon for being likable, for Kyle Finnegan for striking out some guys while being completely average. How about some love for Josh Bell? Because if you don't care, why should NL team pickers?

*Note - he leads NL firstbasemen in these stats because he leads the MAJORS in batting average and OBP (and is third in SLG) 

**Note - yes yes Alonso also leads the MAJORS in RBI and is tied for 3rd in HRs. 

*** Note - YES YES YES.  Sorry Josh Bell. A lot of good hitters here.