Cleveland Indians: Some early All-Star predictions from ESPN

The Cleveland Indians have some true stars on the team and should once again send several players to the MLB All-Star Game.

Voting is open for the 2018 MLB All-Star Game and that means it is time for Cleveland Indians fans to head to the virtual polls and send some hometown stars to Washington.

ESPN.com recently ran an article, written by David Schoenfield, featuring some early All-Star Game roster predictions. He has Jose Ramirez being voted in by the fans, while Francisco Lindor and Corey Kluber also make it in as reserves.

These three players should be locks to make the game, and I wouldn’t be surprised if Lindor even gets the votes to make it in as a starter over Manny Machado. Maybe the two will be teammates soon after the All-Star Game. That’s my hot take for the weekend.

As for position players, the only other Indians player I could see sneaking in as a reserve is Michael Brantley. He is slashing .332/.376/.551 and has quietly been the team’s most consistent hitter all season. He made the All-Star Game last year in similar fashion, so don’t be surprised if his fellow players vote him in as a reserve.

When it comes to pitchers, we can rule out every single member of the bullpen. That needs no explanation.

But there are two starters other than Kluber who can stake a claim to making the game. Trevor Bauer currently sits seventh overall in ERA in the American League with a mark of 2.61. His 86 strikeouts are also good for seventh in the league, and these numbers come before his start later today.

Bauer isn’t a big name around the league, at least for positive reasons, but Indians fans have seen him step up as the team’s second-best pitcher this season. Carlos Carrasco was rolling along smoothly for a bit, but he has not been as good as Bauer recently.

The other pitcher who could put up an argument is Mike Clevinger. He has had his share of struggles but still sports a 3.14 ERA in 11 starts this season. That is good enough for 12th in the AL. I don’t think he will make it to the All-Star Game, but he at least deserves some consideration.

Next: Indians: What they need in the 2018 MLB Draft

So right now we can all but assume that Ramirez, Lindor and Kluber will be representing the Indians in Washington in July. They are the team’s main trio of stars so it is only right that they are given the respect they deserve. But don’t be shocked if they are joined by someone like Bauer or Brantley, or even both.