Zach Buchanan

zbuchanan@enquirer.com

The Blog Above Replacement a daily look at the Reds, their minor leagues and whatever else is on the mind of Enquirer Reds beat writers, C. Trent Rosecrans and Zach Buchanan. You can follow them on Twitter (@ctrent and @ZachENQ), Facebook (C. Trent Rosecrans and Zach Buchanan) and Instagram (ENQReds).

The All-Star Game is a bit of a joke. One, it's a popularity contest, and the fans have a poor track record picking the most deserving players. Two, voting begins a month into the season, when it's difficult to tell a flash in the pan from someone who's actually going to perform at an elite level all year.

All those caveats aside, let's look at who has the best shot to make the National League All-Star team this year. We'll go in descending order of likelihood.

1. Zack Cozart. Cozart was the only Red to even show up in the voting for much of the lead-up to last year's All-Star Game, and many in the clubhouse were pulling for him to be the team's representative. It would be hard to deny him this year. He has the best OPS+ among NL shortstops, significantly ahead of Corey Seager. Those two are the only shortstops producing at an above-average level at the plate. Seager, Brandon Crawford and Addison Russell will draw a lot of the fan vote, but if Cozart continues to be one of the best hitters in the league for the next month, he'll make it.

2. Joey Votto. Votto hasn't made the All-Star team since 2013, thanks to slow starts the last two seasons and an injury in 2014. He hasn't started slow in 2017, hitting .291/.399/.582 with 10 home runs. He has some significant competition, though. Ryan Zimmerman and Freddie Freeman have started even hotter for the Washington Nationals and Atlanta Braves, respectively. Paul Goldschmidt looks like himself again for the Arizona Diamondbacks. Anthony Rizzo has struggled, but Chicago Cubs fans vote for their players. Still, Votto is a perennial MVP candidate, and that may help him in the voting.

3. Eugenio Suarez. Suarez has cooled off a bit, but still is hitting .295/.376/.523. He's also playing terrific defense. The problem is, the NL has some of the top third basemen in the game right now. Suarez may be placing himself among them, but he lacks name recognition. Reigning MVP Kris Bryant leads all third basemen in OPS+, followed by MVP candidate Justin Turner. Suarez is third, but will have to contend with Colorado's Nolan Arenado, who has been selected each of the last two years.

4. Raisel Iglesias. If any representative is taken from the Reds' bullpen, it should be Iglesias. He won't rack up saves since that's not how the Reds are using him, but he has posted a bullpen-best 0.89 ERA in 20 1/3 innings. That mark is the third-best in the NL among relievers with at least 15 innings pitched. Pitchers are not selected by the fans, so this one will be up to the players and managers.

5 & 6. Adam Duvall and Scott Schebler. Every team is guaranteed a representative, and Duvall was the pick for the Reds last year among an underwhelming crop of NL outfielders. (Jay Bruce was later selected as an injury replacement.) The deck is much more stacked this year, and while Duvall and Schebler have been above-average hitters, they've got a lot of ground to make up. Bryce Harper is back lighting the world aflame, and he's followed on the leaderboards by recognizable hitters like Michael Conforto, Marcell Ozuna, Ryan Braun, Jayson Werth, Matt Kemp, Giancarlo Stanton and Charlie Blackmon.

ICYMI

- Amir Garrett will return to the rotation soon.​

- Tim Adleman had a pain in the neck.

Minor-league roundup

Triple-A: Charlotte 7, Louisville 6. RHP Rookie Davis made his first start since his demotion, giving up three runs in six innings. He walked three and struck out six. 2B Dilson Herrera and C Rob Brantly each went 2 for 5 with a home run. [Box]

Double-A: Pensacola 5, Jackson 2. RHP Austin Ross gave up two runs in 6 2/3 innings, and has an ERA of just 1.13. CF Brian O'Grady went 2 for 5 with a home run and a stolen base. [Box]

High-A: The Tortugas were off Sunday.

Low-A: The Dragons were off Sunday.

And since you made it this far...

- Here's Andy McCullough with a feature on the latest Dodgers phenom, Cody Bellinger. I covered Cody when he was in high school in Arizona. He was a better pitcher than a hitter then.

- Read Sam Mellinger's tribute to his late mother.

- Bengals wide receiver John Ross is tired of having to defend his own health.

- Today in Zach Watches Too Many Movies and TV Shows: The most recent episode of Brockmire was easily its best so far. Something about folding him into the real baseball world as we know it -- looping in the likes of Joe Buck, Jonah Keri, Brian Kenny, Tim Kurkjian, etc -- helped the show. And it all falls apart if Joe Buck isn't so good at making fun of himself.