Which Brewers player will be named a 2015 MLB All Star?

In two voting updates for the MLB All-Star game so far, there has not been a single Brewers player in the top-five (top-15 for outfield) of their position.

That's not especially surprising. The Brewers are the worst team in baseball and while the team's fans can be fantastic at voting for mostly meaningless things, it's easy to understand a lack of excitement this year. Plus, it's not like the Brewers have an obvious position-player candidate.

Ryan Braun is maybe the best choice, but that's not saying much. Just glancing through and I think there are at least 10-15 outfielders that are more deserving that he is this year, though that could change by the All Star break if he keeps hitting like May versus hitting like April. Carlos Gomez got off to a slow start and fell behind. Jonathan Lucroy has missed most of the year. Jean Segura is doing well, but guys like Brandon Crawford, Jhonny Peralta, Troy Tulowitzki, etc have spots locked down ahead of him.

So even without winning the vote, there probably aren't any positional players that will earn a spot on the NL All Star team. Again, though, that's barring any phenomenal performances over the next month or so that might push Segura or Braun over the top.

Every team has to have one representative at the All Star break, though. For the Brewers, that's going to need to be a pitcher in all likelihood. And that ain't coming from the starting rotation. Kyle Lohse and Matt Garza have been awful, Jimmy Nelson and Mike Fiers haven't had All Star levels of production, and Wily Peralta is hurt (and also hasn't pitched well enough.

Therefore, by process of elimination, we can pretty safely assume that the Brewers likely-lone All Star representative will be Francisco Rodriguez. He's been great in the closer role, posting a 1.42 ERA, a 2.43 FIP, and an 0.895 WHIP.

Michael Blazek has been better than Rodriguez in each of those categories, and with 10 more innings pitched, but Rodriguez has the superior strikeout rate (10.4 K/9 vs 8.3). Even more importantly, Rodriguez has nine saves compared to Blazek's zero. And whether you want it to or not, that matters for getting into the All Star game.

There are usually a handful of relievers on each All Star roster. There are guys who are probably more deserving that Francisco Rodriguez -- I'd put Trevor Rosenthal, Drew Storen, Jeurys Familia, Jonathan Papelbon, John Axford, and Aroldis Chapman in before K-Rod, and those are just out of the closers.

But the Brewers have to have one representative, so Rodriguez will likely knock at least one of those more-deserving guys out. That's the danger of the one-player-from-each-team rule and, well, Rodriguez is the closest thing to an All Star the Brewers have had this year.

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