Pair of SF Giants stars make All-MLB prediction list after first month of season

MLB.Com dropped its predictions for the All-MLB teams through the first month of the season. A pair of SF Giants stars in Logan Webb and Jung Hoo Lee made the cut.

Pair of SF Giants stars make All-MLB prediction list after first month of season

I am not sure if the All-MLB team has quite the level of significance that it carries in other sports. After all, it is a relatively new award, and MLB.Com is trying to do a better job of marketing it.

So, does it really matter that Webb or Lee made the cut after just one month? I suppose it is nice recognition they may or may not even see. More than anything, it gets the conversation going about placement or who was snubbed.

On the latter front, Matt Chapman would be a pretty clear snub. He is objectively one of the best third basemen in baseball currently, but Alex Bregman and Austin Riley made the cut instead. I can understand Bregman. He is off to a strong start.

Aside from hitting more home runs, there is not much that Riley does better than Chapman on a baseball field. If the season ended today, it would be a pretty egregious miss, but after one month, the samples are small and the season is young.

Webb and Lee seem appropriately placed as All-MLB Second Team honors. Webb is off to a tremendous start, posting a 1.98 ERA through six starts. As usual, he has posted a high ground ball rate at 55.7 percent, but there has been a sharp increase in his strikeout rate to 10.9 K/9.

The high strikeout rate combined with his heavy workload, low home run totals, and high ground ball rate might be what separates him from a pitcher who receives a lot of NL Cy Young votes to becoming a frontrunner. That is a big if, and it is way too early for that conversation.

On the other hand, Lee looks like a star in the making. He has been one of the Giants' best hitters, posting a .930 OPS with three home runs and 16 RBI in 120 plate appearances. Interestingly, all three home runs have come at Yankee Stadium, but the left-handed bat has a knack for contact and sprays line drives all over the field. Plus, he has done a nice job in center field.