Major League Baseball tonight announced that outfielder Michael Conforto was named to the 2017 National League All-Star team.

Conforto was elected on the Player Ballot.

The 88th All-Star Game will take place on Tuesday, July 11 in Miami.

Conforto, 24, was named to his first All-Star team. Entering play today, Conforto ranked sixth in the NL with a .405 on-base percentage and ninth with a .953 OPS.

He has four lead off homers, the most in the NL and tied for the third-most in the majors.

Conforto, who is eligible to come off the Disabled List on July 8, is batting .285 (63-for-221) with 14 doubles, a career-high 14 homers, 41 RBI and 47 runs scored in 69 games with the Mets this year.

He is the 12th Mets outfielder named to an All-Star team, joining Richie Ashburn, Duke Snider, Cleon Jones, Willie Mays, Dave Kingman, Lee Mazzilli, Joel Youngblood, Darryl Strawberry, Lance Johnson, Carlos Beltrán and Yoenis Céspedes.

Conforto is the second-youngest Mets outfielder named to an All-Star team. Strawberry was an All-Star at age 22, 23 and 24.

A well-deserved feat for the young outfielder, who despite a rough patch is having himself a fine season.

“It’s a dream come true, Conforto said. “It was a pretty cool moment this morning for me to find out. A lot of hard work went in to it. I have to think of my teammates and coaching staff, I couldn’t have done it without them.”

He will be the lone Met making the trip down to Miami later this month.

Original post – July 2

Considering how the season has progressed with all its ebbs and flows, when the All-Star rosters are announced, it should come as no surprise that the Mets will likely have just one representative on the National League roster.

In some ways, that is quite odd as the Mets do have some strong candidates to be a representative in Miami a couple weeks from now.

The natural choice for the selection has long been Michael Conforto.

Conforto, 24, jumped out of the gate to start the season and for much of the year, he was the second best outfielder in the National League.

However, he has slumped in the month of June. His slump has coincided with a back issue and now, he is on the disabled list with a bone bruise on his hand.

His numbers are still terrific with him hitting .285/.405/.548 with 14 homers and 41 RBI, but the struggles have opened the door for someone else to be considered.

The other Mets player that has been outstanding from the beginning has been Jerry Blevins.  No one baseball has made more appearances than Blevins this year.

In his 42 appearances, Blevins is 4-0 with a 2.60 ERA, 1.265 WHIP, and a 12.7 K/9.

In what has mostly been a horrendous Mets bullpen, Terry Collins has been able to go to him time and again to get the big outs.

With his stats, and the fact he’s done it more than any other reliever in all of baseball, he should naturally be an All-Star.  However, LOOGYs rarely make the roster leaving the door open for someone else.

Fellow bullpen arm, Addison Reed is having another great season for the Mets.

Bounced between set-up man and closer, Reed has done everything the Mets have asked him to do.

Through it all, Reed has made 40 appearances, more than any other closer in baseball, and he is 0-2 with a 2.59 ERA, 14 saves, a 1.104 WHIP and a 9.1 K/9.

Few teams have as consistently dominating an arm in the bullpen and Reed should be awarded with an All-Star appearance.

Another fantastic and consistent arm that deserves to be an All-Star is Jacob deGrom. 

For those of us that forget, deGrom was the story of the 2015 All-Star Game when he struck out the side in just 10 pitches, and he would have been an All-Star last year if he did not step aside for his teammate Bartolo Colon.

It’s time they now find time for him.  Since working and figuring things out with John Smoltz, deGrom has been the most dominating pitcher in baseball.  Over his past four starts, he is 4-0 with a complete game, 0.84 ERA, 0.719 WHIP, and an 8.7 K/9.

More than that, deGrom’s 125 strikeouts are fourth in the National League, and his 10.8 K/9 is the third best.  What could hold him back is the poor May deGrom had.  Overall, the ace is “just” 8-3 with a 3.55 ERA, 1.221 WHIP, and a 10.8 K/9.

That brings us the second most likely selection in Jay Bruce.

Right now, Bruce is on pace for a 40 HR, 100 RBI season.  The slugger is having a career year hitting .264/.335/.524 with 20 homers and 55 RBI.  For what it is worth, those are better numbers than what Bruce put up last year when he was named an All-Star.

Overall, with the Mets playing much better of late, the team has much more viable All-Star candidates than initially presumed and that is even before we discuss Curtis Granderson having been the best hitter in the National League in the Month of June and his outstanding stats since May 1.

At the moment, it appears like Conforto is the likely nominee, and he is well deserving.  However, he should be joined by one or two of his teammates on this roster.