2021 All-Stars by Sign
Two weeks ago, the official @AllStarGame Twitter account posted a graphic showing which MLB teams had the most All-Star Game starters. The Blue Jays led the way with three, and then four other teams were tied with two apiece. It turns out that the distribution of which astrological signs had the most All-Star Game starters had even more parity: no sign had more than two starters, and more than half the Fantasy Astrology Baseball League reached that threshold (by a margin of one – it was seven teams total).
When you expand the field to pitchers and reserves – as measured by tweeted graphics – a fuller astrological All-Star landscape starts to emerge. Negative signs Virgo and Pisces finish on top, with eight apiece, two of which on each side were starters. Those two are followed by the surprisingly hapless Aquarius, with seven, although none of them were named starters. But before going through each sign individually, here’s a graphic of my own.
NOTE: I built these charts before injuries and opt-outs were taken into account, so the actual rosters may differ.
I’ll start with Pisces, which includes Vladimir Guerrero Jr. happens to be the overall leading vote-getter, at least as of Phase 1. The Blue Jays first baseman shares starting honors with Reds outfielder Nick “Don’t Call Me Nicholas (Anymore)” Castellanos. Other non-starters include Guerrero Jr’s teammate Bo Bichette, who had the numbers to serve as the starter at shortstop. The red hot until injured Kyle Schwarber will likely miss the All-Star festivities due to a [calf strain?]. Rangers center fielder Adolis Garcia is the early frontrunner for AL Rookie of the Year award. German Marquez is the only All-Star from the home venue Colorado Rockies. Neither Aroldis Chapman nor J.T. Realmuto are putting up their typical All-Star caliber seasons, but make the team due to an excellent track record.
Like Pisces, Virgo has two starters out of eight total All-Stars, and also like Pisces, they are split between the two Major Leagues. Another teammate of Guerrero Jr., Marcus Semien has been worth every penny of the free agent contract he signed to leave the A’s, while Freddie Freeman leads a surprisingly weak crop of NL first basemen. Gerrit Cole is the highest-scoring AL All-Star pitcher (as of the time when the pitchers and reserves were announced), and one of the more high-profile pitchers who has been quietly implicated in foreign substance-gate. Jose Ramirez and Carlos Correa had the numbers to be in the conversation for starting third base and shortstop, but Boston turns out to be a bigger media market than Cleveland and Houston. Max Muncy and Chris Taylor are both important versatile cogs in the defending world champion Dodgers’ machine.
NOTE: I hear Jacob deGrom and others are skipping the festivities next week, but these reflect the tweeted graphics.
All three fire signs also had two starters each. Sagittarius boasts the not-at-all surprising Braves outfielder Ronald Acuna Jr. and the quite surprising breakout Pirates second baseman Adam Frazier. Aries has resurgent Giants catcher Buster Posey and new Cardinals acquisition Nolan Arenado. Leo is the only fire sign whose two starters are split between leagues: Jesse Winker earns an NL starting outfield spot beside his real-life Reds teammate Castellanos. Not even a stay on the 60-day injured list could keep Mike Trout from being voted in by the fans, such is his incredible star power.
The other two signs with two starters apiece are from different Polarities, but each of both of their starters play for American League teams. Negative Earth sign Taurus has venerable Royals catcher Salvador Perez and Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge, who Bulls fans will be excited to see is on pace for center field eligibility in 2021. Meanwhile Positive Air sign Libra has Boston shortstop Xander Bogaerts and yet another Blue Jay, outfielder Teoscar Hernandez.
Speaking of Air signs, Aquarius has the second most total All-Stars, but not one starter. The top point-scorer of the bunch (again, as of the announcement of the pitchers and reserves) is Milwaukee ace pitcher Brandon Woodruff – he shares a real-life rotation with another Air sign, Libra Corbin Burnes. Coming in second is White Sox closer Liam Hendriks, followed by Pirates outfielder Bryan Reynolds. Padres utility infielder and Giants shortstop Brandon Crawford bring up the rear as far as Aquarian 1,000-point scorers go.
There is perhaps no one more deserving of a 2021 All-Star nod than Mets pitcher Jacob deGrom, who is flirting with a sub-1.00 ERA so far (which translates to a points-per-game average well over 100). Zack Wheeler has been outstanding as well, if not quite up to the level of Capricorn ace Kevin Gausman. Speaking of Capricorn, starting shortstop Fernando Tatis Jr. is obviously the most dynamic Sea Goat of the bunch, but reserves Ozzie Albies and Kris Bryant are important cogs for their respective teams as well. As is typical for the hard-luck Cancer Crabs in 2021, my home sign has the fewest All-Stars, with three. However, if you count two-way phenom Shohei Ohtani as both a pitcher and a hitter, they could sneak into a three-way tie for last place.
Tomorrow and Tuesday, I’m going to try something different here in this space: I will be live-blogging the Home Run Derby and All-Star Game, with special attention paid to the Astrological implications (obviously).