Zack Cozart is having a stellar comeback season for the Cincinnati Reds. The 30-year-old missed most of last year due to a shredded knee that required surgical reconstruction.
Cozart started this year torrid at the plate. He hit .361 in his first 18 games. Although he soon returned to earth, Cozart still has managed to hit .267 with 14 homers and a .799 OPS.
Defensively, Cozart had some bugs to work out at the start of the season and committed seven errors in his first 31 games. He’s bounced back to show he still is the Gold Glove caliber shortstop he was prior to his injury last year.
The .974 fielding percentage he has this year is a tick lower than any of his previous five years with the Reds.
But it’s still better than the .971 registered by All-Star Addison Russell.
Like every year, the farce that is All-Star game fan voting has produced another absolutely unworthy starting position player. This year it’s Russell.
Cozart is hardly a more deserving All-Star choice than several other NL shortstops. Trevor Story, Corey Seager, Jonathan Villar, Aledmys Diaz and Brandon Crawford are all having more All-Star worthy first halves than either Cozart or Russell.
But Cozart is still more deserving than Russell.
Russell is a having an average year at best. His .237 batting average is 30 points lower than Cozart’s. Russell does have a whopping 51 RBI for a bottom-of-the-order hitter.
Russell wouldn’t have any where near his RBI total if he played for a less offensive team than the Cubs. Cozart would have a lot more than his 38 RBI if he didn’t bat leadoff. Of his 14 homers, 11 were solo shots.
The difference between Cozart and Russell isn’t overwhelming, but it’s enough for any halfway observant baseball fan to realize that Cozart is objectively a better shortstop in the field and at the plate than Russell, both this year and throughout their respective careers.
Unfortunately for Cozart, the objectivity of halfway observant fans isn’t the basis for selection to start in the All-Star game.
Robb Hoff writes about the Cincinnati Reds for OutsidePitch MLB. You can follow him on Twitter and Facebook.
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