Street and Smith Drawing All-Star Considerations

May 13, 2014; Cincinnati, OH, USA; San Diego Padres relief pitcher

(16) is congratulated by catcher

(44) at the end of the game against the Cincinnati Reds at Great American Ball Park. The Padres defeated the Reds 2-1. Mandatory Credit: Frank Victores-USA TODAY Sports

As the 2014 Major League Baseball season quickly approaches the mid-summer classic in Minnesota, debate is already beginning to swirl around those players who deserve to go to the All-Star game. With the fans getting to vote in the starters, the coaches are left to decide which players are going to represent their respective teams.

What makes baseball’s All-Star Game uniquely different than other sports, is that each team sends one player. Despite some teams sending multiple players, a team like the San Diego Padres, whose style of play does not appeal to East Coast writers, still gets the chance to represent the city and the fans.

With that said, who is going to represent the San Diego Padres in Minnesota come July?

The Padres have a small list of players who have earned the chance to play for the National League to gain home field advantage in this year’s World Series.

Although the rosters are expanded to forty, managers tend to stock up on pitching. If the Padres had to send one person to the All-Star Game today, it is hard to go against closer Huston Street who has had an amazing season up to this point. His 12-for-12 in save opportunities reflects the 0.53 ERA and 0.83 WHIP. It would be a travesty if he was not chosen.

However, at this point of the season, outfielder Seth Smith needs to also draw some consideration, but he has a serious uphill climb ahead of him to pass over other elite players. Currently, Smith is batting .336 with three home runs and 14 RBI, but his hot bat over the last couple of week’s has given a boost to the offense and landed him NL Player of the Week honors.

There will be some consideration to both Andrew Cashner and Ian Kennedy, but it probably will not be good enough if they don’t improve their wins-losses.