Yesterday, we named the American League’s fantasy All-Star team, and now it’s time to recognize the National League players who carried fantasy teams in the first half. As a reminder, this list is primarily based on players’ value in standard 5×5 roto/categories leagues, and also factors in their draft day cost. It’s decidedly not a forward-looking list of the players who will be the best in the second half — although that angle will be covered a bit in the analysis section. But enough with the fine print. Let’s get down to business!

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Catcher

Real Life All-Stars: Willson Contreras (starter), Yadier Molina, Buster Posey (injured), J.T. Realmuto
Fantasy All-Stars: Realmuto (starter), Yasmani Grandal, Molina

Analysis: The National League ended up rostering three catchers, and with Posey missing the game due to a hip injury, a fourth (Molina) was named to the team as well.

While Cubs Nation generated enough votes to make Contreras the NL’s starter, he has had a pretty underwhelming fantasy season and doesn’t quite deserve to make the fantasy All-Star team. Realmuto is the clear choice to start as far and away the best fantasy catcher to date. With a .310 batting average and 12 home runs, he is the only player at the position who has been better than the league average hitter, according to Baseball Monster — and that’s true even though he missed a little time early in the year.

While Grandal has slowed down after a blazing start to the season, he still has the second-most fantasy value among NL catchers in standard 5×5 leagues. Molina has hit for just as much power as Grandal with a better batting average, but Grandal has crossed the plate 41 times compared to just 26 for Molina. Thankfully, the fact that the NL selected three catchers means there’s no need to choose between the two for the fantasy All-Star team.

First Base

Real Life All-Stars: Freddie Freeman (starter), Paul Goldschmidt, Joey Votto, Jesus Aguilar
Fantasy All-Stars: Freeman (starter), Aguilar, Goldschmidt, Ian Desmond

Analysis: Freeman is having a terrific season for a surprising contender in Atlanta, so he’s a deserving choice to start for the NL in both fantasy and reality. Meanwhile, Goldschmidt looked like anything but an All Star for the season’s first two months, but he made up for lost time in a big way by going on a complete tear in June and July. Goldy’s numbers are now not too far off from where his owners expected them to be on draft day, and you have to feel confident he’ll keep it up in the second half.

Aguilar would have been a significant snub if he hadn’t been selected as the “final vote winner” in the NL. At an ADP of 792, he is also one of the biggest steals/waiver wire gems of the 2018 season.

Votto made the NL squad thanks to his fellow MLB players voting him in, and that’s certainly understandable given his long track record as a top player in the league. But when you look at this season’s numbers, there is little doubt that Desmond has been the better fantasy hitter. With an ADP of 127, his 29 combined HRs + SBs in the first half is a lot more than most people expected.

Second Base

Real Life All-Stars: Javier Baez (starter), Ozzie Albies, Scooter Gennett
Fantasy All-Stars: Baez (starter), Albies, Gennett

Analysis: The fans and MLB got this one exactly as it should be — Baez, Albies, and Gennett are easily the three best second basemen in the NL so far this season.

Baez is the obvious starter for the fantasy All Stars as a five-category monster with multi-position eligibility. He’s been the seventh-most valuable player at any position in standard 5×5 leagues, meaning he was one of the bigger steals in fantasy drafts as the 127th player off the board.

Albies and Gennett were huge bargains as well. Both were drafted outside the first 120 picks — Gennett was barely taken inside the top-200 — and both have delivered top-25 overall value in 5×5 leagues in the first half.

Third Base

Real Life All-Stars: Nolan Arenado (starter), Eugenio Suarez
Fantasy All-Stars: Suarez (starter), Arenado

Analysis:  Arenado has been among the top-10 hitters in standard 5×5 leagues, as expected, while Suarez currently ranks among the top-20 fantasy hitters, which was not expected. The fans and MLB made the right call to select Arenado as the starter and Suarez the reserve (nobody else in the NL is close), but when you factor in the enormous difference in their draft day price tags, Suarez (ADP 195) has made an even more significant impact than Arenado (ADP 3) for fantasy owners. That’s why Suarez gets the starting nod for the fantasy All Stars.

Shortstop

Real Life All-Stars: Brandon Crawford (starter), Trevor Story
Fantasy All-Stars: Story (starter), Jose Peraza

Analysis: Shortstop is relatively weak in the NL this year, but there’s still no decent argument for Crawford starting the All-Star Game. Crawford likely benefited from Giants fans’ fervor and an incredibly hot start, but he has come crashing back to earth of late and no longer even ranks among the top-12 shortstops in standard 5×5 leagues.

I’ve always been a bit of a doubter when it comes to Story, but no longer. He has cut his strikeout rate significantly this season, which has been a big boost to his batting average, and he’s running more, too. We always knew the power and run production would be there in Colorado, but he’s suddenly transformed into a five-category star worthy of starting the fantasy All-Star Game.

I thought about including Trea Turner as the NL’s other shortstop, since he has the second-most value so far in 5×5 leagues. But when you consider Turner’s astronomical cost at draft tables (ADP 5), it becomes clear that Jose Peraza is the more deserving choice. Peraza trails Turner by a handful of steals and a handful of home runs, but he has almost 30 points of batting average on the Nats’ shortstop and was available a staggering 250 picks later in fantasy drafts. Turner could easily blow Peraza away in the second half — and maybe even outperform Story — but he’s been a little disappointing so far.

Outfield

Real Life All-Stars: Nick Markakis (starter), Matt Kemp (starter), Bryce Harper (starter), Charlie Blackmon, Lorenzo Cain, Christian Yelich
Fantasy All-Stars: Starling Marte (starter), Blackmon (starter), Markakis (starter), Yelich, Kemp, Harper

Analysis: The NL has been weaker than the AL in terms of outfield production this season, but Marte has been the best fantasy outfielder in the NL and was drafted outside the top 50 this spring. He is a pretty major snub from the real-life team.

Blackmon hasn’t been quite as good as his owners were probably hoping, but he’s still been the NL’s second-best fantasy outfielder and has to be on the team despite his high ADP (8). Meanwhile, Yelich has been precisely what owners expected, a steady top-50 asset on pace to approach 20-20 with a strong batting average.

Markakis (ADP 385) and Kemp (ADP 288) were two of the best steals in fantasy drafts — if they were drafted at all. They’re both excellent sell-high candidates, but they have been difference-makers for their owners so far.

Meanwhile, Harper barely avoided missing out on the fantasy All-Star team, nabbing the final outfield spot. As a Washingtonian, I’m glad that he is starting the All-Star Game and was thrilled to see him win the Home Run Derby in dramatic fashion in front of the home crowd. He’s also been incredibly unlucky to have a .214 batting average this season — his .226 BABIP is the sixth lowest in baseball — and looks like a great buy-low candidate who could be set up for a huge second half. But when you consider that he was the seventh player taken on average in fantasy drafts and has barely been among the top-60 players in terms of 5×5 fantasy value, he’s yet to fully deliver the fantasy goodness that his owners are counting on.

Pitchers

Real Life All-Stars: Max Scherzer, Aaron Nola, Jacob deGrom, Sean Doolittle, Ross Stripling, Josh Hader, Jeremy Jeffress, Kenley Jansen, Miles Mikolas, Patrick Corbin, Brad Hand, Mike Foltynewicz, Zack Greinke, Jon Lester, Felipe Vazquez
Fantasy All-Stars: Scherzer, Nola, deGrom, Doolittle, Stripling, Hader, Jeffress, Jansen, Mikolas, Corbin, Adam Ottavino, Hand, Foltynewicz, Seranthony Dominguez, Bud Norris

Analysis: Scherzer, Nola, and deGrom are the no-brainers among this group as the NL’s “Big 3” Cy Young contenders, and Stripling surprisingly isn’t too far behind despite not joining the Dodgers rotation until May. He’s providing the kind of elite ratios that Clayton Kershaw owners were hoping for.

I’ve gone on record labeling Mikolas, Foltynewicz, and Corbin as sell-high candidates in my weekly Buy/Sell column, but there’s no doubt that they’ve provided a ton of value for their fantasy owners up to this point. Greinke and Lester, on the other hand, haven’t been quite as good and came at a considerably higher draft cost — they both just miss the cut for the fantasy All Stars.

MLB and the players did well to honor Hader and Jeffress as non-closing relievers worthy of All-Star recognition. In addition to those two, Adam Ottavino and Seranthony Dominguez are other relievers who often pitch before the ninth inning and deserve to be on the fantasy All-Star team.

In terms of full-time closers, Doolittle, Jansen, and Hand are all worthy choices in both fantasy and reality. It’s hard to argue with MLB choosing Vazquez for the final spot given how dominant he has been of late, but I’ll give the final spot on the fantasy All-Star team to Norris, who still has the slightly better season-long numbers than Vazquez and was much cheaper in fantasy drafts.

The 2018 Fantasy Baseball All Stars: American League

Andrew Seifter is a featured writer at FantasyPros. For more from Andrew, check out his archive and follow him @andrew_seifter.