Examining Guardians second baseman Andres Gimenez's 2022 All-Star Game case

Other than Jose Ramirez's MVP-worthy season, the biggest bright spot on the Guardians' youthful roster has been Andres Gimenez, a 23-year-old infielder who showed glimpses of what was to come late last year and has only built on that momentum in 2022.

Gimenez, a key player in the Francisco Lindor trade with the New York Mets, struggled to find his footing in Cleveland a year ago and was eventually optioned to Triple-A Columbus. He returned and had a torrid finish to the 2021 season, giving Cleveland's front office and coaching staff an additional dose of optimism.

This year, now with an everyday role at second base, Gimenez has built a case to potentially represent the American League in the All-Star Game. Guardians manager Terry Francona also noted earlier this season that Gimenez was remaining more stable in his approach, a key change from last year. The difference has been substantial.

The first round of all-star voting totals was released this week. Gimenez is third among AL second basemen with 514,982 votes. Houston's Jose Altuve leads the way by a hefty margin with 710,708 votes. Toronto's Santiago Espinal is second with 522,154.

Gimenez won't turn 24 until September and is under club control through the 2026 season. He has remained a key piece to the Guardians' future since he was acquired from the Mets, but it wasn't until last September that he put it all together at the major league level. He's now making a push to travel to Los Angeles for this summer's All-Star Game.

Entering Saturday's game against the Boston Red Sox, Gimenez was hitting .314 with a .353 on-base percentage and an .869 OPS to go with eight home runs, 10 doubles, two triples, 34 RBIs and six stolen bases. Altuve, in line to start at second base for the AL, is hitting .273 with a .349 OBP and an .862 OPS with 13 home runs, 13 doubles, 24 RBIs and three stolen bases. Espinal has a .262 average, .316 OBP, .711 OBP, five home runs, 18 doubles, 32 RBIs and three stolen bases.

Gimenez leads all AL second basemen with 2.4 fWAR (meaning he's given his team 2.4 more wins than the average replacement player would have), ahead of Altuve (1.8) and Espinal (1.4). Luis Arraez (1.8) and Trevor Story (1.7) are also in the top five. Baseball-Reference's formula for Wins Above Replacement actually gives Gimenez a larger advantage, as he checks in at 2.9 bWAR while Altuve and Espinal are at 1.8 and 1.5, respectively.

Gimenez, who is primarily a shortstop now playing second base due to the team's roster construction, also leads all AL second basemen with nine defensive runs saved. He is third in wRC+, an offensive value statistic in which 100 is league average, with a 147 wRC+, behind Arraez (154) and Altuve (150).

"Yeah, I think if you ask most of the guys here this is kind of what he was capable of," Guardians starting pitcher Cal Quantrill said. "Now he's doing it, and I hope the people are seeing it. He's probably as deserving of an all-star as anyone. He's continued to do it night after night. I think it's pretty impressive considering second base probably isn't his original position. He's putting up quality at-bats. He's really a force to be reckoned with in the second half of our order right now."

Gimenez has a lot of ground to make up in terms of fan all-star voting, which dictates the starters for each league. He's also well on his way, though, to earning a spot as a reserve by other means of voting.

In doing so, he's already established himself as a key part of the Guardians' future infield, whether it ends up primarily being at second base or at shortstop. The Lindor trade (which included Carlos Carrasco) was one of the biggest deals in franchise history, the jettisoning of a star player for more long-term, controllable talent (along with a clear directive to cut payroll).

A 23-year-old middle infielder making a real push for an all-star bid is all for which the team could have hoped, at least as it involves a key component of the deal.

Ryan Lewis can be reached at rlewis@thebeaconjournal.com. Read more about the Guardians at www.beaconjournal.com/sports/cleveland-guardians. Follow him on Twitter at @ByRyanLewis.

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Breaking down Andres Gimenez's 2022 All-Star case at second base