This article first appeared in the July 3 issue of SportsWeekly.

Major League Baseball tweaked its All-Star voting process again this year. By most accounts, the switch to a two-stage voting process ended up producing a relatively controversy-free group of starters for the American and National Leagues for the July 9 game in Cleveland.

But that doesn’t mean we can’t have a few quibbles with the results. While the fan voting seems to be weighted heavily on what players have done over the first three months of 2019, we prefer to focus on those who have proved themselves over a full season’s worth of games.

So, let's combine stats from July 1, 2018, to June 30, 2019, to make a case for the most deserving All-Stars. (Players are listed at their primary position in 2019. Our picks for AL and NL starters are in bold.)

Gary Sánchez has the power numbers (an AL-leading 27 home runs) and the high profile to make it seem like he has no serious competition. However, Robinson Chirinos tops Sanchez in both RBI (70 to 66) and runs scored (58 to 53) over the past full season. A sub-.240 batting average is a problem for both, which allows Omar Narváez to steal the starting spot.

With the White Sox in 2018 and the Mariners this year, Narvaez leads all AL catchers with a .290 average and 61 runs scored. His 19 homers and 49 RBI are close enough to the leaders to give him the overall edge.

In the National League, J.T. Realmuto was the consensus No. 1 fantasy catcher this spring after joining a stacked Philadelphia Phillies lineup. He has delivered a solid half-season but hasn’t shown the power surge his change in home parks might have suggested. Yasmani Grandal leads all catchers with 31 home runs and ranks in the top three in all four counting categories.

Power rules at first base, and in the AL, no one delivers power more consistently than Edwin Encarnación. No one else in the league is close to his 37 homers or 108 RBI over the past full year, and he’s first with 92 runs scored as well. The top challenger for Encarnacion is his New York Yankees teammate Luke Voit, who leads AL first basemen with a .296 average to go along with 31 homers, 83 RBI and 81 runs scored.

While the competition has been fierce in recent years, the gap between Freddie Freeman and the rest of the NL first basemen now seems to be getting wider. He leads in batting average (.307), RBI (109) and runs scored (105), while also hitting 30 homers and tying for the lead with seven steals. The NL runner-up isn’t Anthony Rizzo or Paul Goldschmidt, but Max Muncy (38 HRs, 102 RBI, 97 runs).

Jose Altuve’s injury woes have opened the door for a new standard-bearer among AL second basemen. Although he’s been playing more outfield lately, Whit Merrifield is an easy choice as the league leader in runs scored (115) and stolen bases (40), as well as the runner-up in batting average (.309). Despite hitting primarily in the leadoff spot, Merrifield still ranks in the AL’s top three with 78 RBI.

The fans’ All-Star starter, DJ LeMahieu, is a close second, ranking just ahead of Merrifield in batting average and just behind him in runs scored, while leading all second basemen with 93 RBI.

Already selected by the fans as the NL starter, Ketel Marte has stats that back it up. His .296 average is second in the league to Jeff McNeil’s .339. His 80 RBI trail only Mike Moustakas’ 91. His 85 runs are just behind Ozzie Albies’ 92.

That kind of well-rounded production is enough to give him the edge over Moustakas and his position-leading 35 homers.

Over the past full season, only one AL third baseman has accumulated at least 100 runs scored and 100 RBI: Alex Bregman. With José Ramírez enduring a season-long hitting slump and Manny Machado and Eduardo Escobar moving to the NL, Bregman is an easy selection. His league-leading 37 homers are just icing on the cake.

Don’t forget about Oakland’s Matt Chapman, though. He leads the AL with 117 runs scored, in addition to hitting 35 homers and driving in 94 runs.

In the NL, the Rockies’ Nolan Arenado is still king of the mountain. He tops everyone at the position with 38 homers and 118 RBI and ranks third in batting average at .304.

However, Anthony Rendon is gaining ground. The first-time All-Star this season has a higher batting average (.316) than Arenado, is right behind him in RBI (115) and is tied with Chapman for the most runs scored at the position over the past full season.

Picking the AL’s top shortstop might be the toughest call of all. Jorge Polanco is tops in batting average at .305. Francisco Lindor is the only one to hit 30 homers. And Adalberto Mondesi has 56 stolen bases, more than twice as many as anyone else.

In the end, Xander Bogaerts’ dominance in RBI — his 116 are 31 more than runner-up Gleyber Torres — and his top-five ranking in four of the five statistical categories give him the nod.

In the NL, it’s a two-horse race between Javier Báez and Trevor Story. They’re dead even with 38 home runs apiece. Baez has a slight lead in RBI, but Story has scored more runs. Based on overall offensive numbers, Story wins in a photo finish thanks to a 13-point edge in batting average (.302 to .289) and his 29 stolen bases.

No All-Star team is complete without Mike Trout in the outfield. A wrist injury that cost him three weeks last August kept Trout from dominating the leaderboard, but he still hit .300 with 37 homers (second in the AL to Joey Gallo’s 40), 98 runs scored and 87 RBI.

J.D. Martinez is the only AL outfielder to hit at least .300 with 35 homers, 100 RBI and 100 runs scored over the past full season.

Although his 2019 has been far below the standard he set in winning AL MVP honors last year, Mookie Betts is still hitting .302 over the past full season and he leads all outfielders with 131 runs scored.

Christian Yelich’s numbers from his MVP season in 2018 were impressive. But, as crazy as it sounds, his numbers over the past calendar year have been even better.

The Brewers’ outfielder leads the majors in batting average (.343), home runs (54) and RBI (139) and it’s not even particularly close in any of those categories. And just to round things out, he leads the NL in runs scored (130) and ranks first among NL outfielders in stolen bases (30).

Cody Bellinger is doing his best to keep pace with Yelich, ranking third overall in batting average (.316), hitting 36 homers and joining Yelich with at least 100 runs and 100 RBI.

A third member of that club, Ronald Acuña Jr., snags the last NL outfield spot. He’s among the outfield leaders in all five fantasy categories, including third in homers with 40 and tied for fourth in steals with 27.

(Washington’s Juan Soto is the NL’s fourth 100/100 club member, but with only 28 home runs, his position is “left out.”)

From a statistical point of view, Justin Verlander and Max Scherzer are the slam-dunk choices to start the All-Star Game on the mound. Verlander leads the majors with 17 wins and a miserly 0.87 WHIP over the past full season, while Scherzer ranks first in strikeouts with 305 and fifth in ERA (2.72).

It’s a little more difficult to choose the second and third starters for each league. Mike Minor doesn’t strike many batters out (just 172), but he’s been extremely effective with a 2.88 ERA, 1.10 WHIP and 14 wins. Meanwhile, Gerrit Cole’s 286 strikeouts carry enough weight to offset a 3.31 ERA.

Hyun-Jin Ryu gets the nod for his major league-leading 1.85 ERA and stellar 0.96 WHIP. Reigning Cy Young winner Jacob deGrom rounds out the NL trio on the strength of his 263 strikeouts, 2.41 ERA and 0.95 WHIP.

Brad Hand is tied for fourth in the AL with 32 saves, but he leads the league’s closers with 101 strikeouts.

Edwin Díaz has more saves than anyone over the past year (43), but Felipe Vázquez gets the NL nod when you combine his 40 saves with 102 strikeouts and a 1.76 ERA.