A Schelling For Your Thoughts

onathan Lucroy is unlikely to start the All-Star Game.

But he very well could be the National League MVP.

Despite outperforming all other catchers by a wide margin, Lucroy is a longshot to be voted in by the fans. Instead, he’ll have to rely on his fellow players or Cardinals manager Mike Matheny to select him for the NL squad.

Meanwhile on the field, Lucroy has been the Milwaukee Brewers’ best player and among the NL elite.

Lucroy is batting .341/.405/.536 with eight home runs, 34 RBIs and a league-best 89 hits and 28 multi-hit games. Entering Wednesday, he had a WAR of either 3.9 or 3.4 — depending on your source — both of which rank third-best in the NL and considerably better than that of any other catcher in the majors.

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Lucroy also is one of the best defensive catchers in baseball, especially in the art of pitch framing.

And if all that weren’t enough, he also showed Tuesday night how he can come through in the clutch.

After reliever Evan Marshall loaded the bases by drilling slugger Ryan Braun, the first pitch Lucroy saw from Brad Ziegler was crushed over the fence for an emphatic go-ahead grand slam. It turned out to be the game-winner, while making Arizona manager Kirk Gibson look silly in the process.

Lucroy may not be an All-Star starter. But he and the Brewers have their eyes on much bigger prizes.