Cardinals Breakout Star Called 'Surprise All-Star Candidate'

St. Louis Cardinals utility man Brendan Donovan has been quite the pleasant surprise for St. Louis this season. The young star is slashing .310/.379/.440 early on in the season and he's been a huge reason why the Cardinals have been as successful as they've been.

FanSided's Zachary Rotman recently suggested Donovan was the Cardinals' most surprising All-Star candidate early in the season.

"Brendan Donovan has always been a solid player for the St. Louis Cardinals, but did anyone expect him to have the season he's had thus far?" Rotman wrote. "The 28-year-old is breaking out in his fourth season, slashing .310/.379/.440 with four home runs and 26 RBI, primarily hitting third in the order for the surprisingly solid Cardinals and providing his usual strong defensive versatility.

"Donovan leads all qualified National League second basemen by a wide margin with a 133 WRC+ and 2.2 fWAR. Ketel Marte is admittedly the better player, so it's entirely possible that if he continues playing well, he can help voters forget that he missed time due to injury, but for now, Donovan looks like the starting second basemen for the NL team."

Donovan seems like a lock for the All-Star Game, though he likely won't deserve to start if Ketel Marte continues to play as well as he has. Even then, a reserve role on the All-Star team is a huge honor.

Donovan's case for the All-Star Game is made even better when looking at the rest of the St. Louis roster. The Cardinals don't have another star who looks like a lock to be selected, so Donovan could be sent to the All-Star Game as St. Louis' lone representative.