Major League Baseball

Infante Update: What if Royals dominate All-Star Game?

Published Jun. 17, 2015 6:59 p.m. ET

foxsports

Editorial Note: WhatIfSports.com's MLB simulation engine relies on the statistical resumes of each player/team to generate its simulated predictions and projections. It removes subjective bias from the argument and lets the stats tell the story the best they can using advanced algorithms.

How will Alex Rios explain this to his grandchildren?

As of Monday, Rios remained the only Royals hitter on the outside looking in to start the 2015 All-Star Game. Thanks to the Royals' ballot box stuffing soiree, their second baseman, Omar Infante — the proud owner of the worst OPS in baseball of .536 — managed to bump the Houston Astros Jose Altuve (second-lowest strikeout rate and second in stolen bases at the position) out of the top spot.

WhatIfSports.com simulated the original All-Star Game matchup with Mike Trout, Altuve and the Royals against a more-balanced National League squad late last week with somewhat expected results.

So, how would the Royals with only a side of Trout fare against a NL All-Star roster? We fired up the Whatifsports.com MLB simulation engine once agian with the rosters below (Gordon now leading off for Altuve and Infante batting ninth) and "played" the 2015 All-Star Game 101 times.

After, 101 simulations the WhatIfSports computers project the NL to win 66 percent of the time. The NL averaged just a shade under five runs per game, while the AL averaged 3.69 runs per game in the 101 simulations.

As with all simulations, pay close attention to the wording of the results. They are not always black and white as much as sports fans want to paint predictions and projections with a finite brush. The simulation engine believes the NL will win 66 percent of the time, but also believes the AL has better than a 1-in-3 chance to win the 2015 All-Star Game in Cincinnati. Again, not black and white results.