Since Major League Baseball's All-Star Game doesn't count for anything, it's hardly worth making a fuss over.

With this in mind, who's down to make a fuss over it?

Ahead are 10 hot takes concerning which pitchers should play pivotal roles (*cough* Paul Skenes *cough*) in the Midsummer Classic, as well as what fans are doing right and wrong in the voting for the starting lineups so far.

One can argue there are no "right" or "wrong" answers when it comes to the balloting and it's all about which players fans want to see at Globe Life Field on July 16.

And while this is technically true, it's just not enough to deter finger-wagging curmudgeons like yours truly.

In any case, let's get on with the takes.

Paul Skenes Shouldn't Merely Watch the All-Star Game

Paul Skenes has only been with the Pittsburgh Pirates since May 11, but the notion that he's deserving of All-Star consideration is already so popular that it's become tired.

Allow me to up the ante: Skenes should not only be in Arlington, Texas on July 16, but he should also start for the National League squad.

Would it be more reasonable if that honor was bestowed upon, say, Tyler Glasnow or Ranger Suárez? Well, of course. Of all the NL pitchers who have been shoving all season, the former's 135 strikeouts and the latter's 2.01 ERA do give off a certain luminary energy.

But what if Skenes is the best pitcher in the Senior Circuit right now? It's hardly an indefensible position, as his first eight starts have yielded a 2.14 ERA and the best strikeout-to-walk ratio of any NL starter.

Besides, why not let the 22-year-old go out there and give the baseball-loving public a show? His 102 mph fastball and fiendish splinker are already the stuff of legend.

Just imagine what a little extra adrenaline could do for both.

Mason Miller Should Start for the American League

As for the other side of the All-Star starting pitcher equation, I submit that the American League's starter shouldn't be an actual starter, but rather an opener.

It's simply the best way to ensure Mason Miller gets the platform he deserves.

The Oakland Athletics closer hasn't merely been the best relief pitcher of the year. Per his .127 expected batting average and .216 expected slugging percentage, he's been the best hurler of any kind on a pitch-to-pitch basis.

The name of Miller's game is heat, and lots of it. The 25-year-old has averaged 100.8 mph on his fastball, with a maximum speed in the 103-104 mph range. Assuming they're not still shell-shocked from the experience, Juan Soto and Aaron Judge can tell you all about it.

If Skenes and Miller were to face each other in the All-Star Game, they might as well calibrate the radar guns to not register anything below 100 mph.

Such a showcase wouldn't necessarily be the healthiest thing for the sport, but it's the straightest path to maximum fun.

Rangers Fans Must Not Be Feeling It in 2024

It was this time last year that Texas Rangers fans simply would not be denied in their quest to get their favorite players elected to the 2023 All-Star Game.

And in the end, they got their way. Not one, not two, not three, not four, but five members of Texas' starting lineup ultimately made their way into the American League's starting lineup. No team had done that in nearly half a century.

This was, of course, before the Rangers won the franchise's first World Series championship. And with the All-Star Game now set for its debut in their home stadium, you'd think Texas fans would be doubling down in getting behind their guys.

In actuality, though, not one Ranger is in line to get a starting nod.

This is a bummer for Marcus Semien and Josh Smith, who lead their AL peers in rWAR at their respective positions.

Yet it also feels like just another symptom of the hangover that has enveloped the Rangers. Apparently, the fans need to sleep it off just as much as the team.

Superstar NL Outfielders? What Superstar NL Outfielders?

If the voting had come to a close with the latest update on Monday, Jurickson Profar, Christian Yelich and Teoscar Hernández would be the NL's starting outfielders.

And not undeservedly so, mind you.

Profar has an NL-high .410 on-base percentage, while Yelich (.317 AVG) and Hernández (18 HR) are each living up to previously established star power. Even if none of the three is a true center fielder, it's a solid trio.

One nonetheless feels compelled to ask: Is this really the best outfield the NL can muster?

Weirdly enough, the answer may be yes. Though there are also cases to be made for guys like Bryan Reynolds (.822 OPS, 12 HR) and Brandon Nimmo (.797 OPS, 12 HR), fans aren't whiffing on any obviously better choices with their voting so far.

We're clearly not in 2023 anymore, when the NL's best outfielders were Ronald Acuña Jr., Mookie Betts, Fernando Tatis Jr., Juan Soto and Corbin Carroll. Those guys are either out of the picture, out of commission or out of order, and it's kind of a drag.

Your Votes Are Wasted on Mookie Betts

With Mookie Betts, there's an unassailable explanation for why he's not among the leading vote-getters for the NL outfield: He's a shortstop now.

To this end, him leading the voting among NL shortstops isn't some kind of travesty. On his line are a .304/.405/.488 slash line and 3.9 rWAR, the latter of which is tops among his NL peers at the position.

Still, consider this a public plea to stop voting for Betts.

It's not quite akin to outright throwing votes away, but it still feels like a waste. The 31-year-old Los Angeles Dodgers star fractured his left hand on June 16, an injury that will need as long as eight weeks of recovery time. So, unless someone manipulates the space-time continuum, he won't be able to play in the All-Star Game.

For your consideration, think about casting votes for Cincinnati's Elly De La Cruz (14 HR, 37 SB) or Milwaukee's Willy Adames (.762 OPS, 13 HR) instead. Neither has been an All-Star before, much less an All-Star starter.

Your Votes Are Wasted on Manny Machado

As for other players in the NL West who are dripping with name recognition, it's actually a comfort that Manny Machado has virtually no shot of being the NL's starting third baseman.

The 31-year-old would have to come from behind to catch Philadelphia's Alec Bohm in the voting. As of now, that would mean closing a gap of just over 1.4 million votes.

And yet, it's a wonder that the gap between Bohm and Machado isn't bigger.

What Machado still has in terms of star power, he lacks in productivity. He has only a .703 OPS and eight homers this year. It's fair to blame it on his balky right elbow, but them's the breaks all the same.

Even if Bohm is due for a landslide victory either way, it would be more heartwarming if Colorado's Ryan McMahon (.840 OPS, 14 HR) or Milwaukee's Joey Ortiz (.842 OPS) was positioned to be the runner-up. It's been a breakout year for both.

Get Out the Vote for Royce Lewis

Meanwhile, on the American League side of things, there's really no wrong answer on who deserves to start at the hot corner.

Cleveland's José Ramírez is leading the race, and not undeservedly so given his .881 OPS and 21 homers. Yet there's also Josh Smith, who we've already discussed, and others like Baltimore's Jordan Westburg (.853 OPS, 13 HR) and Boston's Rafael Devers (.927 OPS, 16 HR).

There's also Royce Lewis, who's worth stumping for even if he's barely played this year.

It was unfortunately an all-too-familiar story when the 25-year-old missed two months with a severe right quad strain, but what he's done at the plate when healthy is another familiar story of a much more fortunate variety. He's homered 10 times in 19 games.

Including last year's playoffs, that makes it 25 homers for Lewis in his last 51 games. He thus deserves a bit more recognition than he's gotten, which has only been enough to place him ninth in the voting among AL third basemen.

Get Out the Vote for Josh Naylor

Elsewhere on the American League ballot is a pretty good race between Baltimore's Ryan Mountcastle and Toronto's Vladimir Guerrero Jr. for the first base gig.

Mountcastle has garnered over 1.4 million votes, but he's still only 61,685 ahead of Guerrero. As he's previously been an overall leading All-Star vote-getter and has otherwise been hot (.325 AVG, 7 HR) since May 1, a comeback may be in order for Guerrero.

Or, fans could change course and cast votes for Josh Naylor instead.

The Guardians' 27-year-old first baseman is up to 20 home runs on the year, putting him way ahead of both Mountcastle (11) and Guerrero (10) for the lead among AL first basemen. And he's been hot for a while now, having hit .300 with 34 homers in his last 162 games overall.

A shoutout is also owed to Cleveland left fielder Steven Kwan, who's fourth in the voting among AL outfielders even though he's hitting .385. But believe it or not, he actually isn't the most underrated outfielder in the American League.

Jarren Duran Is Officially MLB's Most Underrated Player

Regarding Jarren Duran's place in the American League All-Star voting, here's how it breaks down:

• Where He Actually Ranks in the Voting: 19th
• Where He Would Rank Based on WAR: 3rd

This is no joke. Duran has produced 4.2 rWAR for the Boston Red Sox, ranking behind only Aaron Judge (5.6) and Juan Soto (4.3) among AL outfielders.

There are times when a guy's wins above replacement can be hard to explain, but this is not one of those. Duran is hitting .288 with 23 doubles, 10 triples and 20 stolen bases in 23 tries. He's also rating exceptionally well on defense.

Take it away, Red Sox manager Alex Cora: "[Duran] is an All-Star."

Indeed. Or at least, he should be and almost certainly will be. But if the 27-year-old is going to be a starter for the American League, he's going to need a lot more votes.

Dodgers Fans Are Failing Shohei Ohtani

Up there is a blatantly manipulative headline. Dodgers fans aren't actually failing Shohei Ohtani. Not where it counts, anyway.

He has a huge lead for the NL's designated hitter spot, tallying 1,773,404 votes to Marcell Ozuna's 940,851. It's befitting of the year he's having, as Ohtani leads the NL with a .320 average, a 1.033 OPS and 24 home runs.

It is nonetheless a little surprising that the two-time MVP isn't the leading vote-getter for the entire National League.

He trails two different Phillies in Bohm (1,960,231) and first baseman Bryce Harper (2,037,523). To point out as much is not to imply that neither is worthy, as both are having big years for a big franchise with the best record in all of MLB.

But what feels off about Ohtani not being on top goes beyond how he was already MLB's biggest star even before he signed a 10-year, $700 million contract with an even bigger franchise in the Dodgers.

There's also how it was just last year, when he was still a member of the Los Angeles Angels, that the 29-year-old was the leading vote-getter in the American League.

If Angels fans could do him a solid like that, Dodgers fans should be able to as well.

So, here's a hint: You can still vote up to five times a day before Phase 1 ends on Thursday.

Stats courtesy of Baseball Reference, FanGraphs and Baseball Savant.