ARLINGTON, Texas >> Steven Wright has had a strong season thus far for the Boston Red Sox, but the University of Hawaii product is conflicted when talk turns to his being a potential All-Star.

“A lot of that has to do with how well the team’s been playing, so you try to go out there and try to just do your part, try to execute pitches, and once the ball leaves your hand, you become a defender,” said Wright, who is 8-5 with a 2.18 ERA and a 1.14 WHIP in 15 starts this season. “I just try to go out there, throw quality pitches and then whatever happens, happens.”

Boston manager John Farrell feels the one thing that has defined his 31-year-old knuckleballer in 2016 has been a quality he hopes to see for every member of his roster.

“What we’ve witnessed is just a constant. He’s been a dependable pitcher. If you can attach reliable and dependable to a Major League player, that goes a long way,” Farrell said. “He’s earned trust with each outing he’s made for us. He’s pitched out of some tight jams. I don’t know that outwardly people see the trust that we have in him, and that’s developed over the course of this year.”

Wright’s primary focus is of course to help the Red Sox win as much as possible, contend for the American League East title and hopefully qualify for the postseason. But even with Wright putting these goals above all others, he would still appreciate the opportunity if he were selected to the AL All-Star team by Kansas City Royals manager Ned Yost for the All-Star Game at San Diego’s Petco Park on July 12.

“Well, yeah, I think if you do get a chance to go, I think it’s one of those things that you cherish those moments because not a lot of people get to do that. A lot of people play this game and never get a chance to go, so if you go and you can represent your team, that would be an honor,” Wright said.

“I don’t think about it because it’s a personal accolade. As long as the team is winning, personal accolades are great, but if the team’s not winning, they’re kind of meaningless and now you just become an ‘I’ guy. You don’t ever want to become an ‘I’ guy, you want to be about the team because if the team does well, that means you’re going to do well. To get the opportunity to go would be awesome, but if I don’t, it’s four days off.”

However, should he get named an All-Star, Wright realizes that he would be representing the Red Sox as well as Hawaii on one of baseball’s biggest stages.

“That’s the awesome thing about Hawaii, the fact that you don’t even have to know each other, but because you have Hawaii ties, you’re family,” Wright said. “I remember the first time I met (Shane) Victorino, he was like you’re one of my boys. Like Brandon League and Mike Fetters, all these guys brought me in, they helped me throughout my process and I feel like that’s the Aloha spirit. The guys have been there, they’ve been great, so I just want to return the favor.”

One telling stat of how well Wright has pitched in 2016 is that through 15 starts he leads Boston in innings pitched with 103, a number his manager definitely likes seeing.

“What makes a valuable starting pitcher? Innings pitched is the No. 1 (thing),” Farrell said. “Everything else is going to fall in line with that and Steven is doing that.”

Stephen Hunt is a freelance writer based in Frisco, Texas.