Amid all the commotion over whether Milwaukee Brewers rookie Jacob Misiorowski warrants a place in the All-Star Game, let’s not forget a critical detail: Major League Baseball only awarded Misiorowski a place after other starting pitchers turned down spots.
I get it when Sunday starters are reluctant to throw even an inning in the All-Star Game on one day’s rest. The collective-bargaining agreement specifies that such pitchers and their clubs can request a restricted usage. But this year, six All-Stars who started on Saturday also bailed on the game.
As Boston Red Sox manager Alex Cora told reporters Sunday, “We have to do a better job to get the best of the best out there. There’s too many All-Stars.” Cora suggested a longer break or playing the game a day later, on Wednesday. Maybe one of those ideas would help. Or maybe a change would only create different problems.
Players sometimes complain the league does not promote them properly. Well, the All-Star Game is a promotional vehicle, the game’s top summer showcase, a rare time for baseball to command center stage. And while each player who bowed out can justify his decision by citing a desire to minimize his risk of injury, the collective look borders on embarrassing. At some level, the players need to demonstrate an obligation to their sport, beyond simply showing up for introductions.
Most All-Stars do. And in a game with a history of poor labor relations, perhaps full cooperation from players is a fantasy, even when they’re being honored. At the moment, the owners seem to be spending more time on salary-cap prep than taking action on the report the league released last December on pitching injuries. Labor tension underlies everything in this sport, even if the league and players’ union would like to pretend otherwise.
But give the league credit for this much: From a promotional standpoint, Misiorowski was a perfectly logical selection. With apologies to NL pitchers who still might feel snubbed – San Francisco Giants reliever Tyler Rogers, perhaps most notably – they won’t grab the casual fan the same way the “the Miz” can.
I see both sides of the debate. Misiorowski, baseball’s latest sensation, will attract viewers, no small consideration for the league and one of my employers, Fox Sports. On the other hand, five starts? How far are we going to lower the bar? Does next year’s No. 1 pick get drafted on Sunday and play in the game on Tuesday, especially if he has a surname suited for social media marketing?
Paul Skenes had 11 starts when he started last year’s game. His debut was on May 11. His ERA at the break was 1.90. Misiorowski’s debut was on June 12. It seems like he just came out of the womb. And his ERA is nearly a run higher than Skenes’ was.
The Philadelphia Phillies, in voicing their frustrations over Misiorowski’s selection, weren’t particularly interested in the machinations that resulted in Misiorowski making the team when two of their teammates, Ranger Suárez and Cristopher Sánchez, did not. But they spoke for many players who believe Misiorowski did not earn the honor when compared to pitchers who have been with their clubs the entire season, and pitchers like Rogers who have spent a decade trying to make an All-Star team.
No matter how the teams are picked – fan vote, player vote, computer formula – the selection process will be flawed. We’re up to 79 All-Stars, and Juan Soto isn’t one of them. Whatever you think of the $765 million man and his desire for an additional $100,000 All-Star bonus – “it’s a lot of money on the table if I make it” – that’s a ridiculous outcome.
Still, when the Phillies’ Nick Castellanos said the game is “turning into the Savannah Bananas,” that’s on the players, too. And on the clubs that discourage pitchers in particular from participating, as if they do such a great job keeping them healthy. The league can apply only so much pressure. Heaven forbid an All-Star gets injured because the league insisted he play.
The six Saturday starters who bowed out – the NL’s Zack Wheeler and Matthew Boyd and AL’s Garrett Crochet, Jacob deGrom, Max Fried and Yusei Kikuchi – all had the same idea, to prepare for the second half. Again, perfectly understandable. But four Sunday starters – Hunter Brown, Robbie Ray, Freddy Peralta and Yoshinobu Yamamoto – also needed to be replaced – as well as the injured Chris Sale.
So, of the original 24 pitchers named to the teams, only 13 will be on the active All-Star rosters. And Sánchez, who ranks fourth in the NL in ERA but was not one of eight starting pitchers elected by his players or selected by the league, was shafted because he pitched Sunday.
According to the CBA, a player only can be named a replacement if he is able to perform in the game. The league contacted the Phillies about Sánchez’s availability and would have named him to the team if he pitched earlier in the week. Therefore, he should be an All-Star – and the Phillies, at least, recognized him as such, awarding him his $50,000 All-Star bonus.
Suarez was a bit trickier – he declined the opportunity to pitch. But the league, by extending him an invitation, essentially recognized him as worthy. And if Suarez was concerned about the possible effects on him physically, the way a number of the actual selections were, why shouldn’t he also be designated an All-Star? (Suarez’s contract did not include an All-Star bonus; he is on a one-year deal negotiated through arbitration, while Sánchez is in the first year of a four-year extension).
Sánchez, who made the team last year, said the distinction meant little to him, that all he needed was for his team to view him as an All-Star. But as his career evolves, he might see things differently. Players are defined in part by how many times they make an All-Star team. The league gives a special gift and recognition to players attending their fifth, 10th or 15th All-Star Game.
The accolade, though, keeps getting diminished. All the withdrawals force the league to hand out All-Star berths like lollipops at a five-year-old’s birthday party. And if players feel selections like Misiorowski’s further cheapen the honor, as some of the Phillies said, it might lead to even less participation.
But, as Cora said, the best of the best need to play.
Perhaps pitchers would feel a greater responsibility to throw if they were part of the fan vote. Only one of the 18 elected position players will miss the game – Cleveland Guardians third baseman José Ramírez, who has dealt with nagging injuries all season.
Or, perhaps the league needs to raise the stakes. Not by going back to the “This Time It Counts” format that determined homefield advantage for the World Series. No, by providing players more of an incentive to participate. In other words, offering them more money.
Members of the winning team each receive $25,000, in addition to any bonus specified in their contract. All players also get a $1,000 stipend, six complimentary tickets to the Home Run Derby and All-Star Game, plus first-class airfare and accommodations for themselves and two guests. They also receive a gift from the player’s league, applicable in-season meal and tip allowance for three days and merchandise made available by the league’s business partners.
Sounds like a decent enough deal, but some players don’t seem to be moved. Well, the league and union need to find a way to move them, financially or otherwise, and make the All-Star Game as compelling a showcase as possible.
Those who want to complain about Misiorowski’s selection are not necessarily off base. But remember, “the Miz” will only be in Atlanta because others chose not to play.
(Top photo of Jacob Misiorowski: Sarah Stier/Getty Images)
