Sure, they don’t make snubs like they did back in the day.
With 64 players on the first draft of Major League Baseball’s All-Star Game rosters, and a half-dozen or more soon to come as injury replacements, whining about roster omissions just can’t measure up in this era of the oddly aggrieved.
Still, sometimes the formula doesn’t work in the favor of the game’s greatest players, particularly with the X factors of fan voting, the timing of player voting and the stipulation that all 30 teams – yep, even those in the Mountain time zone and the South Side of Chicago – are represented.
With that, we take a look at a half-dozen players omitted from the July 6 roster drop, yet may find themselves summoned to the Atlanta suburbs come July 15:
Juan Soto, OF, Mets
Money can’t necessarily buy happiness, and now we know it can’t ensure All-Star spots, either. Soto, signed to a record $765 million contract in December, got off to a predictably slow start as he reacclimated to the National League and joined a new lineup.
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But look at him now: A .396 OBP (second in the NL, fourth in the majors), 21 home runs and a .904 OPS (seventh in the NL). Put those numbers next to another player and you’d say, “Should be an All-Star.” Just because they’re not quite Sotoesque doesn’t mean the man doesn’t deserve his fifth Al-Star appearance. And hey, the viewing public does watch this game to, you know, see the stars play.
Michael Busch, 1B, Cubs
Sometimes it really does come down to timing. Had Busch not waited until the Fourth of July to drop a three-homer game on Chicago’s archrivals, he might have scored higher in the player or fan voting. Alas, his .939 OPS (fourth NL, seventh in the majors) and 18 home runs will be free to go fishing next week.
The democratization of All-Star voting – thanks largely to online balloting, as opposed to who draws the most fans – is generally a good thing. Yet the Cubs and their 53-36 record – just shy of the Dodgers for best in the NL – are strangely underrepresented with just three selections. Slugging outfielder Seiya Suzuki also has a strong case, but the Cubs will have to make do with the very deserving Pete Crow-Armstrong, Kyle Tucker and Matthew Boyd.
Cristopher Sanchez, LHP, Phillies
This would have been back-to-back All-Star nods for Sanchez, and deservedly so. He ranks seventh in the NL with a 2.68 ERA and has given up just seven home runs, his 0.62 home runs per nine ranking fifth. He’s also in the top 10 in strikeouts per nine innings.
While the 6-foot-6 left-hander’s strikeout total (108 in 100 innings) pales a bit compared to some electees, the Phillies are 9-2 in the 11 starts in which he’s completed at least six innings, and 13-4 in all his outings. Perhaps he’ll be the first one to hear his phone ring when Chris Sale (rib fracture) is declared out due to injury.
Trevor Megill, RHP, Brewers
In this day and age of nasty stuff and bullpen hyper-specialization, it’s rare when a capital-C closer is viewed as a snub. Yet Megill has been the busiest and perhaps best of them in the NL so far.
He’s converted 20 of 23 opportunities, an 87% rate that’s second only to the Mets’ Edwin Diaz among relievers with at least 13 saves. More notably, the Brewers have been one of the game’s best teams and stories all season and have just one All-Star – starter Freddy Peralta – to show for it. A reliever’s life is always volatile and there’s no guarantee Megill has a season like this going forward. Perhaps he’ll get a just reward in coming days.
Junior Caminero, 3B, Rays
This one’s fairly shocking, and more the product of positional glut than anything. The timeless Jose Ramirez won fan voting and was joined by player’s vote winner Alex Bregman, both deserving recipients. But Caminero has more than exceeded the breakout year expected of him, with 21 home runs and an .809 OPS.
He’s probably a little more deserving than Rays teammate Brandon Lowe, who got a reserve nod at second base with 19 homers and an .813 OPS. Caminero’s .301 OPS didn’t do him any favors, but it’s hard to argue with 40 extra-base hits and a .508 slugging percentage before the All-Star break.
Framber Valdez, LHP, Astros
Valdez should get some measure of revenge come the winter, when he may receive the largest free agent contract among pitchers. For now, his resume speaks pretty well on his behalf: 115 strikeouts in 115 innings, a 2.90 ERA, a 1.15 WHIP. But man, the AL pitching field is so loaded, Valdez’s ERA is good for just 11th in the league, and eight of the 10 arms before him got selected. Valdez has one of the top overall profiles when you combine innings pitched, strikeout rate and ERA, but this is a tough crowd to stand out in.
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