The starters for the 2023 All-Star Game were already announced earlier this week, and today the league revealed the reserve selections and the pitching staffs for the National League and American League teams. Fan balloting determined the game’s starters, while the reserves and pitchers were picked by a combination of the player ballot and selections from the league office.
This won’t be the final list of players involved, as some more substitutions will be announced later for players who are injured or who have opted not to participate. Every team must have at least one player represented at the Midsummer Classic, and the starting pitchers for the game will be announced on July 10.
Of note, Shohei Ohtani will be in the game as both a DH and as a pitcher for the third consecutive season. The Braves led all teams with eight All-Stars, while the Rangers weren’t far behind with six players chosen. This year’s All-Star Game takes place in Seattle on July 11.
National League
- Catcher: Sean Murphy, Braves
- First Base: Freddie Freeman, Dodgers
- Second Base: Luis Arraez, Marlins
- Third Base: Nolan Arenado, Cardinals
- Shortstop: Orlando Arcia, Braves
- Outfield: Ronald Acuña Jr., Braves
- Outfield: Corbin Carroll, Diamondbacks
- Outfield: Mookie Betts, Dodgers
- Designated Hitter: J.D. Martinez, Dodgers
- Pitchers: Alexis Diaz/Reds, Camilo Doval/Giants, Bryce Elder/Braves, Zac Gallen/Diamondbacks, Josiah Gray/Nationals, Josh Hader/Padres, Mitch Keller/Pirates, Clayton Kershaw/Dodgers, Justin Steele/Cubs, Spencer Strider/Braves, Marcus Stroman/Cubs, Devin Williams/Brewers
- Position Players: Ozzie Albies/Braves, Pete Alonso/Mets, Nick Castellanos/Phillies, Elias Diaz/Rockies, Lourdes Gurriel Jr./Diamondbacks, Matt Olson/Braves, Austin Riley/Braves, Will Smith/Dodgers, Jorge Soler/Marlins, Juan Soto/Padres, Dansby Swanson/Cubs
American League
- Catcher: Jonah Heim, Rangers
- First Base: Yandy Díaz, Rays
- Second Base: Marcus Semien, Rangers
- Third Base: Josh Jung, Rangers
- Shortstop: Corey Seager, Rangers
- Outfield: Randy Arozarena, Rays
- Outfield: Mike Trout, Angels
- Outfield: Aaron Judge, Yankees
- Designated Hitter: Shohei Ohtani, Angels
- Pitchers: Felix Bautista/Orioles, Yennier Cano/Orioles, Emmanuel Clase/Guardians, Luis Castillo/Mariners, Gerrit Cole/Yankees, Nathan Eovaldi/Rangers, Kevin Gausman/Blue Jays, Sonny Gray/Twins, Kenley Jansen/Red Sox, Michael Lorenzen/Tigers, Shane McClanahan/Rays, Shohei Ohtani/Angels, Framber Valdez/Astros
- Position Players: Yordan Alvarez/Astros, Bo Bichette/Blue Jays, Adolis Garcia/Rangers, Vladimir Guerrero Jr./Blue Jays, Austin Hays/Orioles, Whit Merrifield/Blue Jays, Salvador Perez/Royals, Jose Ramirez/Guardians, Luis Robert Jr./White Sox, Brent Rooker/Athletics, Adley Rutschman/Orioles
The fact that the A’s have a part time DH in a horrible slump as their all-star representative should be enough evidence that every team doesn’t have to be represented. Not everyone should get a trophy in the Big Leagues.
The All-Star game is an inclusive event. No team should be left out. No parent should have to explain to a kid why the hometown squad wasn’t invited.
Whit merryfield cmon
This is sarcasm, right?
This is a joke right? If you’re home team is awful and no one deserves to go, then your team should not have an All Star.
It’s an exhibition to promote the game. Every team is represented. Don’t overthink it or overvalue it.
Shawn, let’s hope you never have kids. And if you do happen to lose your incel flavor and cause a seed to sprout, let’s hope she makes the right decision. Lose the grump, chump.
If it was really about whether players deserve to go, such a large number of those invited wouldn’t be decided by fan vote.
Harsh.
Extend the roster even further and outside of the home team’s players, everyone else understands they may not get in. it’s not fair though for a player to not make it because another team “had’ to be represented.
When fans can stuff the ballot box to vote their team’s players in over those more deserving, it’s time to take the fans’ vote away. The league wonders why no one watches anymore? Too many non-deservibg players, no longer laying for WS home advantage and most importantly, interleague playing and free agency have ruined the AL vs NL intrigue of years past.
Don’t overvalue it, exactly. It’s an All-Star game played in the middle of the season. A guy who “deserves” it could still suck the rest of the way and not actually have an “All-Star” year. It’s meaningless, just for fun.
Agreed. After all, it’s called the “All Star Game,” not the “All Teams Game.”
Why even keep score?
No ones feelings should be hurt
AL=0
NL=0
Now we can all breathe easier
Are you kidding me pal? Daddy would whoop me with a switch if I didn’t run out a ground ball. These kids today are entitled punks. Needs to be more bean balls for all these slow home run trots. Would never catch a real gamer like David Eckstein walking around the bases
@ Afrench considering Eckstien had a whole 35 career homeruns, odds are at any given game you would not catch him making any HR trips around the bases b it walking, trotting, crawling, sprinting….
Esteury Ruiz may have been a better representative for the A’s.
42 SBs. and an average (so far) over .250. I agree. And as a rookie with speed he adds something different. But Rooker did look like the choice a month ago. Otherwise, it is impossible to find a worthy Athletic. Meanwhile, A;s fans can look over at the NL roster and see Matt Olson and Sean Murphy and wonder why.
There are a lot of ignorant people in here. The major league players were given an opportunity to select one player for the All-Star game. The American league players chose Brent Rooker of Oakland. That says a lot about what American league players think of Brent Rooker.
I’m sure many A’s fans will be tuning in to catch Rooker’s pinch hit 4-pitch strikeout in extras.
You never know, accumulated statistics mean nothing during real time.
Brent Rooker was selected by American league players to the position of designated hitter. He will be sharing that position with Ohtani. He will probably get two at bats.
This is where the NFL gets it right with Pro Bowl rosters, losing teams are not honored with Pro Bowlers
And no one watches the Pro Bowl. Do the math.
Tatis is probably the most obvious snub but it is clear that he wasn’t making it this year no matter what.
Red Sox got their pity pick via Jansen. I can think of others that make more sense though there too.
they might have picked the wrong guy from Boston but Yoshida certainly should have made it so again your vitriol is misplaced.
Verdugo
Not really acell…
First, these guys were voted on by the fans, balance picked by the players/coaching staff.
Yoshida on defense has been bad.
DRS -5, ARM-.6, rngr -.1, errr -.2, UZR -.9, UZR/150 -3, OAA -4, RAA -3
There’s not a positive defensive metric for him on fangraphs. And, when you play a field position, defense matters too. And his offense is not so overwhelming to offset being below average in every single defensive metric.
Yoshida had no place on an all star roster, there are more deserving players at his positon.
He’s not a terrible player, but, they got it right not voting him in as an all star so far. If too many other guys end up hurt or pull out? Maybe they dip down to players of his level. But he isn’t cream of the crop.
Again more misplaced vitriol. His offensive numbers more than justify his place on the all star team. Defense matters for the all star game but not to the extend you’re making it out to be. I’m sure you’d have grasped at whatever you could to not justify him or others not being there. that’s fine but still not a great argument.
Verdugo deserved it even more than yoshida imo
An All Star is supposed to have a glove too….if Yoshida is an average at best defensive player and there is amore deserving offensive/defensive player, he shouldn’t be elected.
Well, let’s look and see:
Yoshida: 279 AB led to .305 BA, 17 2B, 2 3B, 9HR, 41R, 41RBI. 4 SB, Only 1.3 WAR.
Let’s look at the starting OF:
Arozarena: 289 AB, .284 avg, 9 2b, 1 3b, 15 HR, 51R, 57 RBI, 9 SB, 2.8 WAR
Trout: 296 AB, .260avg, 14 2b, 1 3b, 17 HR, 53 R, 42 RBI, 2 SB, 2.8 WAR
Judge: 175 AB, .291 avg, 10 2B, 19 HR, 42R, 40RBI, 3 SB, 2.3 WAR
Alternates:
Rooker: (A’s only representative, listed DH/LF)
Hays: 278 AB, .313BA, 22 2B, 2 3B, 8 HR, 42R, 34 RBI, 2 SB, 2.1 WAR
Alvarez: 202 AB, .277BA, 12 2B, 17HR, 41R, 55RBI, 2.0 WAR
Garcia: 317 AB, .262 BA, 18 2B, 20HR, 61R, 66RBI, 6 SB, 3.0 WAR
So, aside from OAK getting their one freebie as an alternate DH who also is a LF, which you can’t touch, who did Yoshida outshine so spectacularly they should be bumped?
The answer is nobody.
Be objective Accel. Not every player which every fan base has who are players who they like is among the best of the best deserving of an all star nod. WAR comparatively backs up his not being included.
Maybe he slips into someone else’s slot, but, the voters were right to leave him off initially.
I’m being objective. You’re clearly not .I’m not saying he earned a starting spot thats moving the goal posts on your argument. He certainly deserved to make the team. There is a difference.
Hayes numbers aren’t all that dissimilar to Yoshida’s and in many of those counting stats they’re actually better.
Amd yet, Hays has almost twice the WAR. That means he’s doing better all around as a player. If your argument is Yoshi is about the same or slightly better on some counting stats offensively, but lacks even one positive defensive stat, guess who is better?
The guy who plays better defense. And that’s not Yoshi.
Hays has +4DRS, +.5 arm, +1.3rgrr, +.7errr, +2.5 UZR, and +5.1 UZR/150.
Again. Be objective.
If you say he ‘deserves to be on the team’s needs to be better than someone else he needs to replace. You can’t have 60 mam all star rosters of ‘deserving players’… no goal posts were moved. If he ‘deserves’ to be there, it means he has a better claim.
You haven’t proven that.
“An all-star is supposed to have a glove too”… uh……. you ever heard of the DH? You can Google it.
Comrade, unfortunately, nobody was discussing the DH position with regard to that comment. If you read the context, it was with regard to a homer/front-office shill feeling slighted that the big ticket acquisition didn’t make the all-star team outright based on merit, and, only has a chance, and maybe at that, of slipping in as a replacement player due to others backing out.
again: you’re not being objective. I said his stats were worthy of being on an all star team. you bringing up defensive stats to try and make your argument and I’m saying Yoshida as good if not better offensively which is more meaningful especially for an all star game.. hanging your hat on defensive statistics to make your argument is grasping at straws.
Furthermore there is a DH spot which if you’re that hung up about his defensive metrics which again he’d be worthy of.
no GA sox fan. it’s about a bitter malcontent jaded fan who let’s his hatred of the front office cloud almost every post they (you) make and fails to acknowledge that bias when making comments.. I don’t think Verdugo is worth of a spot as some have argued. nor do I think Jansen was (as I said earlier).
I need to stop giving you more credit as I thought you were fairly astute but not everyone that disagrees with your world view is a shill for anyone.
t
So, now you argue Yoshida would be a better DH than the other DHs on the all star roster?
HINT: the all star roster isn’t as dysfunctional as a bloom team roster where over 1/3 of your position players are really just a DH.
Ohtani slaughters Yoshida, blows him out of the water at DH. I’m not even willing to dignify your claim Yoshi deserves to serve as an all-star at DH and bump him with a response.
So let’s move on.
Alvarez we already covered. Bichette is a SS. Garcia we covered. Guerrero is a 1B. Hays we covered. Merrifield is a 2B. Perez is a C. Ramirez is a 3B.
Robert has 312 ab, .276 avg, 21 2b, 24 hr, 59r, 46 rbi, 7 sb, and 4.0 WAR. He blows away Yoshi.
Rooker we covered, and Rutschman is a C.
So again, no room at the inn. Yoshi not good enough to displace anyone, other than the idea of wanting to bump rooker. Problem there is, rockers slot need to be replaced by some other A, since none of their other position players have been good enough to bump another incumbent to give the slot over.
Rational thought and the realities of roster construction, competently done in a non-bloom manner mean you don’t just pick a bunch of dh types to play out of position.
Your claims Yoshi is deserving of an all star nod outright, and not as a potential replacement, falls flat because he wasn’t good enough to earn it compared to his competition. It’s like saying every Olympic athlete was medal-worthy. No. Only those who ranked with the 3 best results are. Same here. Only those who were better than the others in the position played are ‘worthy’ within the rules
Again in order to make your comment you have to try and burry bloom even in a post that has nothing to do with any decision of his. when I did I say he deserved to be the starter or make it over any of the starters? Never. Furthermore If have to make your argument by not sticking to the facts, moving goalposts around several times and bashing your favorite punching bag in bloom then it’s not a very strong one. I don’t need to prove my bonafides as a fan by bashing bloom all the time. Just when he deserves it.
I said Yoshida was worthy of a spot more so than Jansen. I do think he were deserving of making it out right if that’s the decision that was made. There were other “token options” to chose from on the Sox. I think you’d strain credulity and rationality (although you’ve done that before) if you could make any kind of an argument for any of the A’s players.
unfortunately Much like Afghanistan all your arguments are bombed out and depleted.
I use my eyes and ears but if you value WAR (I don’t as there are many intangibles not covered), Verdugo per Baseball Reference has a 2.7 war. Anyone who has looked at Boston knows how hard Fenway RF is and he’s played extremely well. Also, his throws are usually spot on. He saved the last two games with perfect throws. He may still get in as an injury replacement but he’s deserving to have been selected already.
Acell, goal posts have never moved.
12 pitchers get selected in the AL. 12 pitchers get selected in the NL.
Ohtani was selected as a DH. So he’s nominally also pitcher, but takes up the DH starter slot because, shocker, he was rightfully voted in as the starting DH.
If you remove Jansen, a pitcher, you need to replace him with…. a pitcher.
NOT A GLORIFIED DH who is a poor fielder. Unless you’re now saying Yoshi should be a relief pitcher for the AL squad, which is even more ridiculous.
So, if you want Yoshi in as a DH or a LF, you must remove a position player from the AL roster. So tell us who, knowing that the As only rep can’t be deleted, and that Yoshi can only be a DH or an OF’er. So you can’t remove the backup 3B, SS, 2B, 1B, or C.
What is so hard about that for you to comprehend? You can’t replace Jansen with Yoshida, Devers, or any other Red Sox glorified DH that takes the field due to the ineptitude of roster construction that put them playing somewhere beyond their skill set.
If Yoshida were to simply play a little better, hit a few more HRs like a corner OF should instead of cheap fenway doubles, maybe he could EARN his way in – even the players didn’t vote him in. He may well get in as an alternate due to injuries. But he didn’t get snubbed either.
The goal posts have moved several time.s Now you’re being pedantic by implying that I suggested Yoshida was a relief pitcher or that I said he was snubbed. I never said either of those things I tried to make it as simple as possible so that even you could understand. There are other worthy candidates to consider for the Red Sox spot unlike Oakland. If you have to stretch and strain to come up with things like “cheap Fenway doubles” to make your argument or bring up roster construction again it’s not a good one.
according to many experts that follow the team both Yoshida and Verdugo were worthy of a spot. No matter how badly you want to diminish their numbers/stats/defense etc to an extreme point doesn’t mean they didn’t deserve a spot.
Once again, goal posts never moved, and once again, you refuse to answer.
Acell, tell us, if he is so deserving, in your mind Yoshi takes WHO’S POSITION PLAYER SPOT?
Just because you deny something does;t mean it isn’t true. you clearly are moving the goal posts.
and I answered your question before. Perhaps you missed it because you got tired from moving the goal posts around on your argument.
No, you didn’t. Name an all star OF or DH who was worse than Yoshida, offensively AND defensively, to where Yoshi was robbed in your opinion.
Problem is, there isn’t one unless you try removing the As only player which is required to have a slot for someone. And they don’t have a pitcher more deserving to take Bostons pity spot Jansen got (even though, as I said, I’d prefer to see Martin in the role, the players did vote.
yes I did after you brought up a list of player and I suggested one but I’m not going to let you keep changing the terms of the argument again. Other players besides Jansen are as or more worthy than Jansen to get the spot no matter how much you want to deride it. Yoshida was one of them, other experts who follow the team regularly have said Verdugo and you brought up Martin so it’s not really pitty spot is it. That’s the point of the discussion.. Stop letting your hatred for the front office allow you to be such a tool
Has nothing to do with front office hatred, and, pity spot on the roster is correct.
It’s just like you have hall-of-famers, and, good players that aren’t HOF worthy. Difference here is the rules say SOMEONE from Boston has to go. Doesn’t mean those guys are better than the other players already headed there.
Use the lump on your shoulders to evaluate for yourself based on facts, don’t blindly follow what others say like a lemming. They engage in something called SPIN, and arent necessarily being neutral themselves. Yoshida is NOT a top 6 in the AL outfielder. Or even a Top 8. And that’s what the AS team ought to be.
You’ve got to take everything into account – offense, defense, adjust for park related boosts, etc.
Martin vs Jansen has some better peripherals, but, doesn’t have the sexy saves numbers. But as I said before, there really isn’t a position player on Boston that has put up numbers making them deserving of an outright nod. Maybe an alternate for Verdugo, but not outright. Boston has some decent pitchers, better than their position players certainly when comparing to the peers, so, that’s where the pity selection ought to come from for roster construction to make the best AL team.
You attempt to link my dislike of bloom to any criticism of anything redsox, which, simply isn’t the case.
Really, the fact that the players and coaches weren’t picking Red Sox position players in their voting should be proof positive of unbiased appraisal of how guys have been doing this season.
Gasoxfan- verdugo statistically is a top 6-8 outfielder this year though, and with judge, Alvarez and now trout’s injuries one of them is likely to make it as a replacement
in this case your dislike of bloom criticism is valid if you think the only reason a red sox player is getting picked is for a pity spot
I suspect they’ll get another player with Judge and Alvarez unavailable.
Probably one of Verdugo or Yoshida because their outfielders.
Rooker was an All Star player in April, since then – not so much.
Can’t say that anymore. As of right now he is an All Star player no matter what anyone thinks.
It’s not about giving out trophies so much as giving fans a representative for their team. This is an inclusive event for all of MLB.
Ikr. At least have a league leader in there (Esteury Ruiz 42 stolen bases)
Gumby, I couldn’t agree more with you. Shaking my head at people whining about inclusiveness. Sometimes exclusivity is better. To be an All-Star is exclusive.
ALL-STARS
NOT
ALL-TEAMS
This is America where we have a Senate where every state gets equal representation. An in the House, every state is still represented by population grade. So consider Oakland much like Wyoming. They might not have many people, but they are still one of the United States of America. Just like Oakland is still one of the teams in Major League Baseball.
Oakland’s fans already know they are not going to the postseason and they are likely going to lose the team altogether soon. Don’t take away their All Star too.
> This is America where we have
> a Senate where every state gets
> equal representation.
hifew,
And no one wants to sit through a meeting of the Senate. I think they televise that on C-SPAN. We were talking about baseball, right?
Congress usually has speech timers, just like MLB.
hiflew is correct. I remember as a little kid when my team sucked. Having that single rep on the AS team was meaningful. It’s a tradition and a good one.
I like this. It’s also about advertising in each market for the event, and continued promotion of the game to grow it. It’s all about as many eyeballs as possible in every market.
No. Oakland punted this season. They didn’t acquire any decent players. They traded all of their good players. And they signed players for money that were probably not worth it to raise their budget, spend the revenue sharing money, appease the other owners, all for an eventual move to Las Vegas.
That sort of team does not deserve representation in an all-star event by default. If one of their players earns it based on merit, then fine. No problems here. This team is a joke and it is not something that the sport should encourage or acknowledge by default.
Each team in baseball should be trying their best to win every season. I don’t know what the endgame in Oakland is, aside from moving to Las Vegas, but the sport needs to correct this sort of behavior. It is damaging to the game.
If you don’t like it, don’t watch. The game is going to happen in this fashion whether you like it or not. If Brent Rooker appearing as a pinch hitter in the 8th inning is really going to destroy your Tuesday night, then by all means feel free to sit this one out.
Everyone gets a participation trophy.
Sigh……..
You do realize it’s the parents forcing the trophies on the kids….so why do you turn around and blame the kids?
Sigh….
it’s always hilarious when people of a certain generation blame “participation trophies” as if the people getting them were giving them to themselves
You do realize that the “every team is represented” policy has been in place since the beginning of the All Star Game in 1933. This is not a “hippie policy” or a ” millennial problem.” It is the exact same policy as when you grew up. The 1962 Mets, the worst team in modern history had an AS representative too. I just don’t get why it bothers people so much.
Tigers once sent Robert Fick to the all-star game. As a Tiger fan, I felt shame. But Fick heroically drove in the tying run off the bench, late in the game. In extras, both teams ran out of relievers, leading to the notorious tied all-star game. So we can thank Robert for the idiotic home-field advantage rule that was tied to the all-star game for years. He hit 270 w/ 17 HRs that year…
At least that’s expected with the A’s being a rebuilding small market team. What’s the Red Sox’ excuse with only Jansen a 37 year old with fading perephrials as their only All star representative? Bloom has got to go!
Boxscore- some of that has to do with apathy and disinterest in this team by much of red sox nation. The fan voting lagged because Bloom built a clunker and the fans saw it coming.
What’s more fun? To watch the BoSox struggle, or the Mets??? Tough call!
It’s about engaging every fan base in all-star weekend. Being that it’s an exhibition, and the only time that the whole league—and all the fan bases, effectively—comes together, it makes sense. And it’s harmless.
He was elected by the player vote,
Michael Lorenzen.
Wait.
Michael Lorenzen?
I agree. I was totally surprised. Better tigers to be on the team.
Foley should have been the pick.
Yup, and that’s ^^^ coming from an actual Tigers fan!
Maybe now Detroit gets to raise the asking price to acquire their All-star starting pitcher.
Hays had “all star snub” written all over him. Glad he made it
They really tried to sneak Whit Merrifield in there and thought we wouldn’t notice
Shohei and judge playing 2 games have better offense numbers then wit full first half stats
I was amazed that Whit came in second in the voting. I’m a Jays fan, and I barely remember this guy exists. All-star voting has always been a mix of who’s had the best career, who’s having the best year, and who’s the most popular—Whit is, as usual, 0-for-3.
The best the Rockies could send was Elias Diaz??? This “every team must have an all star” bs is literally a joke…
He’s had a good year
He’s been alright. Though Ryan McMahon is having an underrated season
McMahon had a GREAT month long stretch, but the first month and a half of the year, he was awful offensively. He has had a great defensive year once Bud Black remembered he was a third baseman and not a second baseman.
> Elias Diaz???
He founded the Elias sports bureau, which helped get him picked.
esb.com/
Diaz is leading NL catchers in hits and is 2nd in average and RBIs and 3rd in OPS. Who do you think is better?
Or perhaps you just don’t watch Rockies games and have no idea what is going on there aside from the handful of games your team plays them.
Wait you WILLINGLY watch Rockies games?
Yes I do. Problem with that?
Why would you do that to yourself?
Love who you love no matter what anyone else thinks.
Respect
Whit Merrifield with a .710 OPS?
He had better years with the Royals when he wasn’t an All Star
Maybe Whit will set a record for the lowest OPS for a player named to the All-Star team. His OPS is actually .700 at the moment after going 0-4 today.
In recent memory, perhaps, but Trevino made it, and guys before were awful at SS/C/2nd etc.
Josiah gray in over lane Thomas is an absolute joke
while your argument is sound, but Lane was challenged by a lot of OFs where SPs do not have much depth
So basically it gonna be the Braves vs. the Rangers lol
Patrick Bailey deserves it more than Diaz.. dude can’t even hold a runner
1 per team
Where’s devers???
In Boston
He has the offensive numbers.
Home where he belongs. His defense is so bad he should NEVER be an all star as a 3b. If he wanted to be a dh? Maybe.
Then add all the former Braves with Freddie, Swanson, Soler and even Kevin Gausman for the AL
Scam Verdugo, Devers or Yoshida aren’t here
Who are you taking out for them?
Kenley and Merrifield
That’s fair enough. Although they probably wanted a arm so that’s why Kenley got the nod.
Even Chris Martin was better than Kenley
I thought Carlos Estevez should have been an all-star. 20 for 20 in save opportunities and a sub 2 ERA.
No question. 21 straight saves and a sub 2 ERA.
Yup. Just got his 21st save a few minutes ago.
Winning
When its a player vote, the peripherals matter more than the baseball card stats unfortunately.
1.28WHIP, 3.8FIP
Players vote for who they fear. That said Clase shouldn’t be in, so arguments for Estevez and Duran are not unheard of.
As a Guardians fan I agree that Estevez should be in over Clase (and I said this before last night). Estevez has been outstanding this year
I understand some of the questionable selections, as they want to ensure every team has a representative.
But can someone attempt to justify the inclusion of Strider and Merrifield for me?
Strider has the big strikeout #s and a low FIP. I cannot for the life of me justify Whit Merrifield.
I think the more concerning part is that the players (and Manfred) choose the reserves and come up with Merrifield, Josiah Gray, Michael Lorenzen, Kenley Jansen, etc.
Strider as in Spencer Strider? Did you mean to type someone else’s name?
He’s one of the top pitchers in the NL, there’s no question he deserves it. Do you have a reason why you think he shouldn’t be included?
If I was going to question a Braves selection here it would be Austin Riley, he’s been solid but there are probably better choices since they have so many guys already.
I probably should’ve looked into Strider a bit more. I wouldn’t say he’s been spectacular by any means, but the next-best candidates are probably only equally deserving (if that), so he’s borderline IMO. I stand corrected.
I agree on Riley and would add Swanson to the list as well
I would say that leading the league in strikeouts by almost 40 ks over the next guy is pretty spectacular IMO (he has 155 over 98 or so innings, next closest is Mitch Keller with 118). He’s on pace for almost 300 k’s which hasn’t happened since 2002 with Curt Schilling and Randy Johnson if Google wasn’t lying to me. Also leads the NL in xFIP.
Swanson actually leads the NL in fWAR for shortstops so he is absolutely deserving of his spot as well.
NL players who shouldn’t have gotten in: Castellanos, Gurriel, Alonso, Gray, Riley, Williams.
I really should not have commented; I’m not with it today.
Regarding the NL players that shouldn’t have gotten in, consider that the likes of Castellanos, Alonso, Gray, and Williams are the lone representatives for their teams, so they got in by default. Although, it might have made more sense to name Nimmo and Thomas All-stars in lieu of Alonso and Gray, respectively
Swanson is on the list.
Swanson is on the All Star Team.
I’m sorry but multiple people have had 300 strikeout seasons since Curt Schilling and Randy Johnson. Off the top of my head without looking it up I can tell you that Verlander, Kershaw, Scherzer and Cole have all had 300 strikeout seasons during their careers.
All good, we’re all here to discuss the sport we love. Totally agree that Nimmo and Thomas are more deserving. Have a good rest of your night.
Thanks, yes I researched a little more and my initial Google search did fail me. Verlander, Scherzer, Cole, Sale, and Kershaw have all done it once in their careers. Point still stands that it’s a pretty special accomplishment if Strider manages to pull it off.
TBH I was kinda surprised when Riley was named an all-star, BUT then when I looked at the other NL thirdbasemen and also remembered how the reserves are chosen, it is little wonder given his past excellence that Riley is perceived as a superior choice by his peers.
Bednar should get in if someone can’t go.
Bednar should have been in from the start
Only if it’s over Keller. Every other pitcher seems as worthy or more so than Bednar. Starters are always more appealing than relievers.
Michael Lorenzen is a much worse pick than Rooker. He was at least a leading hitter in the league for a decent chunk of the year.
I can’t remember the last time my O’s sent 4 guys to the All Star game lol
Bednar should be in there. Cutch would be a great pick too.
Michael freakin’ Lorenzen? An all-star? How about Riley Greene or Alex Lange or a hot dog vendor at Comerica? Lorenzen is an embarrassment.
Greene hasn’t played enough. Lange had a bad June and too many walks. Jason Foley should have been the guy, or even Erod who has been hurt.
Nico Hoerner is quietly having a very solid year. I won’t be surprised if he’s a multiple time all- star before he’s done.
Patrick Bailey is quickly making a name for himself in MLB. I see him making many All Star games in the near future.
Curious what the Giants do with Joey Bart?
Didn’t he sing “Easy Lover” with Phil Collins? Catchy tune
*Phillip
Joking. Sorry. Poor attempt
Giants will have to move Bart, but he is not making the return very good right now.
but he will run out of options for next year.
Austin Hays? Really?
Austin Hays is awesome. Tune in sometime.
The guy who was leading the AL in BA until last week?
The electric defender?
I hope J.D. Davis gets added. Leads N.L. third baseman in lots of categories. Close to being a snub.
5 Dodgers?! 2Padres, 1 Giant, 1 A’s.
wow.
Giants I guess play as a team without stars and virtual tie with Dodgers and 8 games better than padres and get as much representation as the lowly A’s
For me J.D. Davis should have made it over Riley and Wade should have made it somewhere as he has the highest OBP and the second highest WAR of all 1B (only behind Freeman).
If the Blue Jays had a talentless roster with no other representatives, I could understand Merrifield making it. But they have other (deserving) players that made it, so I can’t find any possible explanation for him getting in
Worst all-star rosters ever.
Really thought Twins reliever Duran would make it
So the Angels have 3 all-star selections?
OF Mike Trout
DH Shohei Ohtani
SP Shohei Ohtani
As a Mariners fan, it’s really embarrassing that Seattle is hosting the All-Star Game yet is only represented by one dude, and one not even voted in. Back in 2001 we had (it seems) a plethora of guys voted in , the year we won 116 games. We were probably over-represented. Anywho, that’s the way the chips fall sometimes, and tbh there is nobody on our team deserving to take anyone’s place anyway.
A’s Ruiz may deserve it more than Rooker — 42 SBs leads league
Agreed. Rooker got off to a hot start but the league has started to figure him out. Ruiz should definitely be the A’s rep at the game. Speed never goes into a slump
Reds, Nationals, Brewers, Phillies, Giants, Mets and Pirates have just 1 representative? Is that a record?
Rockies too
Mariners, Twins, Tigers, Red Sox, White Sox, Royals, and A’s in the AL with only 1 representative. 15 teams with just 1 rep.
Did they give up on parity?
I think a lot of those will change once replacements start being named.
I disagree with Jansen as the Sox rep. Devers, Turner, Yoshida, Verdugo, heck Jarren Duran all would have made more sense
Except none of those were pitchers. Now if you argued Bello, or Martin, or a couple others were more deserving you have a better claim.
It has to be someone who fits the roster construction too
Whit over wander Franco? This is a joke right?
Player vote, Players don’t vote for bad teammates.
He’s young and made a mistake, got punished for it and his team has rallied behind him, but okay, he still deserves a nod over whit any day of the week.
A possible other issue, would be the whole showing off flipping the ball to himself.
Players really did not like that at all.
Performance wise absolutely.
Just because stat wise Franco is a far superior player, obviously his peers (which are part of the selection process for reserves) didn’t perceive his addition as a positive.
Personally i don’t understand Whitfield’s inclusion when the Jays already had a representative, BUT I can certainly understand why a player might think Franco is a minus at this point.
I’d hate to be Lorenzen, I’d feel like such a fraud. Lange, Foley, Cisnero, Erod, Greene and Holton are all more deserving. Do they avoid choosing injured players because they’ll just have to replace them? Because there’s no other justification for choosing Lorenzen over erod
Notable snubs from what I can tell so far
Ketel marte
Wander Franco
Carlos estevez
Josh Naylor
Ryan McMahon
Johan duran
Rafael devers
Esteury Ruiz
Masataka yoshida
Alex verdugo
Lane Thomas
David bednar
Jd Davis
Lamont wade jr
Thairo Estrada
Etc
There could definitely be a case for each and everyone of these players and yet some have cases that mirror their competition by Miles and weren’t picked. This is crazy. As a braves fan I’m stoked we have so much representation, but some of these picks are not a good look.
Paul Goldschmidt
Fernando tatis jr
Matt Chapman
Isaac paredes
Brandon Drury
Spencer steer
Christian walker
Luke raley
Nolan Gorman
Geraldo perdomo
Matt McClain
Francisco lindor
Brandon nimmo
Tj friedl
Josh lowe
Kyle tucker
Ezequiel Duran
Jason Foley
Merrill Kelly
George Kirby
Michael Wacha
Alex Cobb
Jon gray
Zach eflin
So much talent with only a few roster spots, this is crazy. At the same time though like I said some of these names belonged while others actually picked did not. It is what it is though
Nathaniel lowe
Evan Phillips
Bryan Reynolds
Bryan bello
Chris martin
I need to stop I can keep going lol
The message stays the same nonetheless
I would imagine several of those names will end up on teams due to injuries or pitcher rest.
I also don’t think Tatis is eligible since he was suspended. I may be wrong on that though.
I agree, as they should, and I know a lot of the names I listed wouldn’t actually be all stars but most of them could have a case made for them vs some of the people actually selected. It is what it is though.
Definitely a sizeable list, but I’ll just add Ha Song Kim, top ten in position player WAR and might be the best infield defender in baseball. Shame he is getting zero recognition.
You’re right. I literally went stat diving while looking up players who have been having terrific years. How did I forget him? Nonetheless he and many others I listed can definitely have a case made for them to be an all star over some selected.
Kyle tucker
Lucas giolito
Brandon marsh
Jesus luzardo
Nico horner
Eddie rosario
Jake Fraley
And like I’ve repeated myself on this is just stat diving and players that could have a case made for them, not saying they deserve to be all stars, even though some do over some of the ones selected. Some of these players are good offensively but not defensively
Some are average at both but have had good seasons to date, either way this season has been a blast and I look forward to watching the rest of it all the way through and from a personal stand point stoked to hopefully see my braves dominate from here on out. Some definite head scratching snubs and some yeah I can see why they got snubbed. Either way I hope the guys who did get snubbed continue playing great and the ones who didn’t I hope they don’t let up as well. This has been an amazing season as I said and I can’t wait for more baseball!
With the way the hype machine is in overdrive these days it wouldn’t shock me if a petition to have every AL lineup slot filled in with Ohtani begins circulation. Everyone else there just to play defense.
Nathaniel lowe
Evan Phillips
I need to stop I can keep going lol
The message stays the same nonetheless
My bad I meant for that to be a reply to my post
No one knows who he is and no one would care anyway because he’s a Dodger, but Evan Phillips has been one of the most dominant relievers in baseball the last two seasons. And he also has one of the best stories in baseball, for what it’s worth
You have to wonder if a few of these guys are embarrassed about being picked. They know they should not be there except for the every team rule.
Large markets over represented as usual. Should be called all money team instead of all stars.
Then we have the large market fans complain that every team is represented.
Pathetic on all counts.
TOBTTR– Here’s the actual breakdown (market size, team, and number of 2023 All-Star representatives per team):
Large Market 10– Yankees (2), Mets (1), Dodgers (5), Angels (2), Cubs (3), White Sox (1), Phillies (1), Rangers (6), Braves (8), Red Sox (1)
Middle Market 10– Astros (2), Blue Jays (4), Nationals (1), Giants (1), A’s (1), Diamondbacks (3), Mariners (1), Rays (3), Tigers (1), Twins (1)
Small Market 10– Rockies (1), Marlins (2), Guardians (2), Cardinals (1), Pirates (1), Orioles (4), Padres (2), Royals (1), Reds (1), Brewers (1)
For what it’s worth.
I’m almost positive the Giants are actually large market. If the A’s go through with their move to Vegas the Giants will have the largest single media market of any team. Not that it drastically alters your point.
The jays are also a massive market.
Toronto is a mega city and they have all of canada.
Houston and Seattle are large markets too.
Add those to SF and Toronto and the point stands.
There’s an MLB team market breakdown article that I read not too long ago. When I find the link I’ll post it here.
cbssports.com/mlb/news/why-mlb-market-size-isnt-an…
The teams grouped together by market size are listed near the bottom of the article. I’m sure this is subject to opinion (but it’s what I based my post on). If I made a mistake in my interpretation, please feel free to share more thoughts.
The difference between large market and small market in baseball isn’t solely a matter of market size as many large market advocates try to sell but more a matter of the income from their local TV deal, which usually is much more massive than the small markets, even before you include attendance and merchandising. In some cases, it virtually pays player salaries alone.
That was what helped SD. Now that that local TV deal has fallen by the wayside, it will be interesting to see what that team does because MLB will not be subsidizing them for their losses, that’s for sure. Those teams that did not overspend may be in good shape due to the failure of the RSNs. Hopefully no teams will go bankrupt for overspending like the failed Sinclair shell company.
Thanks for your insight.
Seattle is actually a middle market…ranked number 12.
Nolan Gorman should be there!!
Twins traded away Arraez, Rooker, and Cano. Not so smart. And Steer and Wade Jr are on the bubble for replacement all-stars. That would be something: 5 all-stars whom they gave away. Has that ever been done before?
miss the days when a maximum of 2 players per team were put in the game… yes it good to see the popular players I know, but something about 2 per team was always right
Two is too low. But maybe max at three or four per team.
gotta figure 2 gives you 30 players…. per league. that’s more than enough. but I hear ya. regardless two per team should be maximum, this way you truly are getting full representation as well as best of a team… I mean the braves could easily have 8 lol… but imagine how hard it’d be to narrow it down… makes it worth it
This is a redux of the Braves vs Rangers series. The NL won 2 of 3 against the AL last time, so it seems the Braves/NL may win this one for once.
I’m really not interested in the All Star Game since inter-league play started, it’s just not the same.
I don’t know why MLB doesn’t add an extra 2-3 roster spots per team for the ASG every year? If they’re going to have at least 1-player representative for each of the 30-team’s then they should add an extra spot or 2. Bc guy’s like Rooker, Lorenzen, Gray would NOT have made the ASG if the rule weren’t in play. Biggest snub(s) imo have to be:
AL-
C.Estevez-LAA
J.Naylor-CLE
K.Tucker-HOU
NL-
C.Walker/M.Kelly-ARI
D.Bednar-PIT
F.Tatis-SD