Biggest 2015 MLB All-Star Snubs In Each League By Position
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — The rosters for the 2015 MLB All-Star Game were released Monday, and as always, there were some surprising names left off the roster. The game will take place Tuesday at Great American Ballpark in Cincinnati.
Players are voted in mostly by fan voting, so sometimes a player who is putting up All-Star numbers might not necessarily be the most popular player, and therefore might not be selected for the team. The MLB also gives the players 16 of their own selections, as they pick eight pitchers and one backup player for each position on the field, since the starters are selected by fan vote.
The managers of each team, who were managers of the teams who were in the World Series the previous year, also get selections, but they also must ensure that each team is represented by at least one player. It is not uncommon for players of the managers' teams to see an increased chance that they will be selected.
Finally, the fans get one more chance to vote in a player in each league in the final vote.
This list details the biggest All-Star snubs at each position in both leagues.
The voting process certainly is not perfect, but the system has brought more interest to the game, with fans pouring in a record number of votes this year.
This year, Blue Jays third baseman Josh Donaldson set the record for most votes received in a single All-Star game voting period, with 14,090,188, beating the previous record of 11,073,744 held by Josh Hamilton.
This year 620 million votes were cast online, shattering the record of 391 million votes in 2012.
Biggest snubs in the National League
Catcher: Derrick Norris, San Diego Padres
Catchers on the team: Buster Posey (starter), Yadier Molina, Yasmani Grandal
Norris made the AL team last year with the Oakland A's, but despite being second among catchers in the NL in both home runs (11) and RBI (45), Norris was left off the roster in favor of three other catchers. Norris has a slugging percentage of .422, which ranks second for NL catchers, only behind Posey. Meanwhile, Yadier Molina has only 28 RBIs and two home runs but is hitting .289. Molina is widely regarded as the best defensive catcher in the game however, and Norris' 241 average is what probably doomed his chances for being selected to second straight All-Star game.
1st Baseman: Adam Lind, Milwaukee Brewers
1st Basemen on the team: Paul Goldschmidt (starter), Anthony Rizzo, Adrian Gonzalez
Many people probably haven't even heard of Adam Lind, as the 31-year-old spent his first nine years with the Toronto Blue Jays having never made an All-Star team. However, Lind has seemed to find a home in Milwaukee, as he is hitting .296 on the season with 15 home runs and 52 RBI. His .521 slugging percentage ranks fourth among NL first basemen, while his impressive 52 RBI puts him second behind Paul Goldschmidt for NL 1st basemen. Lind is putting up a stellar year but was left off the team despite having a higher batting average, slugging percentage and more RBI's than Chicago's Anthony Rizzo.
2nd Baseman: Kolton Wong, St. Louis Cardinals
2nd Basemen on the team: Dee Gordon (starter), DJ LeMahieu, Joe Panik
Wong is having another great year as he is hitting .282 and leads all NL 2nd basemen with nine home runs. Wong ranks first in slugging percentage (.443) for NL 2nd basemen and also has eight stolen bases on the year, with 37 RBI. The Cardinals have the best record in baseball and Wong has certainly been a part of the reason why.
He has 43 runs, which is only one run behind the NL leader for 2nd basemen, Joe Panik. Speaking of Panik, he is hitting .306 with six home runs and 30 RBI. Is it odd that Panik was selected by his own manager, Bruce Bochy, who is managing the NL team this year? Perhaps. Not to discredit Panik's season or All-Star selection, but it seems Wong was the right choice here, at least offensively. The only excuse for Bochy's selection was fielding, as Wong has racked up nine errors thus far, compared to Panik and LeMahieu's two errors.
3rd Baseman: Maikel Franco, Philadelphia Phillies
3rd Basemen on the team: Todd Frazier (starter), Nolan Arenado, Kris Bryant
The NL is absolutely loaded with third basemen this year. Frazier, Arenado and Bryant are all putting up fantastic seasons. Frazier is hitting .281 with 25 home runs and 55 RBI, Arenado is hitting .279 with 24 home runs and 68 RBI, and Bryant is hitting .275 with 12 home runs and 49 RBI. Arenado/Frazier rank first and second for runs. RBI, and home runs among NL 3rd basemen.
If anyone was snubbed at 3rd base in the National League, however, it was Maikel Franco. Franco is hitting .296 with 10 home runs, 34 RBI and 30 runs in just 50 games played, signifigantly lower than Frazier (80), Arenado (81) and Bryant (74). So in 20 less games than anyone on the All-Star squad, Franco is having an impressive year at 3rd for the Phillies, and will be someone to keep an eye on for next years' game.
Shortstop: Troy Tulowitzki, Colorado Rockies
Shortstops on the team: Jhonny Peralta (starter), Brandon Crawford
This is the only position in the NL that only selected two players for the All-Star game, so naturally someone is going to get snubbed.
Let's compare Tulowitzki's stats to the starter, Jhonny Peralta. Tulowitzki has an average of .320, which leads all shortstops in the major leagues. He also has racked up nine home runs, 45 RBI's, 89 hits, and has a slugging percentage of .486, which also leads all major league shortstops.
Peralta, however, is hitting an admirable .293 with 11 home runs and 42 RBIs. His slugging percentage is .459, which ranks third among NL shortstops, behind Tulowitzki and Crawford. Tulowitzki is one of five nominees in the NL's Final Vote but faces stiff competition in Clayton Kershaw and Johnny Cueto.
Outfielders: Ryan Braun (Milwaukee Brewers), Charlie Blackmon (Colorado Rockies) and Starling Marte (Pittsburgh Pirates)
Outfielders on the team: Bryce Harper (starter), Matt Holliday (starter), Giancarlo Stanton (starter), Andrew McCutchen (starting for injured Stanton), Joc Pederson, Justin Upton and AJ Pollock
All three of these players are putting up All-Star caliber years and were certainly robbed of taking part in the festivities this year in Cincinnati.
Ryan Braun is having a bounce-back year after only hitting 19 home runs and collecting 81 RBIs in the 2014 campaign. This year, he already has 15 home runs and 55 RBI's, with a .272 batting average for the Brewers. Braun is fifth among all NL outfielders with a .488 slugging percentage, trailing only All-Stars Harper, Stanton, McCutchen and Pederson. Perhaps it was the steroids fiasco that prevented Braun from being on the team this year, but his numbers certainly suggest he deserved to make it.
Charlie Blackmon is possibly the biggest All-Star outfielder snub this season. The Rockies young outfielder is quietly hitting .280 with 11 home runs, 39 RBI and 21 stolen bases. He is second in stolen bases among outfielders across the major leagues, only trailing Reds speed demon Billy Hamilton. Blackmon has 88 hits, which is good for 10th in the major leagues for outfielders, and for good measure, he also has a .989 fielding percentage.
Perhaps the smaller market in Colorado led to him not being selected, but regardless, if one of these outfielders gets injured, it should be Blackmon who gets the call to come to Cincinnati.
Starling Marte is having a fantastic year with the Pirates, as the 26-year old is hitting .281 with 13 home runs and 48 RBIs. Marte also has 16 stolen bases and is a stalwart for the Pirates in left field. Marte has tied his career-high in home runs this season before the All-Star break and is on pace to shatter his previous RBI high of 56 in 2014. Marte has phenomenal speed, as he stole 41 bases in 2013 followed up by 30 in 2014. Marte is on pace for a 30-30 season and could be on the verge of breaking out into a superstar.
Starting Pitcher: Clayton Kershaw, Los Angeles Dodgers
Starting Pitchers on the team: Gerrit Cole, Max Scherzer, Zach Greinke, Michael Wacha, Jacob deGrom, Shelby Miller, Madison Bumgarner and A.J. Burnett
Kershaw, the reigning NL MVP and Cy Young Award winner, has a 5-6 record this season, despite a 3.08 ERA and an impressive 5.44 strikeout to walk ratio. He is also tied with American League All-Star Chris Sale for the major league lead in strikeouts, with 147. Kershaw sits in 50th place in the MLB in run support per nine innings with and runs scored per nine innings of 4.34. He has pitched 114 innings on the season but has only received 55 runs from the Dodgers offense while he has been on the mound. His lack of run support is certainly a factor in him only being to tally five wins thus far on the season, and his ERA and strikeout total shows why he is worthy of a spot on the team. Kershaw is also a Final Vote nominee and hopes to make his fifth straight All-Star team.
Relief Pitcher: Jeurys Familia, New York Mets
Relief Pitchers on the team: Trevor Rosenthal, Mark Melancon, Jonathan Papelbon, Francisco Rodriguez and Aroldis Chapman.
Familia has strung together a phenomenal season as the Mets closer, racking up 24 saves with just a 1.12 ERA. Familia is 24 for 26 in save opportunities and may have fallen victim to the "at least one player per team" rule. Papelbon and Rodriguez are the Phillies and Brewers only representatives, respectively.
Papelbon does have a 1.60 ERA but only has 14 saves. Rodriguez has 19 saves with a 1.41 ERA, but both players are more well-known than Familia. and both are former All-Stars. If another member of the Phillies or Brewers had made the team, Jeurys Familia would have almost certainly made an appearance on the NL All-Star roster.
American League All-Star Snubs
Catcher: Brian McCann, New York Yankees
Catchers on the team: Salvador Perez (starter), Russell Martin, Stephen Vogt
Catchers in the American League are having very solid seasons as a whole, as there were plenty of deserving All-Star candidates this season. However, the last man left out of the team had to be Brian McCann, as the Yankees backstop has 13 home runs and 53 RBI's with a 261 batting average and 469 slugging percentage.
Those stats rank him tied for first in home runs for AL catchers, fourth in hits, second in RBIs, third in runs and second in slugging percentage among AL catchers. Perez, Martin and Vogt are all very deserving of spots this year however, and if you factor in the left handed-hitting McCann playing half his games in Yankee Stadium with the short porch in right field, it might explain why he was left of the roster.
1st Baseman: Jose Abreu, Chicago White Sox
1st Basemen on the team: Miguel Cabrera (starter / injured), Albert Pujols (Will start for Cabrera), Prince Fielder, Mark Teixeira
Jose Abreu is in just hist second season but already has a reputation for being one of the best home run hitters in the league. An All-Star last year, Abreu has 14 home runs this year to go along with 45 RBI, and is a lone bright spot in a weak White Sox offense. If pitcher Chris Sale had not been selected, Abreu would have been the White Sox nominee regardless of voting, due to the rules that one representative must be present from each team.
However, Abreu was left off in favor of Mark Teixeira, who is hitting a measly .239 but does have 20 home runs and leads all AL first basemen with 59 RBIs. However, it goes back to the Yankee Stadium discussion, and one must wonder if those numbers are inflated due to the dimensions of his home field. Teixeira is certainly hitting home runs and driving in runs for the Yankees, but Abreu has put together a more well-rounded season thus far.
2nd Baseman: Brian Dozier, Minnesota Twins
2nd Basemen on the team: Jose Altuve (starter), Jason Kipnis
Dozier fell victim to the American League only taking two second basemen on this year's squad but does have a chance to make the team as he is a nominee in the AL's Final Vote. Altuve and Kipnis are both having phenomenal years, and both deserve to be All-Stars. However, that does not mean Dozier does not, as he, too, is having an All-Star caliber year. Dozier leads all major league second basemen with a 18 home runs, seven ahead of Stephen Drew's 11 home runs, who ranks second in the majors for home runs by a second basemen.
Along with the 18 home runs, Dozier has driven in 45 runs and his .520 slugging percentage ranks best among ML second basemen as well. A "utility" spot on the All-Star team was awarded to Red Sox infielder Brock Holt, as he is the lone representative for the Red Sox this season. Dozier fell victim to the "1 per team rule" here, and certainly would have been selected thanks to his outstanding power numbers this season.
3rd Baseman: Mike Moustakas, Kansas City Royals
3rd Basemen on the team: Josh Donaldson (starter) Manny Machado
Like Dozier, Moustakas saw his position only garner two spots, not including Holt's utility spot, for the American League in this years' All-Star game. Moustakas is hitting .301 with seven home runs and 31 RBIs, and a solid defense first-half to the year. Moustakas has 87 hits which ranks him third among AL third basemen. He also only has 35 strikeouts, compared to Donaldson's 73 and Machado's 57 strikeouts. Donaldson and Machado deserve the No. 1 and No. 2 spots for AL third basemen, but if there were a third, it should have gone to Moustakas. He still has a shot, however, as he is part of the AL Final Vote.
Shortstop: Xander Bogaerts, Boston Red Sox
Shortstops on the team: Alcides Escobar (starter), Jose Iglesias
Again, we see the American League only taking two players at one position, in large part due to Brock Holt's utility spot and versatility to play all around the infield. Escobar and Iglesias are both having terrific years, but Bogaerts leads all American League shortstops with 91 hits. Bogaerts, like Tulowitzki and Dozier is a Final Vote candidate and still does have a chance to make the team. Bogaerts is hitting .304 with three home runs and leads all AL shortstops with 40 RBI. He has recorded 19 doubles as well and is a worthy candidate to make the team.
Outfielders: Mookie Betts (Boston Red Sox), Yoenis Cespedes (Detroit Tigers), and Billy Burns (Oakland Athletics)
Outfielders on the team: Mike Trout (starter), Lorenzo Cain (starter), Alex Gordon (starter), J.D. Martinez, Jose Bautista, and Adam Jones
Mookie Betts is having a great rookie season and should have been the lone Red Sox representative, which would have opened up a spot for Twins second basemen Brian Dozier. Betts is hitting .279 with nine home runs and 41 RBI to go along with 13 stolen bases. The well-rounded center fielder has 91 hits as well, which ranks him third among all AL outfielders. Comparing Betts to fan-voted starter Alex Gordon, Betts seems to prevail because of his speed and defensive range.
Gordon is having a solid year, hitting .280 with 11 home runs and 39 RBI. He has 72 hits compared to Betts' 91, and only one stolen base on the campaign. Gordon was part of the strong Royals contigent that made up over half of the AL starting lineup at the mid way point in All-Star voting, and managed to stay in the lineup when voting closed with fellow teammates Salvador Perez, Lorenzo Cain, and Alcides Escobar.
Yoenis Cespedes is a candidate for the AL Final Vote, joining Dozier, Bogaerts, and Moustakas in a talented field that only will allow one player to make it. Cespedes leads all AL outfielders with 96 hits, hitting .291 with 12 home runs and 46 RBI. Cespedes is last year's Home Run Derby champion as well, as he gave fans quite a show and still hopes to be back in the Midsummer Classic this season via the Final Vote.
Billy Burns is quietly having an impressive year for the Oakland A's. In his first full season, Burns is hitting .316 with 79 hits, two home runs and 16 RBI. Burns also has stolen 17 bases while only being caught three times. Burns has only played in 58 games however, and perhaps his limited playing time at the beginning of the year hurt his All-Star chances. The 25-year-old is off to a great start to the season and could be a future All-Star even next season.
Starting Pitcher: Garrett Richards, Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim
Starting Pitchers on the team: Sonny Gray, Felix Hernandez, Chris Archer, David Price, Dallas Keuchel and Chris Sale
The pitching staff is absolutely loaded this year in the American League. Led by Keuchel who has 11 wins with a 2.14 ERA, the pitching staff has six legitamate options to start the game. Manager Ned Yost has the luxury of having an extremely difficult decision on who to give the start in the All-Star game, as all six pitchers have been dominant thus far. Hernandez is 10-5 with a 3.02 ERA and 106 strikeouts. Gray is 9-3 with a 2.20 ERA and 102 strikeouts. Archer is 9-5 with a 2.18 ERA and 141 strikeouts. Price is 8-2 with a 2.54 ERA and 107 strikeouts, and Sale is 7-4 with a 2.80 ERA and an AL best 147 strikeouts.
There were no shortages of starting pitchers for the AL All-Star team this year. However, Garrett Richards seems like the next man up in the stacked American League. Richards has a 9-5 record despite missing two starts earlier in the year, with a 3.35 ERA and 74 strikeouts. The Angels hurler has found his rhythm as of late and if any pitcher needs to be replaced for whatever reason (injury or pitched on Sunday before the All-Star game) it very well could be Richards who gets the call.
Relief Pitcher: Koji Uehara, Boston Red Sox
Relief Pitchers on the team: Dellin Betances, Brad Boxberger, Kelvin Herrera, Wade Davis, Darren O'Day, Glen Perkins and Zach Britton
Interestingly enough, the American League is carrying four non-closers for this All-Star game (Betances, Herrera, Davis and O'Day), compared to the National League taking zero non-closers. It is not to say that these pitchers are not deserving simply because they are not picking up saves, but it definitely is an interesting strategy employed by Yost and the American League team. Had another closer been selected instead of a relief pitcher, it probably would have been Koji Uehara, who is third in the AL with 20 saves.
Uehara has a 2.61 ERA and has converted 20 of the 22 save opportunities he has had this year. It is noteworthy that like NL Manager Bruce Bochy, Ned Yost selected one of his own players, Kelvin Herrera, for the All-Star team. Herrera is the Royals' seventh-inning pitcher, giving way to Wade Davis in the eighth, and closer Greg Holland in the ninth. Yost elected to choose Herrera possibly for the consistent and frequent output he has given him over the past few seasons. Last year, Herrera pitched in 70 games going 70 innings with a 1.41 ERA. This year he has pitched in 36 games already, totally 33 2/3 innings with a 2.14 ERA.
All stats are accurate as of the end of play Tuesday.
