https://baseballfireside.com/how-good-is-the-baseball-all-star-game/
Snubs
What are baseball All-Star “snubs”? Those are deserving players who don’t get picked for their league’s All-Star team despite having good first half season stats. To begin, fans snub strong players from starting when they vote for their favorites from their home teams despite their lack of merit. The All-Star Game is for the fans, but ironically the fans give themselves a substandard product for a showcase game. There’s no excuse for fan ignorance. When they fill out All-Star ballots online, the player’s stats are right next to his name! For example, take Vladimir Guerrero Jr. of the Toronto Blue Jays. He got elected by the fans to start at first base. He averaged 22 HR, 87 RBI over the six seasons and has been a five time All-Star. This year however, he’s had four homers and 35 RBI just past the midway point of the season. At this pace he’s unlikely to meet his season averages. He may not even play in the ASG since his back is bothering him. Who was snubbed by the fans? Yandy Diaz of the Rays is hitting .319 with 13 HR, and Ben Rice of the Yankees has 26 HR and 60 RBI. At least they were added as reserves.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CMIMSpQss6A
The Case of Sonny Gray
The All-Star reserves are chosen by player voting and the MLB Commissioner’s Office. It used to be league managers had to pick the reserves, the pitching staff, and the game’s starting pitchers. This takes the burden off them other than to manage the game. It protects the managers from cries of favoritism to their own teams. Yet the players and the league office can be just as clueless or as biased as the fans. Despite being on the 15 day IL with a hamstring pull, Red Sox starter Sonny Gray is currently 10-1. He leads the American League in wins, is second in ERA, and is also second in quality starts. When I heard the Red Sox had two pitchers selected for the ASG, I naturally assumed Sonny was going. However, it was Sox starter Ranger Suarez, with a 4-3 record who got picked. Huh? OK, Ranger’s ERA is a low 3.15 too, but which pitcher has put up the league leading numbers? It makes one wonder if the players actually study stats other than their own. Ranger’s been a good pitcher in recent years, but he hasn’t put up Sonny’s numbers in 2026.
Does The All-Star Game Matter?
I recently texted a friend about chosen pitchers not wanting to throw in the ASG because they might be scheduled to pitch when the season resumes later in the week. Yet, pitchers are not likely to throw more than an inning and do some throwing anyway between starts to stay loose. My friend’s response was nobody cares about the ASG because it’s not important anymore. He may be right. It used to be a source of pride between the two leagues, but perhaps interleague play has diluted the ASG. Instead of wondering if Aaron Judge could hit off Jacob Misiorowski, we may have seen it already in interleague play. Before that concept was introduced, only the All-Star Game and the World Series provided the opportunity to see players in opposite leagues compete against each other. Also, former Commissioner Bud Selig used the ASG winner as a contest to see which league got home field advantage in the World Series. However, after Selig retired this rule was removed in favor of giving home field advantage to the team with the best record.
So what kind of All-Star Game is there to play for now? Pitchers are more frequently backing out of the game due to scheduling conflicts. Thus, replacements will be called up. Ironically, Sonny Gray not only fits the objective stat criteria to be selected, he will have four days rest before the ASG. He may yet get the nod to fill in. However, if MLB can’t find a spot for such a player, maybe it’s not truly an All-Star Game?
Let me know your feelings about the All-Star Game and Sonny Gray in the comments below.