Every year, the MLB deals with missing out on players who deserve All-Star nominations, regardless of if they make the roster to be a starter or even a bench piece. Both leagues go through that process every single season, and the 2019 season is no different.
The mid-summer classic is played in Cleveland, Ohio this year, which is practically the one thing that any Indians fans have to look forward to this season with how badly the Tribe is playing. Currently sitting eight games behind the resurgent Minnesota Twins, the Indians have struggled their way into second place in the American League Central and seven games over .500, which is not even close to being reflective of the type of talent their team has.
This season, the AL looks to be the stronger of the two leagues based on the records of the three teams that are leading their divisions, and they have, at minimum, won 53 games. For the National League, the Milwaukee Brewers are the lone division leader that has not yet won 50 games, currently sitting at 46-39 and only one game ahead of the second-place Chicago Cubs.
Starting with the NL, here are the biggest snubs (listed by position) for this year’s All-Star game. Please note, these players may turn into injury replacements once the rosters are whittled down and finalized.
Catcher – Yadier Molina, STL & No AL
While not necessarily more deserving than the three nominated entrants, but Yadier Molina and the All-Star game go together like PB & J. Missing out this season means that the game may be a bit empty in that sense, but the other three catchers will easily make up for Yadi’s non-inclusion.
Willson Contreras, Yasmani Grandal and J.T. Realmuto will split time behind the plate, and that is a really solid and deserving grouping of backstops to represent the NL this year.
For the AL, Gary Sanchez and James McCann were the only two deserving candidates and were voted in as such, with no other candidates left out.
First Base – Eric Hosmer, SD & Luke Voit, NYY
Probably one of the more loaded positional groupings this season, both Eric Hosmer and Luke Voit put up deserving cases to make the All-Star rosters but neither were admitted so far. The NL took Freddie Freeman (starter), Josh Bell and rookie Peter Alonso, while the AL has Carlos Santana (starter) and Jose Abreu as their two entrants.
Hosmer is a tough choice to leave out, but Alonso, who looks to be the third-stringer here, has been an electric rookie and can only help boost the game’s popularity. Abreu’s season was far less impressive than Voit’s, and those two should have been swapped in the voting.
Second Base – Ozzie Albies, ATL & Brandon Lowe, TB
Both youngsters who did not get the benefit of votes on their side, Ozzie Albies and Brandon Lowe were very deserving of earning All-Star nods. Albies falls behind Ketel Marte (starter), Mike Moustakas and Jeff McNeil, while Lowe fell victim to D.J. LeMahieu (starter) and Tommy La Stella.
Albies should have received the nod over McNeil, who has had an impressive first half for the New York Mets but did not do enough to join Alonso in Cleveland. For Lowe, his stats have been very impressive for the upstart Tampa Bay Rays and are very comparable to La Stella’s, so a wash it is.
Shortstop – Dansby Swanson, ATL & Xander Bogaerts, BOS
Dansby Swanson fell victim to the numbers game, similar to his teammate Albies, as the likes of Javier Baez (starter), Trevor Story and Paul DeJong all made it instead of him. For Xander Bogaerts, both Jorge Polanco (starter) and Francisco Lindor earned bids ahead of him.
Bogaerts is one of the more egregious omissions this year and has gone underappreciated for a while, but a poor start to the season for the Boston Red Sox probably led to Bogaerts not making the team.
Third Base – No NL & Yoan Moncada, CHW
Nolan Arenado (starter), Kris Bryant and first-time All-Star Anthony Rendon (which sounds hard to believe) all made the team and were all deserving of such recognition, with no one left out. Yoan Moncada is the lone deserving non-entrant for the AL, but the third base ranks for the AL are stacked as well, with Alex Bregman (starter) and Matt Chapman holding down the two spots.
Outfield – Juan Soto, WAS and Alex Verdugo, LAD & Eddie Rosario, MIN and Trey Mancini, BAL
A lot of outfielders failed to make the cut, but there were two more deserving candidates from each league that should have made it.
For the NL, both Juan Soto and Alex Verdugo are some of the league’s young studs that deserved to make the game, while Eddie Rosario did not get any love for the Twins and Trey Mancini should have been the Baltimore Orioles’ lone recipient.
Pitchers – Brandon Woodruff, SP MIL and Felipe Vazquez, CL PIT & Jose Berrios, SP MIN and Liam Hendricks, RP OAK
A wide range of arms missed out on the All-Star game in its voting stage, but there still is a chance for the likes of Brandon Woodruff, Felipe Vazquez, Jose Berrios, and Liam Hendricks to receive an invite to the game. Of these four, Vazquez is most deserving from the NL and Berrios from the AL, as both arms have played very well to begin the year.
Vazquez has quietly been one of baseball’s best closers this season, while Berrios has been the steady cog in the Twins starting rotation.
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