The MLB All-Star lineups were announced on Sunday night and while most selections made sense, there were a couple egregious snubs.
The MLB All-Star rosters are out and there’s not a whole lot to complain about. From a New York standpoint, the selections were somewhat expected. Aaron Judge will be the only New Yorker starting in the All-Star Game—unless any combination of Jacob deGrom and Luis Severino are named the starting pitchers.
deGrom is the lone New York Met to make the team. In addition to Judge and Severino for the New York Yankees, Aroldis Chapman will play in his fifth All-Star Game and rookie sensation, Gleyber Torres, will play in his first.
Here are your 2018 @AllStarGame starters as voted by the fans via the @CampingWorld All-Star Ballot. @JoseAltuve27 is @MLB leading vote-getter, while @FreddieFreeman5 paces NL. Record eight teams represented among nine AL starters. pic.twitter.com/Nr4ehlgP9K
— MLB Communications (@MLB_PR) July 8, 2018
Prepare for filth. There’s plenty to go around on this National League All-Star pitching staff. pic.twitter.com/oCbpEfY7YD
— MLB (@MLB) July 8, 2018
Talk about a bench mob. ?
We present your National League All-Star reserves. pic.twitter.com/ioa6gSFbMQ
— MLB (@MLB) July 8, 2018
Oh, those poor hitters.
Here’s your American League All-Star pitching staff. pic.twitter.com/2Ri5vuNh2b
— MLB (@MLB) July 8, 2018
This roster is STACKED.
Your American League All-Star reserves. ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/UZZ6iSOthA
— MLB (@MLB) July 8, 2018
There isn’t much to complain about with the rosters. But there is one absolutely glaring mistake. How is Blake Snell not on the roster? Snell shouldn’t just be playing in the All-Star Game, he should be in consideration to start.
The competition to start for the American League is fierce. The aforementioned Severino has a strong case, but Corey Kluber, Justin Verlander, and Chris Sale have very strong arguments to make as well.
That being said, Snell can stand toe-to-toe with any of those guys this season. Snell is fourth among AL pitchers in Wins Above Replacement and he’s first in ERA. Not to mention, he’s rated top-10 in the AL in strikeouts and WHIP.
Not to take anything away from Gerrit Cole, but Snell should be in over the Houston starter. Cole is having a fantastic year, but Snell’s ERA+ is a whopping 189 compared to Cole’s 140. ERA+ is a metric used to evaluate a pitcher while taking into account the ballpark that the players play in.
Trevor Bauer is another guy who just barely edged out Snell. Bauer has a strong case as well, but it’s hard to believe that Blake Snell isn’t deserving enough to make the roster.
