The Best Players This Season Who Were Not On An All-Star Roster

Congratulations to the National League on winning the All-Star Game for the first time since 2012. Rockies catcher Elias Diaz—who was Colorado’s sole All-Star representative—hit the game-winning, two-run home run off Orioles closer Felix Bautista in the top of the 8th inning. Giants closer Camilo Doval pitched a scoreless bottom of the 7th, so he was the pitcher of record when Diaz went deep, and got the win.

The last time the National League won the All-Star Game, the Giants’ Matt Cain was the winning pitcher. And the Giants won the World Series that year. Just sayin’.

If you watched the All-Star Game, you saw spectacular defense in the 1st inning when the Rangers’ Aroldis Garcia and the Rays’ Randy Arozarena made leaping back-to-back catches against the wall. You saw 33-year-old catcher Salvador Perez of the Royals score on a sacrifice fly by the Blue Jays’ Bo Bichette. And you saw the Craig Kimbrel Experience™ in the bottom of the 9th inning to close out the game.

But you did not see all of the best MLB players so far this season. I’m not referring to guys who missed the game due to injury (Mike Trout, Aaron Judge etc.) but players who weren’t chosen as All-Stars by the voters, the players or the mysterious process MLB uses to select replacements for the injured players. The fact that every team must be represented on the All-Star rosters means some players take the spots of others who excelled in the first half.

Here’s my list of Should’ve Been All-Stars™️.

National League

Fernando Tatis, Jr.

Tatis Jr. came up as a shortstop and played that position until the Padres moved him to the outfield permanently this season, after the team signed Xander Bogaerts to a long-term deal. Tatis Jr. has absolutely owned right field for the Padres. And by many measures, he is the best defensive outfielder in the National League this season.

Tatis Jr. leads all NL outfielders with 9 outfield assists and 14 defensive runs saved. That ties him with the Blue Jays’ Kevin Kiermaier, who has been one of the best defensive outfielders in the game over the last 10 years.

El Niño, as Tatis Jr. is called, has also been the second-most productive hitter on the Padres this season, after Juan Soto. Tatis Jr. hit .288/.346/.525 in the first half, with 16 home runs and 20 doubles, and ranked 9th among National League hitters with 137 wRC+.

Tatis Jr., of course, missed all of 2022 with a wrist injury followed by an 80-game PED suspension. That likely made the players and the league office much less inclined to vote him as a replacement player. Too bad. Because he’s exceptionally talented and a lot of fun to watch.

Elly De La Cruz

I’ve already written a lot about the Reds’ De La Cruz and it doesn’t feel like enough. This young rookie has taken baseball by storm. He gets on base at a .363 clip and then steals bases whenever he wants. He makes opposing infielders look like they’ve lost their gloves or forgotten how to throw. He notched 16 stolen bases in 135 plate appearances—a rate that would put him ahead of Ronald Acuña Jr. over a full season. He stole second, third and home on consecutive pitches in a game on July 8 against division rival Milwaukee. Watch the video here. If the All-Star Game showcases the best talent in baseball, they missed out by not including De La Cruz. It’s also absurd that the team leading the NL Central only has one player in the All-Star Game (closer Alexis Diaz).

Blake Snell

San Diego’s left-hander Blake Snell hasn’t quite reclaimed his 2018 American League Cy Young form, but his first-half performance is the closest he’s been over the last five seasons. Snell struck out 32.4% of all batters faced before the All-Star Break, second only to Atlanta’s Spencer Strider. And batters hit only .199 off Snell, the lowest among qualified NL starters. His 2.85 ERA is the third-lowest in the NL. Only Clayton Kershaw and the Cubs’ Justin Steele had better marks in the first half.

American League

Matt Chapman

Someone explain to me how the Blue Jays’ second baseman Whit Merrifield and first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr. were selected as All-Star reserves over their teammate Matt Chapman, but I cannot make any sense of it. It’s not like the Blue Jays needed a reserve pick to get their one player on the All-Star roster. Bo Bichette leads the AL in total hits (122)—only four behind the Marlins’ Luiz Arraez for the MLB lead—and was a shoo-in for a spot. Same for Kevin Gausman, who’s been the most valuable starter in the AL so far.

Chapman is the best defensive third baseman in the AL by a wide margin. He leads that group with 10 Defensive Runs Saved. And he hit .259/.344/.463 in the first half, with 12 home runs and 28 doubles.

Guerrero Jr. is rated the worst defensive first baseman in the AL and that showed in the All-Star Game. He made a throwing error in the top of the 6th when he tossed a wild underhand throw over the head of pitcher Yennier Cano, was covering first base. And Vlad Jr.’s .787 OPS is lower than Chapmans’s .807.

Yes, Guerrero still could have participated in the Home Run Derby (which he won) without being on an All-Star Roster.

Whit Merrifield splits his time between second base and outfield and isn’t a standout at either position. His .734 OPS pales next to Chapman’s.

Alex Verdugo or Masataka Yoshida

Closer Kenley Jansen was the Red Sox’ lone representative on the AL All-Star roster, which is baffling to me. Jansen’s having a fine season with 19 saves, but when you go to the Red Sox page on Baseball Reference, you see that Jansen isn’t even in the top 12 players on his team in bWAR.

Alex Verdugo leads the Red Sox with 3.2 bWAR and leads position players on the team with 2.0 WAA (Wins Above Average). Verdugo is top 3 in the AL in both outfield assists and Defensive Runs Saved. And he hit .290/.360/.457 in the first half with with 26 doubles and 4 triples.

Masataka Yoshida is in his first year in the majors after 7 seasons with the Japanese professional baseball league (NPB). He splits his time between DH and left field and is the second best Japanese-born DH in MLB this season, after Shohei Ohtani. Okay, that’s not a fair comparison, but Yoshida is more than holding his own against major league pitching. He hit .316/.382/.492 in the first half.