All-Star Sunday

[twinssporto]

I’m actually dumbfounded Berrios and Kepler got snubbed. Eddie was certainly a candidate if he wasn’t injured. I hope the Twins use this to their emotional, motivational advantage.

 

Screw the All-Star game. Let’s go win the pennant.

[jz7233]

 

I’m actually dumbfounded Berrios and Kepler got snubbed. Eddie was certainly a candidate if he wasn’t injured. I hope the Twins use this to their emotional, motivational advantage.

Screw the All-Star game. Let’s go win the pennant.

There will be a lot more all-stars in Twins uniform next year if they could win it all this year.

[gunnarthor]

Both Cleveland and Chicago had more all stars than us? That's surprising.

[Brock Beauchamp]

I want all of the Twins hitters to play in the ASG.

 

I want none of the Twins pitchers to play in the ASG.

[Richie the Rally Goat]

Castro? Are you sure?

Granted, not as good as Garver (#1 in OPS) but still very good. Top 10 in framing runs and ISO. His batting average is down which hurts his OPS.

[jz7233]

Baseball people still don't think Twins is for real. It shows by giving only 2 selections to Twins in this year's all star game. Twins players should take it as a motivation.

[Brock Beauchamp]

 

Granted, not as good as Garver (#1 in OPS) but still very good. Top 10 in framing runs and ISO. His batting average is down which hurts his OPS.

The ASG doesn't factor in such things but Castro is having another stellar year behind the plate, tenth in baseball with a 4.5 FRAA Adjusted from BP. 

 

By the way, Garver should be noted because he's around 0.7 on the same rating scale, a MASSIVE improvement on earlier seasons.

 

And that's why Garver is my new favorite player. The guy straight balls; if there's a weakness, he improves upon it. I think there's a good chance he ends up one of the best catchers in baseball for the next few years.

[David HK]

 

Totally disagree. This isn't the Pro Bowl or the NBA where the same players are in every year. This means something to these guys, they've said it. I'm sure they're extremely disappointed.

Well, it is widely known that this is the only all-star game on the planet where the teams actually play hard and try to win.

 

I'm disappointed too, but hardly surprised. (see: Kent Hrbek, et. al.)

 

I'm just glad the days are gone (for now) when we have to root for the Dave Engle/ Ron Coomer/ GottaPickOneGuyFromMinny selections.

[stringer bell]

In reading the national comments about the ASG, the Twins were mentioned, but other players were talked about more frequently, including a couple of catchers not named Garver and several relief pitchers not named Rogers. Mancini from Baltimore has been mentioned as a big snub more than Kepler. The Twins got four guys through the "primary" and one elected to the starting lineup, but none of the finalists was selected as a reserve. 

 

Berríos would be classified as a snub IMHO and I think a real case could be made for Rogers, since he has worked multiple innings, come in at any time between the seventh and ninth inning to either hold or save and has often been brought in against tough right handed hitters. Ryan Pressly got an All-Star slot and his numbers (particularly WHIP) are better than Rogers, but he hasn't been used the same as Rogers. 

[howeda7]

Berrios and at least one of Kepler/Rosario not making it is a joke. 

[yarnivek1972]

In reading the national comments about the ASG, the Twins were mentioned, but other players were talked about more frequently, including a couple of catchers not named Garver and several relief pitchers not named Rogers. Mancini from Baltimore has been mentioned as a big snub more than Kepler. The Twins got four guys through the "primary" and one elected to the starting lineup, but none of the finalists was selected as a reserve.

 

Berríos would be classified as a snub IMHO and I think a real case could be made for Rogers, since he has worked multiple innings, come in at any time between the seventh and ninth inning to either hold or save and has often been brought in against tough right handed hitters. Ryan Pressly got an All-Star slot and his numbers (particularly WHIP) are better than Rogers, but he hasn't been used the same as Rogers.

Except that Baltimore was never going to get more than one.

[Otto von Ballpark]

 

Mookie Betts was the leading vote getter for the OF among players. Maybe it was done last year?

Interesting -- do you have a source? I hadn't seen any details about the player vote.

 

Obviously reputation goes a long way, but I don't think this is a fair example. He slumped a bit in June, but in late May, Betts was sitting at a 135 wRC+, better than Kepler's current 130 (and way better than Kepler before that 3 HR game in early June). So even the 2019 timing of the vote could matter, in addition to reputation.

[MMMordabito]

Screw the All-Star game ... Betts and Meadows over Kepler and Mancini is a joke .... That led to Means over Berrios ... A top 3 team in MLB has only two reps ... Lindor over Bogaerts is also a joke

 

Polanco will probably get one PA, so that Cleveland can have S#$%#-eating grin Lindor in there for their fans.

 

Will Odorizzi even pitch?

 

July 8-11 looks like a good Summer Fan Break from baseball.

 

#boycottallstargame

[Otto von Ballpark]

Interestingly, the AL roster has 7 outfielders, and all of them are in the top 10 in WAR for OF qualifiers at Fangraphs. The only ones in the top 10 that didn't make it are the two whose WAR depends the most on defense, which unfortunately happens to be Kepler and Buxton, plus Tommy Pham. (Kepler would have an argument on offense alone too, although much of that is due to this recent performance -- in mid-May, he was still sitting at a mid-.700s OPS, which is about impossible to overcome in a contest like this without a better track record.)

 

Rosario doesn't have much of a case. 18th in wRC+ (min. 180 PA), 24th in WAR. He wouldn't be an embarrassing pick, of course, but he doesn't really stand out among those remaining.

[Otto von Ballpark]

 

Screw the All-Star game ... Betts and Meadows over Kepler and Mancini is a joke .... That led to Means over Berrios ... A top 3 team in MLB has only two reps ... Lindor over Bogaerts is also a joke

Kepler has a case, but he is hurt by having his hot streak so close to the balloting.

 

But on the other hand, Bogaerts should be starting over Polanco by most metrics, but Polanco's hot start got him the top spot.

[MMMordabito]

 

But on the other hand, Bogaerts should be starting over Polanco by most metrics, but Polanco's hot start got him the top spot.

 

In that was the case, I would be saying that Lindor over Polanco is a joke.

 

#boycottallstargame

[Otto von Ballpark]

 

In that was the case, I would be saying that Lindor over Polanco is a joke.

Unless Polanco was a reserve. But I'm sure something else could be identified to complain about then too.

 

Lindor actually had a great case -- a few weeks ago. His OPS was still over .900 just 2 weeks ago. The day of Kepler's 3 HR game in early June, which launched him into all-star conversation, Lindor had a 140 wRC+, ahead of Bogaerts (although both behind Polanco). Carlos Correa was even with Lindor and Bogaerts at that time too, which probably further divided the player vote.

 

In the real world, it's hard to construct a good voting mechanism. There's always going to be a binary decision line (in or out) that isn't going to necessarily reflect the nuances of the actual vote. Should we really be outraged if Lindor got 150 player votes, Bogaerts 140, and Correa 130, or something like that?

[Otto von Ballpark]

Looking at Twins position by position:

 

C: They only took 2, and Sanchez and McCann look deserving. An argument could be made for Garver but he does trail those two quite a bit in PA. 

 

1B: Cron's not particularly close.

 

2B: Same for Schoop.

 

SS: Polanco's starting, when he arguably should be a reserve behind Bogaerts.

 

3B: Not close.

 

LF: Not particularly close.

 

CF: Fair case, but largely based on defense.

 

RF: Good case, but dependent on recent hot streak.

 

DH: They only took 2 and Pence and Martinez are both pretty good, although Cruz is right there in the conversation.

 

SP: They took 8, and Odorizzi got one of those spots. Yes, Berrios has a case over John Means, but so do about 15 other AL SP.

 

RP: They only took 4. Rogers may be better than Greene, but so are 15 other guys again.

[bluechipper]

Interesting -- do you have a source? I hadn't seen any details about the player vote.

 

Obviously reputation goes a long way, but I don't think this is a fair example. He slumped a bit in June, but in late May, Betts was sitting at a 135 wRC+, better than Kepler's current 130 (and way better than Kepler before that 3 HR game in early June). So even the 2019 timing of the vote could matter, in addition to reputation.

Ken Rosenthal had some tweets on the reserve voting.

[stringer bell]

Of the Twins candidates, Garver, Cruz and Buxton all had Injured List stints which hurt their counting numbers.I held out hope for Berríos, Rogers, and Kepler and one of those three going in addition to Odorizzi and Polanco would have been pretty fair IMHO. Not as many guys duck the All-Star game anymore, so I don't know if any of the close calls for the Twins will be added. I hope so, particularly since Odorizzi probably won't pitch and Polanco likely will only get one at-bat.

[Otto von Ballpark]

 

Polanco likely will only get one at-bat.

I don't know why you'd say that -- every all-star game starter last year got at least 2 PA. The last starter to get only 1 PA was catcher Salvador Perez back in 2014.

[Otto von Ballpark]

 

Ken Rosenthal had some tweets on the reserve voting.

Thanks for the tip, but I couldn't find any reference to Betts leading the OF players vote? I don't doubt you, I'm just curious if this tweet might point to a reference with more players vote information.

 

https://twitter.com/Ken_Rosenthal/with_replies

[strumdatjaguar]

An All-Star Game Roster reserve should be picked based on three criteria )and in this order):

1.  The player's performance this season.

2.  The player's performance in the last season (including the post-season)

3.  Whether the player is an iconic player of this era based on his overall career, unless this year has been a lousy one.  

 

Mookie Betts was the AL MVP last year.   I understand why he gets a spot.  

[Otto von Ballpark]

 

Not as many guys duck the All-Star game anymore, so I don't know if any of the close calls for the Twins will be added.

Morton and Odorizzi are both scheduled to start Sunday before the break, so both could get replaced. (FWIW, Bauer and Boyd are also scheduled to start Sunday, which could rule them out as replacements.)

 

That could open the door for Berrios or Rogers. (They'd have some competition for those spots, of course!)

[Thrylos]

I think that the All Star selection process really hurt the Twins.   The Twins fans have a voice and option and they can keep their TVs off during the game.  There are better ways of selecting the most worthy players.

 

I rarely watch that joke, but this year I got another reason not to even think about watching it.

[USAFChief]

 

An All-Star Game Roster reserve should be picked based on three criteria )and in this order):

1.  The player's performance this season.

2.  The player's performance in the last season (including the post-season)

3.  Whether the player is an iconic player of this era based on his overall career, unless this year has been a lousy one.  

 

Mookie Betts was the AL MVP last year.   I understand why he gets a spot.  

I don't care a whole lot about the AS Game, but my personal preference would be the exact opposite of your list, with #3 being #1, and vice versa.

 

I don't view a player having a hot April/May as necessarily being an All Star. On the other hand, Mike Trout should be an All Star almost no matter what his first half stats are.

[notoriousgod71]

I don't watch the All-Star game and it has nothing to do with the selection process. For years, I could say, "At least it's still a baseball game unlike other sports."

 

I can't even say that now. It's just like a celebrity softball game where most players are not taking it seriously.

 

Probably the nail in the coffin was Cruz asking Yadi to take a picture of him and Joe West.

[stringer bell]

Berríos selected to replace Odorizzi. He'll be available to pitch since he will pitch in Oakland, I believe. I am still holding out hope for Kepler and thought that when LaStella went down he might be named (Merrifield is really a second baseman after all), but I have to believe he's be named if one more outfielder or DH is out.

[stringer bell]

 

Berríos selected to replace Odorizzi. He'll be available to pitch since he will pitch in Oakland, I believe. I am still holding out hope for Kepler and thought that when LaStella went down he might be named (Merrifield is really a second baseman after all), but I have to believe he's be named if one more outfielder or DH is out.

Now Lowe is out and still no Kepler. This time it is Torres of the Yankees. 

[yarnivek1972]

The Indians gained a 4th all star as an injury replacement.