Post by Captain America on Dec 5, 2014 17:47:21 GMT -5
Each season, OOTP puts together All-Star rosters for both the AL and NL. More often than not, the selections are very deserving, but there's always some stars that get snubbed and we're gonna find out who the biggest snubs were this time!
This time, I'm gonna separate the AL and the NL because either way, I was only going to include 5 players per league for this.
American League
5. C Dayton Bueller (ANA)
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The Angels' lone All-Star this season was Ruben Gotay, but Dayton Bueller got snubbed in what should have been his second All-Star appearance. I felt he was more deserving than Jeff Bailey of the Blue Jays. Bueller is hitting .275/.286/.481 with 15 doubles, 19 home runs (tied for 9th in AL) and 63 RBI right now. Bailey in comparison is hitting .296/.335/.434 with 22 doubles, 8 home runs and 56 RBI. Bailey's higher average is probably why OOTP chose him over Bueller but I will take Bueller's power and run production over Bailey. Maybe next year!
4. DH Adam Dunn (CLE)
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One notable slugger that got snubbed this season was Adam Dunn of the Indians. He is batting .264/.341/.491 with 19 doubles, 23 home runs and 62 RBI. The 23 home runs are good enough for 4th in the AL. Sure, Dunn may not be having the best season of his career necessarily, but the power alone should have been enough to make him an All-Star. His overall numbers were at least comparable with a few of the outfielders that got in.
3. SP CC Sabathia (NYY)
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Only so many pitchers can be All-Stars each season, but Sabathia was one of the guys that barely missed the cut. Sabathia is currently 16-8 (tied for 6th in AL in wins) with a 2.40 ERA (8th in AL) and 217 strikeouts (2nd in AL) in 225.0 innings pitched (4th in AL). He also has only allowed 19 walks all season. There are three particular AL All-Star starting pitchers that I felt were less deserving than Sabathia. But he wasn't the only big name AL starting pitcher to get snubbed.
2. SP Grant Balfour (CLE)
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Despite having one of the best teams in the AL, the Indians shockingly had only one All-Star this season in Kip Wells. Balfour though should've been another one for sure. He is currently 12-6 with a 2.29 ERA (7th in AL) and 86 strikeouts in 180.2 innings pitched.
Those same 3 All-Stars that I felt were less deserving than Sabathia were also less deserving than Balfour. Balfour has been a big part of the Indians' continued success this season and being that he will be 35 in the offseason, hopefully we'll still be able to see him in at least one more All-Star Game in the future.
1. CF Grady Sizemore (ANA)
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This is just something else. Grady Sizemore right now is 2nd in the AL in batting average (.337) 1st in OPS (.976), 10th in doubles (31), 10th in runs (71), and also has 12 home runs and 45 RBI. The group of AL All-Star outfielders this season was strong, but how is Sizemore not a part of it? The run production isn't the best right now, but the rate in which he's reaching bases is just that good and he should have definitely been an All-Star from that alone.
National League
5. SP Leon Sabin (MON)
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Once again, the NL is full of great pitching, which meant that there were going to be some notable All-Star snubs no matter what. Sabin was certainly one of them. He is currently 15-10 with a 2.31 ERA (tied for 6th in AL) and 122 strikeouts in 214.0 innings pitched. He is also tied for 3rd in the NL with 4 shutouts. The NL starting pitchers that made the All-Star team were either more deserving than Sabin or very comparable. Unfortunately, there are only so many spots and Sabin got the short end of the stick.
4. DH Jason Kubel (PIT)
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Jason Kubel was one of a few NL hitters that got snubbed from being All-Stars this season. Kubel is hitting .261/.323/.485 with 23 doubles, 23 home runs (tied for 8th in NL) and 83 RBI (4th in NL). His stats right now are not as good as they have been in recent seasons, but he still should have gotten in just from the run production. The same can be said for others as well.
3. LF Alex Gordon (ATL)
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Another NL slugger that missed the cut was Alex Gordon. Gordon is batting .265/.321/.552 with 26 doubles, 25 home runs and 79 RBI. He ranks 6th in the NL in slugging percentage, 10th in OPS, tied for 5th in home runs and 7th in RBI. There was at least one NL outfielder that was less deserving of being an All-Star over Gordon. Gordon has just about all the numbers needed aside from average to be an All-Star and it's a shame he didn't get in.
2. 3B Adrian Gonzalez (ARZ)
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The surging Diamondbacks had only one All-Star this season in Jake Peavy. Adrian Gonzalez though should have joined him. Gonzalez is batting .291/.341/.536 with 32 doubles, 23 home runs and 78 RBI. He currently ranks 10th in slugging percentage, 8th in OPS and tied for 8th in RBI. The fact that Miguel Cabrera was the only real third baseman to make the NL All-Star team makes this omission even more curious.
Darell could have possibly avoided this by changing Gonzalez's listed position to third base, but it's too late now. Gonzalez though is on a great pace to have a career season and Darell is probably thrilled about that. It took Gonzalez a long time to become a star and now it's paying off during what could be a very promising season in Arizona.
1. SP Johan Santana (CHC)
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The biggest All-Star snub of all though has to be Johan Santana. The guy is 19-4 (tied for 3rd in NL in wins) with a 1.83 ERA (3rd in NL) and 122 strikeouts in 225.2 innings pitched. He is also tied with teammate Wade Miley at 6th in quality starts with 22 and is tied for the NL lead with 5 shutouts.
I really don't understand how Santana missed the cut. He was more deserving than at least 3 or 4 of the NL starting pitchers that made it. It's simply remarkable how amazing Santana has been for his 15-year career so far and it's unfortunate that OOTP didn't recognize his numbers this season for what should have been his 10th trip to the All-Star Game.
Hopefully OOTP does a better job next season!
