UPDATE: Carlos Martinez and Mike Moustakas won the final vote for the 2015 All-Star Game, according to Bob Nightengale of USA Today Sports.
At least some justice was served this week. New York Yankees outfielder Brett Gardner was selected to replace Alex Gordon in the 2015 MLB All-Star Game after the Kansas City Royals outfielder injured his groin (Gordon deserved the spot, but it's good Gardner avoided being a snub with manager Ned Yost's decision). While St. Louis Cardinals starter Carlos Martinez and Royals third baseman Mike Moustakas lead the final vote, we're going to reflect on those who will miss out on this year's event and others who didn't get enough love.
As of this afternoon, Martinez and Moustakas are in line to earn their first All-Star game bids. Those Royals fans will not go away, even if it means voting in yet another undeserving player. And up until today it seemed as if the National League voters had their heads on their shoulders, but now it looks like Johnny Cueto, Clayton Kershaw and Troy Tulowitzki will not be going to Cincinnati.
Sure, Martinez is deserving of a bid in the NL, but what in the world is going on? The home crowd in Cincinnati won't get to see their own Johnny Cueto, a Cy Young candidate. You mean to tell me Royals fans at one point managed to get eight of their team's players to lead the ballot, but Reds fans couldn't make a big enough push to get Cueto, who is expected to be traded before July 31, into the All-Star Game with the final vote?
But hey, what do I know? I'm not the one making 60 email addresses so I can vote hundreds of times. I have better things to do, like criticize the whole process.
But in defense of (some) of the voters, this year was no easy task, nor was it easy for the AL and NL managers. The NL has witnessed tremendous campaigns from starters Gerrit Cole, Shelby Miller, Jacob deGrom, Michael Wacha and A.J. Burnett - all of those guys deserved a nod from Bruce Bochy. It's just puzzling how Kershaw and Cueto are subjected to the final vote when they are the cream of the crop in the MLB.
(Additionally, both are having better years than Madison Bumgarner, but dare I even elaborate on that and risk the angry mob running me out of town? Bumgarner is one of my favorite pitchers ever and his World Series performance last year was arguably the best of all time, but how were Kershaw and Cueto overlooked here? And WHY is Rockies second baseman DJ LeMahieu taking up a spot on the roster?)
Oh yeah, and Rockies shortstop Troy Tulowitzki is missing out as well. Again, Jhonny Peralta and Brandon Crawford are having great campaigns, but Tulo is batting .318/.355/.479 with 43 runs scored, 9 home runs and 46 RBIs in 77 games. Peralta and Crawford rank higher in WAR and WRC+, but Tulowitzki's overall stats arguably trump these two and his BABIP (.376) crushes Crawford (.294) and Peralta (.323). According to Fangraphs, Tulowitzki is considered a "Tier One" shortstop at this point in the season while Peralta and Crawford are "Tier Two" based on advanced metrics.
As for the AL, we already know the whole situation with Royals fans flooding the ballot. For the most part, everyone is pretty much over it, but is Mike Moustakas seriously going to get more votes than Brian Dozier, Brett Gardner, Xander Bogaerts and Yoenis Cespedes? Moustakas has certainly improved his numbers this year, but those four players deserve the bid over him. Gardner is already in because of Gordon's injury, but it's still sad to see that Moustakas (.301/.357/.436/.793 with 39 runs scored, 7 home runs and 31 RBIs) will get more votes than the Yankees' outfielder (.303/.381/.490/.871 with 62 runs scored, 10 home runs, 40 RBIs and 15 stolen bases).
Moustakas also beat out Manny Machado (who thankfully got the nod) by nearly 10 million votes. TEN MILLION.
And Blue Jays fans, what in the world have you been doing? Third baseman Josh Donaldson breaks the single-season record for most votes (over 14 million) and you guys can't get Jose Bautista, aka Joey Bats, a starting spot in the outfield over Lorenzo Cain or Alex Gordon? Bautista made it to the event, but his numbers (aside from batting average) are among tops in the league and are worthy of a starting bid in the All-Star Game. Gordon bests Bautista in average and OBP while Cain has him in average, WAR and stolen bases (duh), but Bautista's 65 walks (second in MLB), 59 RBIs (seventh), 54 runs scored (10th) and 17 home runs (18th) are all better.
Then again, defense is also an important stat and Cain is seventh in the MLB with 10 defensive runs saved and Gordon is 45th with four, while Bautista has played only 48 games in the field because of a shoulder issue.
I guess it seems outrageous to me because Alex Rios only trailed Bautista by about 1.5 million votes, which is just absurd.
Here are a few other names that probably should be in too:
Minnesota Twins 2B Brian Dozier - .257/.330/.513 with 65 runs scored, 18 home runs, 45 RBIs and 9 stolen bases.
New York Yankees DH Alex Rodriguez - on top of the countless milestones he has achieved this year, the 39-year-old is batting .276/.382/.498 with 45 runs scored, 16 home runs and 47 RBIs.
Pittsburgh Pirates SP Francisco Liriano - 2.99 ERA, 1.01 WHIP, 119 strikeouts and a .190 opponents' batting average in 17 starts (108 1/3 innings). Although that would be three Pirates' starters in the event.
Pittsburgh Pirates OF Starling Marte - .281/.329/.459 with 44 runs scored, 13 home runs, 48 RBIs and 16 stolen bases.
Cincinnati Reds 1B Joey Votto - .281/.388/.492 with 42 runs scored, 15 home runs and 42 RBIs.
And here are those who probably shouldn't be in:
St. Louis Cardinals OF Matt Holliday - .303/.417/.421 with 20 runs scored, 3 home runs and 26 RBIs in 52 games. *Starling Marte over Holliday.
Colorado Rockies 2B DJ LeMahieu - .306/.359/.391 with 42 runs scored, 4 home runs, 34 RBIs and 10 stolen bases. *Troy Tulowitzki should be added since the NL roster has two other second basemen (Dee Gordon and Joe Panik).
I'd make an argument against Kansas City Royals shortstop Alcides Escobar, but the stats between him, Jose Iglesias (DET) and Xander Bogaerts (BOS) are all too close.
Otherwise, this year's event should be a good one, so tune into FOX on Tuesday at 8:00 p.m. ET for the 2015 All-Star Game at the Great American Ballpark in Cincinnati, Ohio.
