Five Notable MLB All-Star Game Snubs

These players had strong cases to be named to their respective All-Star teams, but were left off.
Christian Walker did not make the All-Star team in 2024
Christian Walker did not make the All-Star team in 2024 / Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports

MLB announced the reserve players headed to this year's All-Star game on Sunday. Starters had already been announced for the game, which is scheduled for July 16.

With the announcement came a time for celebration for the honored players, but also a time to judge the final list. As usual, the teams can only be so big, and so players who appear deserving will be left off. Such is the case every year with All-Star rosters in every sport. The reason being named to the team is such an honor is the finite number of roster spots available.

At first glance, here are three of the most notable snubs in each league.

One player I don't have here is New York Mets shortstop Francisco Lindor. While there is a case to be made that he is deserving of being named as a reserve, especially after being snubbed for arguably the last three seasons, Elly De La Cruz and CJ Abrams both have objectively better statistics than Lindor this season. They were the correct choices, even if Lindor has been great in his own right.

Jose Miranda, 3B, American League

Jose Miranda has put together a strong season that has only been heating up. Looking at his stats as a whole, he should be right there with the rest of the third basemen in the American League. The downfall of his resume is a slow start to the year. Twins fans should be very excited, as each month has been better than the last for Miranda, but his lack of punch in April and the start of May is a blemish on his 2024 that's hard to look past at such a talent-dense position.

Player

G

OPS

oWAR

dWAR

Jose Ramirez

84

.854

3.0

0.0

Rafael Devers

76

.943

3.3

-0.5

Isaac Paredes

84

.830

2.5

-0.5

Jose Miranda

72

.901

2.5

-0.1

You could make a similar case for Texas Rangers third baseman Josh Smith, who has a slightly worse OPS than Miranda, but better defense (0.5 dWAR).

Hunter Gaddis, RP, American League

Cleveland Guardians reliever Hunter Gaddis is throwing a 308 ERA+ this season. That means his ERA (1.31) has been 208% better than MLB average. He has only allowed six earned runs all season. Of pitchers that have appeared in at least 40 innings, only Emmanuel Clase has given up fewer earned runs. Clase is, rightfully, an All-Star. Gaddis should be, too.

Kenley Jansen, RP, American League

Boston Red Sox fans will hate this one. Kenley Jansen, who has logged 17 saves this season and has an ERA of just 2.08, missed the cut. Meanwhile, rival closer Clay Holmes, who pitches for the Yankees, got in.

Holmes has been overall quite good, but shaky of late. He has a worse ERA and just two more saves than Jansen. But Jansen has only had 18 save opportunities, Holmes has had 24.

Christian Walker and LaMonte Wade Jr., 1B, National League

Mets first baseman Pete Alonso is a shock to see on the All-Star team this year after a general downturn in his statistics compared to prior seasons. It will be his fourth time being named to the All-Star team, the other three are hard to debate. This one, though, feels flimsy.

Take a look at how Christian Walker of the Arizona Diamondbacks and LaMonte Wade Jr. of the San Francisco Giants stack up:

Player

G

OPS

oWAR

dWAR

Pete Alonso

87

.792

1.5

-0.9

Christian Walker

89

.857

2.2

0.1

LaMonte Wade Jr.

59

.889

1.9

0.1

I'm generally O.K. if the reserve selections overlook Wade on the principle of games played, but Walker is having a better season than Alonso on offense and defense while playing every game.

Freddie Freeman is one of the other first baseman reserves, and his place on the team is valid. It feels as if Alonso got the nod thanks to what his name has meant in prior seasons, not necessarily this one.


Published
Josh Wilson
JOSH WILSON

Josh Wilson is the news director of the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. Before joining SI in 2024, he worked for FanSided in a variety of roles, most recently as senior managing editor of the brand’s flagship site. He has also served as a general manager of Sportscasting, the sports arm of a start-up sports media company, where he oversaw the site’s editorial and business strategy. Wilson has a bachelor’s degree in mass communications from SUNY Cortland and a master’s in accountancy from the Gies College of Business at the University of Illinois. He loves a good nonfiction book and enjoys learning and practicing Polish. Wilson lives in Chicago but was raised in upstate New York. He spent most of his life in the Northeast and briefly lived in Poland, where he ate an unhealthy amount of pastries for six months.