Which Pittsburgh Pirates were Snubbed from the All-Star Game?

The Pittsburgh Pirates only had one player in Closer Mark Melancon get selected for the National League All-Star team. Should they have received more selections though?

When the rosters for the All-Star teams were announced on Tuesday evening, the Pirates for the first time since 2010 only had one player selected. I’ve already written about Mark Melancon’s worthiness for his inclusion on the team. Now though, I’m going to go over some players on the Pirates who may have been snubbed.

First, an overview of how the teams were selected. Fan voting determined the eight starting position players (and a designated hitter in the American League), while respective league’s managers determined the reserves and pitchers. Of course, it’s not as simple as picking who they think are the best players not already voted in.

There is a requirement that every team have at least one player represented. Because of this I respect the difficulty involved in creating a balanced roster while making sure every team has a representative, even bottom feeders such as the Twins, Braves, and Reds. However, there’s at least one, and probably two, Pirates who should merit inclusion in the All-Star Game

Now for a couple of disclaimers. Because all of the selected position players were qualifying batters, I only considered position players on the Pittsburgh Pirates that were also qualified through Tuesday’s games. Because of this, players that have been out a significant time with injuries or have come primarily off of the bench were not considered. Additionally, this will be a largely statistical argument however I realize that performance isn’t everything and star power and perception have a lot to do with who gets selected. Now on to the outrage…

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