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…

Next: Pirates Who Have No Case

Pittsburgh Pirates Who Have No Case

Josh Harrison

Though Josh Harrison was doing well in initial fan voting, thanks largely to a hot start to the season, he tumbled down in the standings as he cooled off. Harrison has significantly lower numbers in all the popular traditional and advanced stats. As a note, I included Matt Carpenter with second basemen because it is his primary position, though he was listed simply as an Infielder on the All-Star roster. Placed in a group with the three selections, Daniel Murphy, Matt Carpenter, and starter Ben Zobrist, Harrison is the only one with an OPS below .700 (.691) and with less than ten home runs (3). He also has a wOBA under .300 (.297) and a wRC+ under 100 (86).

John Jaso

While Jaso is a favorite of this site and has done well in his transition to first base, he simply is not All-Star material. Jaso only comes close to any of the three selections (starter Anthony Rizzo, Paul Goldschmidt, and Wil Myers) in OBP where his .354 is only .003 below Wil Myers’ .357 OBP. Like Harrison, lack of power is what primarily separates him from those selected for the All-Star team. All of the first base selections have at least 15 home runs compared with only four for Jaso.

Andrew McCutchen

This is of course the biggest disappointment and surprise for the Pittsburgh Pirates this season. McCutchen will miss the All-Star Game for the first time since 2010, his second season in the Majors. This is of course thanks to what is so far his worst performing season of his career.

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His stats are generally below that of all of the selected outfield All-Stars. Though his OBP is above that of Adam Duvall of the Reds (.311 vs. .290) his wOBA (.307) and wRC+ (92) are lower than all of those selected. Despite this, McCutchen’s star power and name recognition were enough for him to do reasonably well in the fan voting, but not enough to get selected.

Almost all of the Pitching Staff

Pitching has of course been terrible this season for the Pittsburgh Pirates, particularly the rotation and middle relief. Even Gerrit Cole, had he not missed a significant period of time lately due to injury, would not have merited inclusion this season. Not all the bullpen has been terrible though, as the lone representative did come from the bullpen and a couple more will be discussed on the next page.

Next: Pirates with a Tenuous Case

Pittsburgh Pirates with a Tenuous Case

David Freese

A cursory glance at Freese’s stats suggests that he may have a case for inclusion on the team. He has a higher batting average (.296) than both the selected third basemen (Nolan Arenado and starter Kris Bryant) and a comparable on-base percentage (.369 sandwiched between Arenado’s .365 and Bryant’s .370).

However, once again the lack of power is what prevents Freese from garnering serious consideration. Though Freese has a respectable nine home runs, Arenado and Bryant have 23 and 25 respectively. This gives them significantly higher slugging, OPS, and wOBA. However, Freese’s wRC+ is comparable to Arenado’s (128 vs. 130).

Jordy Mercer

Mercer, or at least another shortstop, does have a legitimate case to be included over starter Addison Russell. Corey Seager of the Los Angeles Dodgers should be the starter at this position, but fan voting ruined that by forcing the inclusion of Russell in the game. Seager leads both Mercer and Russell significantly in all major categories, however the two players are comparable statistically.

Though Russell has more home runs (11 vs. 5), Mercer leads in both batting average (.278 vs. .242) and On-Base Percentage (.363 vs. .338). Finally, their respective wOBA (.322 vs. .323) and wRC+ (103 vs. 100) are comparable. Unfortunately for Mercer the fan vote which selected Russell forced Seager to be selected as a reserve and left no room for Mercer. Realistically though, another shortstop would have likely been selected still above Mercer or Russell if it was based purely on statistics.

Neftali Feliz and Tony Watson

If any Pittsburgh Pirates pitchers other than Melancon had any chance of being selected, it was likely one of these two relievers. Feliz has been a nice addition to the bullpen this season, striking out nearly 10 batters per 9 innings pitched (9.95 K/9) and with a WHIP under 1 (0.92). Watson has been his normally dominant self after a rough start to the season. Watson’s WHIP is exactly 1.00 and he is striking out 8 batters per 9 innings pitched.

Unfortunately for Feliz and Watson relievers who get selected for the All-Star game are typically closers. Typically, middle relievers who get selected are either 1) especially dominant as Watson was in 2014 or 2) on poor performing teams for which no better option is available as Evan Meek was for the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2010. Neither of these applies to Feliz and Watson this season.

Next: Possibly Snubbed

Possibly Snubbed

Starling Marte

Though Marte was not initially selected for the All-Star team, he has a decent chance to be included anyways as he is currently on the ballot for the final spot on the NL team. As of Wednesday he was in second place to Brandon Belt of the San Francisco Giants in the voting. If you want to see Marte make his first All-Star Game I encourage you to go ahead and vote for him.

Assuming he does not win the vote or gets added as a replacement player, Marte has a definite case to make that he got snubbed this year. Marte’s batting average is higher than every single outfielder that was selected for the NL team and his on-base percentage is higher than both Carlos Gonzalez and Adam Duvall. What likely sunk Marte’s chance of inclusion has once again to do with a lack of power (notice a theme?).

Marte has fewer home runs than any outfield selection and his slugging percentage and OPS is only higher than Odubel Herrera. Despite this, he still has a wOBA higher than Adam Duvall and a wRC+ is higher than all reserves except for Marcell Ozuna.

Likely, All-Star selection rules kept Marte from being selected as Duvall and Herrera were likely only included due to the need to have at least one player on every team, as they are the lone representative from the Reds and Phillies respectively. Though his stats are generally on the low end of the selected All-Stars, his prowess in the outfield is what elevates him to the level of a snub.

Next: Definitely Snubbed