Pittsburgh Pirates: Notable Players to Never Make an All-Star Appearance

Russell Martin

I named Russell Martin’s 2014 season as one of the best seasons in Pittsburgh Pirates history to not be awarded with an All-Star Game bid. However, before his 2014 season, he was having a pretty productive year in 2013.

In 506 plate appearances, Martin was batting for a solid .226/.327/.377 line, hit 15 long balls, a 100 OPS+ and 101 wRC+. While those aren’t outstanding batting numbers, they’re pretty good for a catcher, especially for how good Martin was defensively. Behind the plate, Martin was worth +21 DRS, caught 40% of the runners trying to steal on him and was worth +12.3 framing runs. With his defense combined, Martin had a 5.4 fWAR. That ranked 16th of any position player in baseball.

Martin followed that season up with an even better 2014. Although he did miss a bit of time at the beginning of the season, the talented catcher hit .290/.402/.430 with 11 long balls, and 20 doubles. All told, his offense was worth a 135 OPS+ and 140 wRC+. Defensively, Martin posted an identical DRS mark at +21, while catching 39% of the runners trying to steal on him, and being worth +15.3 framing runs.

Among catchers with at least 800 plate appearances and 1500 innings played behind the dish between 2013 and 2014, Martin ranked 4th in wRC+ (120), 5th in wOBA (.341) and 3rd in fWAR (11.7). Martin’s +42 DRS led all catchers as well. Despite all of that, Martin never appeared in an All-Star Game for the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Before going to the Pittsburgh Pirates, Martin had appeared in a few All-Star Games. He made two All-Star Games with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2007 and 2008, and again in 2011 with the New York Yankees. Martin made a fourth and final All-Star Game appearance the year after he left the Pirates in 2015 with the Toronto Blue Jays.

Francisco Liriano

Another hero of the Pirates’ 2013-2015 playoff run, Francisco Liriano had some pretty good seasons with the Pittsburgh Pirates, but never made an All-Star Game. In 2013 Liriano was outstanding, and cemented himself as the Pirates’ ace for the season.

Though he was limited to just 161 innings, Liriano put up a strong 3.02 ERA, 2.92 FIP and 1.22 WHIP. Although Liriano wasn’t the most control-centric guy, walking 9.5% of the batters he faced, he put up a strong 24.5% strikeout rate, and gave up home runs at a 0.5 HR/9 rate. With a 50.5% ground ball rate and 19.8% soft contact rate, Liriano was great at limiting long balls. Plus, he had a 3.12 xFIP, 3.30 DRA and 3.43 SIERA. All three being very good marks.

Liriano may not have really deserved to go to an All-Star Game in 2014, as he got off to a slow start to the season, partly due to an injury. Liriano missed a chunk of June and half of July and had an ERA and FIP above 4 in the first half of the year.

But Liriano would bounce back and have a fantastic second half of 2014 as both his ERA and FIP fell below 3. All told through the 162.1 innings the lefty pitched in 2014, Liriano had a solid 3.38 ERA, 3.59 FIP and 1.30 WHIP. Though walks became a bit of an issue, seeing as he walked 11.7% of the batters he faced, Liriano increased his strikeout rate to 25.3%, his ground ball rate to 54.4%, and soft contact rate to 24.7%. Liriano still had solid ERA estimators with a 3.61 SIERA, 3.40 xFIP and 3.30 DRA.

In his final productive outing as a Pittsburgh Pirates’ starter, Francisco Liriano got off to yet another hot start to 2015. His first 114.2 innings saw the lefty have a 2.98 ERA and 3.16 FIP to go along with a 27.5% strikeout rate and 1.03 WHIP. While he did have a bit of a slump in the second half, with an ERA at exactly 4.00, he still put up a strong 3.23 FIP, 25.1% strikeout rate and 0.6 HR/9. All told in his 2015 season, Liriano still had a great 2015, totaling 186.2 innings of 3.38 ERA, 3.19 FIP, and 1.205 WHIP ball while striking out 26.5% of the batters he faced. Not only was this his highest strikeout rate as a Pirates’ pitcher, he also registered his lowest walk rate in the three seasons at 9.1%. Home runs still weren’t a big issue with a 0.72 HR/9 and 51.2% groundball rate.

Liriano made one All-Star Game in his career. That being his 2006 rookie season with the Minnesota Twins.

Doug Drabek

Doug Drabek spent six seasons in a Pittsburgh Pirate uniform. In those six seasons, he put up an ERA below 3 three times, and even won a Cy Young Award. Through those six seasons, Drabek had a 3.02 ERA, 3.46 FIP and 1.14 WHIP. Though he only had a 14.9% strikeout rate, Drabek had a strong 6.1% walk rate in those six years, along with a 0.74 HR/9 and only allowed opponents to have a .238 batting average against him.

While Drabek never had a bad season in a Pirate uniform, I want to focus on two seasons here. The first being 1990. Through 231.1 innings, Drabek had a 2.76 ERA, 3.28 FIP and 1.06 WHIP. He only walked 6.1% of the batters he faced, and allowed just 15 home runs, resulting in a 0.6 HR/9. This was the year Drabek did win the Cy Young Award, mostly due to the fact he had a 22-6 record, something out of his control, and every pitcher’s control. While it still was a really good season, Drabek was still 6th in ERA, 11th in FIP and 11th in K/BB ratio. Not necessarily Cy Young level numbers.

While 1990 was pretty good for Drabek, 1992 was even better. In 256.2 innings, Drabek had a 2.77 ERA, 2.97 FIP and 1.06 WHIP. In comparison to 1990, Drabek saw his walk rate dip to just 5.3%. While his strikeout rate sat at below 15% in 1990, this time it was a solid 17.3% rate.

Home runs still weren’t an issue as he surrendered a 0.6 HR/9. This time around, Drabek was 12th in ERA, 9th in FIP and 5th in K/BB ratio, but finished 5th in Cy Young voting. While Cy Young competition was stiffer than compared to a few years prior, Drabek also had a 15-11 record, again something that wasn’t his fault.

However, despite being an ace-level pitcher in both seasons, Drabek didn’t make the All-Star Game once for the Pittsburgh Pirates. He did go on to appear in one All-Star Game in 1994 for the Houston Astros, which ended up being his lone All-Star appearance.