The mid- summer classic is one that almost any fan looks forward to each and every baseball season. The fans get to watch some players hit some absolute nukes in the home run derby and young and old players get to showcase their talent for the world to see. There is just one problem that I have come to see this year more than ever… Players getting in that should not. I know the all star game does not mean anything anymore as it did in past years but this year more than ever there have been a few guys that should have been in that did not get in… At age 22, Rafael Devers is having season to say the least. In 89 games this year he is batting .324 with 16 HRs and 62 driven in… Last year he had 21 HRs all year and drove in 66. Needless to say he is having a breakout year. Even with this he did not get in the ASG. Rather, Matt Chapman got in. Now Matt Chapman is an amazing defender without a doubt but he’s hitting .265 with 21 HRs and 52 RBIs. Personally I would love to see both these guys get in but that is not what this is about. Fans want to see offense and I do too but Devers deserves it more.
There are two players from the Tampa Bay Rays that should’ve got in over a player named Aaron Judge. Kevin Kiermaier and Tommy Pham. Both play on a small market team with not so amazing season stats but both have better stats than Aaron Judge. Judge, a superstar no doubt, made the all star game only playing in 33 games this season. Again, fans want offense, but if you don’t even qualify for league leader stats due to your lack of plate appearances then you should not be able to make the all star team. Pham said it best, “When you look at the NL, too, you see all the big-market teams dominating the voting. It’s never going to be fair. It has to change because when you go into arbitration, that’s a big thing that’s talked about with accomplishments. Baseball has to be better to fix it. We’re not getting any help either from ESPN. We haven’t had an ESPN game all year. That’s a way for fans to see us by putting us on one of those big-time games. But we continually never get put on, so all they see is the same players. The Cubs, Dodgers, Yankees, Red Sox—the same teams are always on there.” Tommy has a very valid point, cities like New York have a much larger market than Tampa and it shows when it is left to the fan bases to get their guys in. The fan vote needs to go.
Bleacher Bum 