Lessons We Learned from the MLB All-Star Game Rosters

The MLB All-Star Game rosters were officially announced this weekend.

While it’s universally-believed that it’s still by far the best product of an exhibition game by comparison to whatever P.E. game the NFL plays now, the differing rules of the NBA each year, and now the NHL shifting possibly to just “for nationalism!” games,  there’s a perception that it’s a bit watered-down with the constituents that it no longer determines home field in the World Series, the Home Run Derby has been the event of the weekend, and the rules making it mandatory that every team have one representative opening the door for roster spots to be taken away from snubs.

That being said, we had one of the best games in a long while last year in Arlington, and it seemed to really matter! With events like the World Baseball Classic and the stars seemingly arriving earlier, it’s clear that growing the game to fans matters. As a result, it should still be an event worth looking forward to this year in Atlanta. Plus, we no longer have the mandate that the teams have to wear the awful All-Star jerseys during the game, so you can actually see who plays for whom! We complained online about it to Rob Manfred, and bullying works!

There are some lessons to be learned about who made the initial rosters, though, as a bit of a snapshot of the first half of the season. The process was different this season and came in waves, rather than solely relying on fan voting, to prevent a repeat of the 2015 year when 7/9 starters were from the Kansas City Royals after the ballot was allegedly stuffed.

There are snubs every year, and as much as we can complain that Seiya Suzuki or Framber Valdez deserved to be on a roster, it’s not going to change things aside from possible replacement as injury.

But what we can do is take a look at the teams and see what we can gather from the first “half” of the season so far.

The MLB Is Afraid of Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander

Clayton Kershaw recently just reached the 3000 strikeout milestone, all coming with the Dodgers, and will walk into the Hall of Fame; this season with the Dodgers so far at age 37 he’s 4-1, but not without showing his age with only 10 STARTS and with his injury history and signing so late with the team, his legacy is cemented with LA already and anything at this point is just seen as further toppings on his career sundae as the bonus piece on a loaded team that could use his innings. 

So, the MLB gave him the honorary “legend pick” and will make the NL Roster and possibly start as a hat tip to his career, and with his own manager coaching the NL team, it makes it feel like what could be a farewell feel a bit more real. We’ve done this before with Miguel Cabrera and Albert Pujols, so even if it does take a roster spot away from a worthy NL pitcher who is having a season better than Kershaw’s, it wasn’t too outlandish.

However, last time they did this, there were AL and NL representatives in Cabrera and Pujols. If they were doing this for Kershaw, he’s in the same class of no-doubt Hall of Fame pitchers that have defined this generation with Max Scherzer of the Blue Jays and Justin Verlander of the Giants, and it could very will be their last seasons just as much as Kershaw’s. What it does say, though, is that they are deeply afraid of the alpha dog mentality of Scherzer and Verlander, who would scoff at a courtesy appearance and likely breathe fire at the notion of a farewell tour because they just think they may pitch forever. There was no chance they wanted to have that “put a dog out to pasture” conversation with them.

The “Darling Team” Factor Is Undefeated

We love newness! The Astros, Yankees, and Dodgers are seemingly always here, and rightfully so for the big market teams, but the AL will have the first-place Detroit Tigers starting Gleyber Torres, Riley Greene, and Javier Baez (yes, that Javier Baez) in the outfield! Detroit has seen attendance increase by nearly 40% this season, following its remarkable run that saw the team make the postseason with a 1% probability in August. As they’ve carried that success over into this year, the Motor City and likely the casuals that find this team to be plain fun and a good story, showed up on the ballots.

The same could be said about the Chicago Cubs getting two outfield spots in Pete Crow-Armstrong and Kyle Tucker over Juan Soto and Mookie Betts! We’ve waited for the Cubs to have some sort of contending sign of life since the 2016 World Series team, and for a team to make the big Tucker trade preseason, and have the #1 rated offense as everything we thought it could be is truly exciting in a league that was thought to be the Dodgers and everyone else. PCA is 23 and plays with his hair on fire with the most fWAR in the NL with over 20 homers and 20 steals, and Tucker has been a stone-cold killer for hire since arriving in Chicago, so the Cubbie fans are salivating to extend. It’s nice to have some new contenders, and the voters showed up.

Unique Styles of Play Matters

Rookie shortstop of the Sacramento/Las/Vegas/Oakland/THE Athletics Jacob Wilson edged out Bobby Witt Jr., Gunnar Henderson, and Jeremy Pena as the starting shortstop of the American League at age 23 and he may not even have a truly dedicated fan base rooted in Oakland to show for it; he’s also playing games at a minor league park on the west coast when everyone is asleep.

And he is exactly what we love about baseball.

PHOTO: Dennis Lee/Imagn Images

Fans of more individualized sports, such as basketball in the NBA or quarterbacks in the NFL, where there is such a clear, vividly different style of play from player to player, is what you fall in love with. The identification of play style is what makes it great! It has become a copycat league in many instances, where approaches are replicated, and the actual best outcomes for the best possible numbers are prioritized over style.

Jacob Wilson swings at absolutely everything at the plate with his chase rate. He never walks, has only 9 home runs, and doesn’t barrel the ball; he also has one of the most aggressive batting stances you’ve ever seen. He also rarely strikes out, is only behind Aaron Judge in average, and could eventually lead the league in hits this season! It’s all contact-driven, where he puts the ball in play, and his uniqueness is clearly enough to sway viewers who see how different he is and know that it’s appointment television. Comparing Jacob Wilson and Aaron Judge together is like comparing the play style of a tank next to a Yamaha motorcycle.

Uniqueness matters. Having batting stances and approaches that are different from those of kids will imitate in their backyard with a wiffle ball bat matters.

Some GMs Should Use the Rosters and Ask Why They’re Not Better!

It’s always very telling when a team has a plethora of All-Stars on their roster, yet fails to meet expectations in the win column or has a significantly lopsided level of talent on one side of the ball. The trade deadline is approaching, and in some cases, it’s egregious that some teams can see they have All-Star, game-changing level talent on their team and yet fail to address their weaknesses going forward.

Take the Diamondbacks for example; they’re a .500 team that has 3 All-Stars in Corbin Carroll, Ketel Marte, and Eugenio Suarez that are all raking on one side of the ball, yet they’ve had one of the most disappointing seasons in memory because their resources put into the non-existent pitching on the other side of the ball can’t keep up. Even if they do sell the expiring contracts that they have going forward and plan for 2026, it should be a look-in-the-mirror moment for the front office to figure out just how they can get some pitchers and defensive help on this team.

The opposite could be said for the Giants, who have 3 All-Star pitchers in Logan Webb, Robbie Ray, and Randy Rodriguez; with San Francisco still teetering within the fight of the NL Wild Card and having a bottom-10 offense, the Rafael Devers addition isn’t going to cut it; the window can be open now with this pitching staff if they want it to be. There also may be a lot of wining and dining conversations done at these weekends between front offices that lead to deals, and we’ve seen now that all you have to do is make the dance.

The All-Star Game should be seen as a celebration, and it’s a nice time capsule where we can evaluate what we learned and eagerly await to see what’s to come in the home stretch.

PHOTO: Dennis Lee/Imagn Images