The people at Cespedes Family BBQ did a 2021 All Star Snubs team and I figured it would be a cool thing to put together my own since I tried going to bed early and the ol' brain-o was like nah.
C - Omar Narvaez (Brewers) - I don't get how people legitimately think that Yasmani Grandal should be an All Star. You cannot be an All Star if you are hitting 200 points below Jacob DeGrom. The guy who I do think legitimately got snubbed is Omar Narvaez of the Brewers. I admittingly was close to hopping off the Brew Crew bandwagon at the beginning of the season because I thought their season was hopelessly destined for a .500 season, but holy moly was I an idiot. I was right that their offense could not hit for dick, as literally no one is preforming for the Brewers AT ALL besides Avisail Garcia ('member when he boned Prince Fielder's wife?) and Omar Narvaez. Narvaez has has SUCH a sneaky offensive season this year that he is actually unowned in our super competitive keeper league here on Smogon. Feel like an All Stat Selection was deserved as he has spent a substantial amount of time as the Brewers 2 and 4 hitter this season and has better numbers than JT Realmuto to this point of the season.
1B - Yuli Gurriel (Astros) - Covered in the article, and not someone I would consider to be a "true snub" as Vlad, Olson, and Walsh have all had better seasons. I really wanted to go over to the NL and find a snub there, as they only have Freeman and Muncy listed as 1B, but everyone else in the senior circuit has been garbage.
2B - Jonathan Schoop (Tigers) - Listen. Whit is the 100% correct snub here but it's lame if I just copy the article when I have some legitimate takes. The Tigers representative to the All Star game was Gregory Soto, who has been great, but lost the closers role for no reason other than they do not want him to get more money in arbitration? Or whatever reason. I have literally no idea why Michael Fulmer is closing other than to "trick" people into wanting to trade for him at the deadline? I do know that big Schoop has been blasting the ball. Schoop hit like absolute squirrel shit during April, slashing .198/.230/.284 in baseballs first month. Since, all he has done is slash .313/.364/.559. I was also SHOCKED to see that Ice Cream Schoop is only 29 years old because I would have guessed he was like 34. Not an actual snub, but he probably deserves the nod over Soto. And I like him more.
SS - Tim Anderson (White Sox) - There are so many SS who were selected to the ASG that picking a snub here is kind of stupid, but Anderson I think would be my pick of the SS who did not make the cut. Anderson is having a pretty typical season for him and has somehow never made an All Star team before. To be honest I laughed when the article mentioned JP Crawford as a snub after looking at his stats, but he's been one of the best defensive players this season. Defense is for nerds though, so give me Anderson.
3B - Justin Turner (Dodgers) - Turner should have been the favorite to start the ASG for the NL this year over Arenado because again, defense if for geeks. Turner is consistently one of the best 3B in baseball year in and year out since he joined the Dodgers in 2014 and has only made it to one ASG. I think he is just overlooked in LA, but that should not have stopped him from being included in the game.
OF - Hunter Renfroe (Red Sox) - None of these OF are real snubs. Since May 1st, Renfroe has had a sash of .281/.339/.467 with 8 HR and 31 RBI. Oops, wrong Red Sox outfielder. That's actually Juilo Daniel Martinez numbers, who made the All Star Game. Renfroe has had a much better production than Martinez this season since May 1st slashing .298/.349/.530 with 11 HR and 36 RBI. The difference in their season is that Renfroe started the year in an OF platoon with Franchy Cordero and hit like absolute dog water for the entire month of April before emerging as the main Red Sox RF. White defense may be for nerds, Renfroe has been ELECTRIC in the field and has a total of 11 outfield assists and no one in baseball is even close to that number. Like... every series it seems some idiot tries to run on Renfroe and he just laser beams them every time. Outfield assists are cool as heck, unlike Vorp-Zorp Zone Efficiency Rating+ or whatever.
OF - Starling Marte (Marlins) - Was covered in the article, and I don't really have much to add. He was one of the better OF'ers to be excluded.
OF - Byron Buxton (Twins) - This is again is not something I see as being a snub, but one of those things where I was looking around baseball and just did not have another better player to fill this spot with. Thought about Randy Arozarena as kind of a nod to last post season, but he has just been solidly okay. Buxton has been fantastic but has been hurt for a huge chunk of the season. There's been so much hype on Buxton for so long that it's hard for me to even say that he has finally "lived up" to his top prospect status. I need to see more than just one hot month to declare someone an All Star, but at the same time it was an absolutely incredible month and the potential that he figured things out finally is there.
SP - Max Scherzer
SP - Freddy Peralta
SP - Taijuan Walker
SP - Framber Valdez
SP - Tyler Glasnow
Going to combine the starters into one group. The first three pitchers here were talked about in the article and all are absolutely having All Star seasons. Tyler Glasnow didn't make it because of injury, but he still deserves an All Star selection. The name that almost no one is arguing for as being snubbed is Framber Valdez. He has made 7 starts and has been stunning in those 7 games. I understand it is a small sample, but if he made it in over some of the AL starters it wouldn't be a travesty.
RP - Emanuel Clase
RP - Josh Taylor
RP - Brad Hand
Emanuel Clase is a genuine snub who should be in over Chapman. Chapman has been bad this year statistically, and while he is a "name" he is also loses the benefit of the doubt with me because he is a scumbag. Clase has been very good and deserves the nod. Josh Taylor for the Red Sox has also been the best reliever in baseball this season. Taylor was dealing with COVID at the beginning of the season and his numbers started off being poop because of it. He has not given up an earned run in 26 straight relief appearances dating back to April 30th and has been used in high leverage sports. To round it out, Brad Hand is just me being lazy and finding a good closer who didn't get selected and calling it a day.