Orioles’ Westberg, Kimbrel among All-Star Game snubs

OAKLAND, Calif. – Grayson Rodriguez wanted to express his unfiltered thoughts, but he knew he shouldn’t.

“I want to say a few things about it; I can’t,” the Orioles pitcher said with a smile.

Take this as perhaps what Rodriguez wanted to say: How does the team at the top of the American League standings only have three All-Stars?

That was the question on the minds of Orioles fans, players and anyone else with access to Baseball-Reference.com on Sunday. After Baltimore sent four players to last year’s Midsummer Classic, it was assumed the club would have as many, if not more, representatives on July 16 in Arlington, Texas.

But after shortstop Gunnar Henderson and catcher Adley Rutschman were voted starters by fans, ace Corbin Burns was surprisingly the only Oriole voted on the players’ ballot or selected by the commissioner’s office. That means closer Craig Kimbrel, infielder Jordan Westberg, outfielder Anthony Sanchez, designated hitter Ryan O’Hearn and first baseman Ryan Mountcastle — all players who have either made All-Star-caliber first half appearances or are in contention to start the season. Was a finalist for. Fan Ballot – Removed from AL’s roster.

Personally, it’s not shocking that not everyone made it. All these players were at the top because of other strong candidates in their place. But it’s strange for them all not to be All-Stars, considering a team is on pace to win 100-plus games for the second consecutive season and only three players have been selected.

“I think we definitely should have had more than three All-Stars,” Rodriguez said. “There are a lot of people in that clubhouse that deserve to be there.”

Compare the Orioles’ total of three to other teams, and it becomes even more confusing. The National League’s best team, the Philadelphia Phillies, have seven players, and the Cleveland Guardians, tied with the Baltimore AL team for second place, have five. The San Diego Padres, a wild-card team in the NL that is four games above .500, have five players. The Kansas City Royals, who will not be in the playoffs when the regular season ends on Sunday, have four.

Of course, how good a team is does not necessarily equate to a large number of All-Stars. One of the defining characteristics of the Orioles, he says, is that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. Given the club’s success over the past two calendar years, it is hard to argue that this is not the case, but it still does not explain how the Orioles have the same number of All-Stars as the Boston Red Sox, who That’s a team. The same division that’s 7 1/2 games behind Baltimore.

Manager Brandon Hyde said, “I’m disappointed that a lot of other people couldn’t attend.” “When you win as many games as we have over the last year and a half and you only add three guys, and you’re on the pace that we’re on right now and we won 101 games last year with a lot of the same The group, you’d think we’d get more people involved.”

Eight days before the exhibition, it is possible that another Oriole could make the team if another player does not wish to participate or cannot come due to injury. But, for now, it’s no surprise that the Orioles’ clubhouse feels distressed.

“When you have a team of this caliber and only three guys get a chance to go, yeah, it definitely sucks,” O’Hearn said. “It is what it is. So happy for Corbyn and Gunnar and Adele. They are extremely capable.”

While O’Hearn came within a few percentage points of winning the fan vote and Mountcastle had a case to win over Toronto Blue Jays slugger Vladimir Guerrero Jr., his absence is less surprising than the others. O’Hearn’s .811 OPS ranked third best on the team, but he is not an everyday player as he almost always pitches against left-handed pitchers. Mountcastle leads the team with 21 doubles, but he ranks fourth among AL first basemen in FanGraphs’ version of wins above replacement. Rodriguez also falls into this group, as despite being tied for first in MLB with 11 wins, he is outside the top 20 in WAR among starting pitchers after missing time due to injury at the beginning of the season.

If Sanchez had been an All-Star with his 23 home runs, which would have tied him for fourth in MLB, no one would have blinked an eye. He may still be one, as Houston Astros outfielder Kyle Tucker made the team despite missing last month due to a calf injury that could have kept him from playing in the game. However, while Sanchez has been red-hot with 16 homers in his last 41 games, he is still hitting .235 with an on-base percentage north of .300. Fifteen AL outfielders have more WAR than Sanchez (1.5), including Orioles rookie Colton Cowser (2.1) due to the latter’s defensive value. Perhaps there’s a strong argument that Nintendo should hit it off with Henderson in the Home Run Derby next Monday, which would give the team two players in the event for the 17th time since its debut in 1985 and the third time in Baltimore history.

The Orioles’ main bases are Westberg and Kimbrel. His exclusion was surprising at first, and then after close scrutiny of the team-makers, it raised questions about whether this process was actually the best for selecting All-Stars.

Kimbrel looked set to make his 10th All-Star appearance after a strong first half performance with the Orioles. Sure, the stigma on the 36-year-old right-hander is a concern regarding his save — and his early-season stumble didn’t help that — but he’s been more steady than anyone expected when the Orioles acquired him for $13 million. Had signed. In the offseason. He is second in the AL with 23 saves and has a 2.10 ERA, 0.90 WHIP and 13.6 strikeouts per nine innings pitched. He has been lights-out since his poor spell ended two months ago, allowing him just one run in his last 21 innings.

With offense lacking in MLB, it is quite challenging to make the team, but there is one reliever that Kimbrel should get the nod for. New York Yankees closer Clay Holmes was one of six AL All-Stars hand-picked by MLB, and it is undeniable that Kimbrel is more deserving. Holmes has fewer saves (19), a worse ERA (3.00) and a worse strikeout ratio (1.306 WHIP, 9.3 strikeouts-per-nine).

However, an infielder who could make the team on Westberg could be even more terrifying. And that falls at the feet of the players, not the league.

Texas Rangers second baseman Marcus Semien was voted in by the players despite one of the worst offensive seasons of his outstanding 12-year career. Semien has been one of MLB’s most underrated players for years because he is not flashy and a significant portion of his value is derived from his elite defense. But there’s no argument that a player who hits .229 with a .673 OPS deserves All-Star selection.

While Westberg was a finalist to start at third base, he has played more than 250 innings at second this season, and his offensive numbers are significantly better than Semien’s. In his breakout first half, the Orioles second-year standout is hitting .281 with an .834 OPS — 161 points better than Semien and second on Baltimore — with 14 home runs and 49 RBI. Westberg’s 2.8 WAR tops second basemen in the AL, nearly one win above Semien. A better argument is that Westberg is the Orioles’ second-best position player, rather than that he is not an All-Star.

If the Orioles only send three players to the All-Star Game, it would be far from the biggest travesty in MLB history. Kimbrel is already nine years old and could be at Cooperstown for the next decade, and Westberg is on track to play in future Midsummer Classics.

Maybe this is just the new reality of Baltimore, where deserving players are overlooked because the Orioles are no longer a surprise and they don’t play in a big enough market to demand more representation. It certainly beats the days when the Reconstruction-era Orioles had a minimum of one All-Star every year.

What is to come?

Six more games and then a break.

After a day off on Monday, the Orioles finished the first half with a six-game homestand, three against the Chicago Cubs and three against the Yankees. The Orioles will keep their rotation open for the final week rather than maxing out Burns so he can start two games.

When Baltimore (57-33) and New York (55-37) last played, it was an intense series in the Bronx, with an atmosphere of hostility after several hits by pitches. The Orioles have since opened up a three-game lead on the AL East, but the Yankees will have an opportunity to tilt the scales at Camden Yards at the All-Star break.

What was good?

Brandon Hyde’s platoon of Austin Hays and Heston Keirstead.

This may not seem like a traditional platoon, as Kjerstad is more at DH than left field. It’s not a John Lowenstein-Gary Roenicke situation, although Hyde certainly wouldn’t rule it out if it moves in that direction.

But the Orioles have played 13 games since Kjerstad was recalled on June 24. Kjerstad and Hayes have both been in the starting lineup only once and both have been absent only once. This means that in 11 of the 13 games, Hyde has chosen one of them to start at second, usually based on whether it is a right-handed starting pitcher or left-handed Kjerstad. The right-handed Hayes is a southpaw pitcher.

So how did the platoon go?

In 54 plate appearances, Kjerstrand and Hayes have posted a combined .375/.426/.688 slash line – good for an astonishing 1.113 OPS. Soon, the pair may need a nickname.

What wasn’t there?

Before suffering an injury in early June, Jorge Mateo was enjoying a bounce-back season with a .741 OPS and 16 extra-base hits in 42 games. He was one of the worst hitters in the majors in 2023, but he was hitting well enough to justify his spot on the field given his defensive value and speed.

Since his return, he has not been the same player as before. In his 63 plate appearances since coming off the injured list, Mateo is hitting .197 with a modest .567 OPS. He hit .143 with a .343 OPS last week.

on the farm

Infield prospects in Norfolk are knocking on the door so loudly it can be heard on the West Coast.

Corner infielder Coby Mayo, whom Baseball America ranks as the game’s 12th-best prospect, had a good week by their standards, going 5 for 22 with a home run, a double, six walks and six RBI .

Middle infielder Jackson Holiday, baseball’s No. 2 prospect, had perhaps his best week in Triple-A. The 20-year-old went 5 for 15 with three doubles, one home run, eight runs scored and an eye-catching nine walks in 24 plate appearances.

Second baseman-corner outfielder Connor Norby, the Orioles’ No. 5 prospect, almost joined the Orioles last week after traveling to join Baltimore’s taxi squad. However, he was not needed, and he went back to tearing the covers off the ball, going 10 for 29 with three homers, a double, eight runs scored and nine RBI.