OAKLAND, Calif. — Grayson Rodriguez needed to precise his unfiltered ideas, however he knew he shouldn’t.
“I need to say some stuff about that; I can’t,” the Orioles pitcher mentioned with a smirk.
Let this function maybe what Rodriguez needed to say: How on earth does a group tied atop the American League standings solely have three All-Stars?
That was the query on the minds of Orioles followers, gamers and anybody else with entry to Baseball-Reference.com on Sunday. After Baltimore despatched 4 gamers to final 12 months’s Midsummer Traditional, it was assumed the membership would have simply as many, if no more, representatives in Arlington, Texas, on July 16.
However after shortstop Gunnar Henderson and catcher Adley Rutschman had been voted as starters by the followers, ace Corbin Burnes was surprisingly the one Oriole to be voted in on the gamers’ poll or chosen by the Commissioner’s Workplace. Which means nearer Craig Kimbrel, infielder Jordan Westburg, outfielder Anthony Santander, designated hitter Ryan O’Hearn and first baseman Ryan Mountcastle — all gamers who’ve both put up All-Star-caliber first halves or had been finalists to begin the competition on the fan poll — had been left off the AL’s roster.
Individually, it’s not stunning every didn’t make it. All of those gamers had been on the cusp due to the opposite robust candidates at their spots. However for all of them to in some way not be All-Stars is odd, as is a group on tempo to win 100-plus video games for the second straight season solely having three gamers chosen.
“I believe we should always have had greater than three All-Stars, for positive,” Rodriguez mentioned. “There’s lots of guys in that clubhouse which are deserving to be there.”
Evaluate the Orioles’ whole of three with different groups, and it will get much more complicated. The Philadelphia Phillies, the Nationwide League’s greatest group, have seven gamers, and the Cleveland Guardians, the group Baltimore is tied with atop the AL, have 5. The San Diego Padres, a wild-card group within the NL that’s 4 video games above .500, has 5 gamers. The Kansas Metropolis Royals, who wouldn’t be within the playoffs if the common season ended Sunday, have 4.
In fact, how good a group is doesn’t essentially equate to a bigger variety of All-Stars. One of many Orioles’ defining traits, they are saying, is that the entire is bigger than the sum of its components. Given the membership’s success over the previous two calendar years, it’s arduous to argue that isn’t the case, however that also doesn’t clarify how the Orioles have the identical variety of All-Stars because the Boston Purple Sox, a group in the identical division that’s 7 1/2 video games behind Baltimore.
“I’m disillusioned lots of the opposite guys didn’t get in,” supervisor Brandon Hyde mentioned. “Once you win as many video games as we have now within the final 12 months and a half and also you solely get three guys in, and also you’re on the tempo we’re on proper now and we received 101 video games final 12 months with lots of the identical group, you’d suppose that we’d get extra guys in.”
With eight days till the exhibition, it’s doable one other Oriole might make the group if different gamers select to not attend or can’t due to damage. However, for now, it’s not a shock the Orioles’ clubhouse feels aggrieved.
“When you might have a group of this caliber and solely three guys get to go, yeah, it positively sucks,” O’Hearn mentioned. “It’s what it’s. Very completely satisfied for Corbin and Gunnar and Adley. They’re extraordinarily deserving.”
Whereas O’Hearn got here inside a couple of share factors from profitable the fan vote and Mountcastle had a case to win it over Toronto Blue Jays slugger Vladimir Guerrero Jr., their absences are much less beautiful than the others. O’Hearn’s .811 OPS ranks third-best on the group, however he’s not an on a regular basis participant as he virtually all the time sits towards left-handed pitchers. Mountcastle leads the group with 21 doubles, however he’s fourth amongst AL first basemen in FanGraphs’ model of wins above alternative. Rodriguez falls on this group, too, as a result of regardless of being tied for first in MLB with 11 wins, he’s exterior of the highest 20 in WAR amongst beginning pitchers after lacking time with an damage early within the season.
Nobody would’ve blinked a watch if Santander was an All-Star together with his 23 house runs, which put him tied for fourth in MLB. He might nonetheless be one, too, since Houston Astros outfielder Kyle Tucker deservedly made the group regardless of lacking the previous month with a shin damage, which might forestall him from enjoying within the recreation. Nonetheless, whereas Santander has been red-hot with 16 homers in his previous 41 video games, he’s nonetheless hitting .235 with an on-base share barely north of .300. Fifteen AL outfielders have a better WAR than Santander (1.5), together with Orioles rookie Colton Cowser (2.1) due to the latter’s defensive worth. There’s maybe a stronger argument that Santander ought to hit alongside Henderson on the Dwelling Run Derby on July 15, giving a group two gamers within the occasion for the seventeenth time since its inception in 1985 and the third time in Baltimore historical past.
The Orioles’ predominant snubs are Westburg and Kimbrel. Their exclusion was puzzling at first, after which after deeper inspection into who made the group, it raised questions on whether or not this course of is definitely the very best for choosing All-Stars.
Kimbrel appeared destined for his tenth All-Star look after a resurgent first half with the Orioles. Positive, the stigma surrounding the 36-year-old right-hander is that of tension surrounding his saves — and his early season stumble didn’t assist that — however he’s been much more regular than anybody anticipated when the Orioles signed him for $13 million within the offseason. He’s second within the AL with 23 saves and sports activities a 2.10 ERA, 0.90 WHIP and 13.6 strikeouts-per-nine innings. Since his tough patch ended two months in the past, he’s been lights out, permitting just one earned run over his previous 21 innings.
With offense down throughout MLB, incomes a spot on the group is mighty difficult, however there’s one reliever who Kimbrel deserved the nod over. New York Yankees nearer Clay Holmes was one of many six AL All-Stars hand-selected by MLB, and it’s incontrovertible that Kimbrel is extra deserving. Holmes has fewer saves (19), a worse ERA (3.00) and worse ratios (1.306 WHIP, 9.3 strikeouts-per-nine).
Nonetheless, one infielder who made the group over Westburg is likely to be much more egregious than that. And this one falls on the ft of the gamers, not the league.
Texas Rangers second baseman Marcus Semien was voted in by the gamers regardless of placing up one of many worst offensive seasons of his wonderful 12-year profession. Semien has for years been one in every of MLB’s most underrated gamers as a result of he isn’t flashy and a big a part of his worth is derived from his elite protection. However there’s little argument {that a} participant hitting .229 with a .673 OPS is worthy of an All-Star choice.
Whereas Westburg was a finalist to begin at third base, he’s performed greater than 250 innings at second this season, and his offensive numbers are considerably higher than Semien’s. In his breakout first half, the Orioles sophomore is hitting .281 with an .834 OPS — 161 factors higher than Semien and second on Baltimore — with 14 house runs and 49 RBIs. Westburg’s 2.8 WAR is tops amongst second basemen within the AL, practically one win above Semien. There’s a greater argument that Westburg is the Orioles’ second-best place participant than there may be that he isn’t an All-Star.
If the Orioles solely ship three gamers to the All-Star Recreation, will probably be removed from the best travesty in MLB historical past. Kimbrel’s already been to 9 and might be in Cooperstown subsequent decade, and Westburg seems on monitor to play in future Midsummer Classics.
Maybe that is simply Baltimore’s new actuality, the place deserving gamers are snubbed as a result of the Orioles are now not a shock and so they don’t play in a sufficiently big market to demand extra illustration. That positive beats the times when the rebuild-era Orioles solely had the minimal of 1 All-Star yearly.
What’s to come back?
Six extra video games after which a break.
The Orioles finish the primary half with a six-game homestand, three towards the Chicago Cubs and three towards the Yankees after a time without work Monday. The Orioles will preserve their rotation on flip for the ultimate week relatively than maximize Burnes so he can begin two of the video games.
When Baltimore (57-33) and New York (55-37) final performed, it was an intense sequence within the Bronx with animosity effervescent after a number of hit by pitches. The Orioles have since taken a three-game lead atop the AL East, however the Yankees can have the chance at Camden Yards to tilt the scales going into the All-Star break.
What was good?
Brandon Hyde’s platoon of Austin Hays and Heston Kjerstad.
It may not seem to be a standard platoon given Kjerstad is at DH greater than left discipline. This isn’t a John Lowenstein-Gary Roenicke state of affairs, though Hyde certainly wouldn’t flip that down if it heads that means.
However since Kjerstad was recalled June 24, the Orioles have performed 13 video games. Kjerstad and Hays have each been within the beginning lineup solely as soon as and each been absent solely as soon as. Which means in 11 of the 13 video games, Hyde has picked one in every of them to begin over the opposite, normally primarily based on whether or not it’s a right-handed beginning pitcher for the lefty-hitting Kjerstad or a southpaw for the right-handed Hays.
So how’s the platoon gone?
In 54 plate appearances, Kjerstand and Hays have mixed to put up a .375/.426/.688 slash line — good for an eye-popping 1.113 OPS. Earlier than lengthy, this duo would possibly want a nickname.
What wasn’t?
Earlier than he suffered a concussion in early June, Jorge Mateo was having a bounce-back season with a .741 OPS and 16 extra-base hits in 42 video games. He was one of many majors’ worst hitters in 2023, however he was hitting a lot properly sufficient to justify his place on the sector given his defensive worth and pace.
He hasn’t been that very same participant since his return. In his 63 plate appearances since he got here off the injured listing, Mateo is hitting .197 with a paltry .567 OPS. He hit .143 with a .343 OPS final week.
On the farm
The infield prospects in Norfolk are banging on the door so arduous it might be heard on the West Coast.
Nook infielder Coby Mayo, who Baseball America ranks as the game’s Twelfth-best prospect, had a tame week by his requirements, going 5-for-22 with a house run, a double, six walks and 6 RBIs.
Center infielder Jackson Holliday, baseball’s No. 2 prospect, had maybe his greatest week at Triple-A. The 20-year-old went 5-for-15 with three doubles, one house run, eight runs and an eye-popping 9 walks in 24 plate appearances.
Second baseman-corner outfielder Connor Norby, the Orioles’ No. 5 prospect, practically joined the Orioles final week after making the trek to Baltimore to be on its taxi squad. He wasn’t wanted, although, and simply went again to ripping the duvet off the ball, going 10-for-29 with three homers, one double, eight runs and 9 RBIs.