Reviewing the 2024 All-Star Game Rosters (Of Course)

 

The release of this year's All-Star Game full roster could not come at a worse time for me specifically. Lately I've been having some issues with my laptop, and the other night it just full on gave up. I've got to take it into the shop later today, and while the machine itself is fine, there's an issue on the hard drive, and the trick is whether or not someone'll be able to extract the data on there, including customs I've worked on this year and other things I haven't had the time to back up. So I've been using another PC in the house, and hoping that there's good news and that I don't have to make templates again or refill the spreadsheet. It's all doable, it's just annoying as hell.

Even more heartbreaking: the other day, I genuinely made a prediction in the excel sheet I log customs in of what the All-Star rosters were going to look like, so I could contrast them with the actual ones once they went up. And of course I can't access that right now. So instead of actually having something tangible to go back to as I dissect these rosters, I'm gonna have to make educated guesses. A lot of these picks I do remember, but some I'll have to be like 'well I'm assuming this was not on mine'.

It's not ideal. A lot's not ideal right now. But I'm carrying on.

Anyway, the ASG rosters are out, and by and large the public, the players and Manfred got a lot right. Here now are my thoughts on the selections:

AL:

Starters

C: Adley Rutschman (BAL), I honestly don't see who else could have done it this year.
1B: Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (TOR). Considering that Vladdie might be dealt this year, it's good that he'll be there. Wild after all these years of development that he's the only Jay here.
2B: Jose Altuve (HOU). Okay, I tried my best to stop this. There were better 2B options in the AL this year. I voted for Marcus Semien every chance I could. Altuve deserves it I suppose but I am really, really tired of this guy always getting recognized for shit.
3B: José Ramírez (CLE). Again, a no-brainer.
SS: Gunnar Henderson (BAL). Would be weird if it was anyone else, despite my campaigning for Volpe.
OF: Aaron Judge (NYY). Man of the moment.
OF: Juan Soto (NYY). A welcome surprise that the fans campaigned for this guy as badly as I did. Deserves it.
OF: Steven Kwan (CLE). ^ see above. Was really worried Kyle Tucker would get the last spot but the injury kinda soured it for him. Kwan absolutely deserves it this year.
DH: Yordan Alvarez (HOU). Like Altuve, because of a diluted DH market, Alvarez doing usual Alvarez things was the best option. If Stanton hadn't gotten hurt, this might be a different story.

Reserves:

C: Salvador Perez (KC). Undoubtedly, yeah. I think I assumed there'd be multiple catchers, so I picked Cal Raleigh as the third one. 

INF: Carlos Correa (MIN). I actually had Correa narrowly missing the rosters and resulting in a fan uproar. Byron Buxton was my Twins nod, actually. But hey, he does deserve it. 

INF: Rafael Devers (BOS). Deserves it, especially the way he's been tormenting the Yankees recently.

INF: Josh Naylor (CLE). I actually had Yandy Diaz and Ryan Mountcastle as 1B options, but Naylor's a pretty forward-thinking choice.

INF: Isaac Paredes (TB). Diaz was my pick to be the sole Ray on here, but Paredes is probably the more logical choice. I just figured Devers would be the sole backup at third.

INF: Marcus Semien (TEX). Absolutely, voted for him.

INF: Bobby Witt Jr. (KC). Absolutely, if it weren't for Henderson he'd be starting.

OF: Jarren Duran (BOS). Another no-brainer, considering how great he's been this year.

OF: Riley Greene (DET). This is one where I figured if it didn't happen there'd be riots. Dude's at full potential in Detroit this year, happy to see it.

OF: Kyle Tucker (HOU). Even if he's been hurt recently, he deserves it.

DH: David Fry (CLE). Had him as my requisite utilityman.

Pitchers

LHP: Tyler Anderson (LAA). I think I had Carlos Estevez as my Angels nod, but Anderson's deserved it.

RHP: Corbin Burnes (BAL). Easy one.

LHP: Garrett Crochet (CWS). Another easy one, especially for a sole White Sox.

RHP: Logan Gilbert (SEA). Kind of mad that not only is Gilbert the only Mariner, he's the only Mariners pitcher. I had George Kirby sneaking on. 

RHP: Tanner Houck (BOS). Absolutely, especially this year.

RHP: Seth Lugo (KC). This one I agree with the players on, while..

LHP: Cole Ragans (KC)...this one I thought was a stretch. Ragans has been great this year, but I'm not sure why we needed two Royals starters and only 1 Mariners starter. Without even getting into the fact that Luis Gil should probably be here.

LHP: Tarik Skubal (DET). Absolutely. He will likely be the starter.

RHP: Emmanuel Clase (CLE). No doubter.

RHP: Clay Holmes (NYY). I did put Holmes down but I also think it's been hard to justify recently.

RHP: Mason Miller (OAK). Yes, picked him getting the nod over Rooker for Oakland.

RHP: Kirby Yates (TEX). This one I'm not all that sure about. Solely because I don't know if you can make the case that Yates is one of the best relievers in the AL this year. Again, I gave this space to Carlos Estevez, and would also understand putting Kenley Jansen, Jason Foley or Andres Munoz here. Yates has been great this year, but I don't know if he's ASG-worthy.

NL:

Starters:

C: William Contreras (MIL). I voted for JT, then JT got hurt. So this is kind of a no-brainer this year. I love how you can basically say that since like 2017 or so the starting catcher has been either a Contreras brother, Molina or Realmuto. 

1B: Bryce Harper (PHI). Undeniably, yeah. I do worry still about whether he'll be able to play, but he deserved this.

2B: Ketel Marte (AZ). Voted for Stott but am 100% fine with this. 

3B: Alec Bohm (PHI). I think people got mad about this? More about the Phils' ballot-stuffing that didn't amount to much, which...some people, man. But Bohm did have an overwhelmingly great first half, and deserves what he's getting this month.

SS: Trea Turner (PHI). The only things that justify Turner starting over Betts and de la Cruz is A.) Betts' injury and B.) the lack of voter support for de la Cruz. I'm fine with Turner taking it, he's been excellent this year, but it's kind of puzzling why Elly didn't get more. 

OF: Christian Yelich (MIL). I voted for almost entirely different OF options, but Yelich was the one I understood the most.

OF: Jurickson Profar (SD). I understand this one, considering that Profar's had an unbelievable year, and deserves it this far into his career.

OF: Fernando Tatis Jr. (SD). I dunno if I'm ever gonna be sold on Tatis again after the PED thing. I assume his numbers are great, I just voted for Brandon Marsh. Since Tatis likely won't play, that means a backup will likely take it at CF.

DH: Shohei Ohtani (LAD). Of course. 

Reserves:

C: Will Smith (LAD). Yeah, went without saying for me. I also included a third catching option here, Francisco Alvarez, who would have been my pick for the only Mets nod.

INF: CJ Abrams (WSH). I think I may have also had Finnegan, but this works for me as a sole Nats one.

INF: Pete Alonso (NYM). I had a hard time justifying this aside from 'MLB wants Alonso in the derby again'. I don't think he was the best available Met.

INF: Luis Arraez (SD). I do think he deserves it, but I think I had Brice Turang listed in his place. I think he deserved it. Arraez is also a very good choice.

INF: Mookie Betts (LAD). I didn't think there was any reason to nominate Betts considering he was injured and wouldn't play. I sort of get the idea from a basis of respect, but this is an empty spot pretty much. I predict Turang will probably go here.

INF: Elly De La Cruz (CIN). Duh.

INF: Freddie Freeman (LAD) Another easy one.

INF: Ryan McMahon (COL). I don't see anyone else from the Rockies needing to be here as badly as McMahon.

OF: Teoscar Hernández (LAD). I forget if I had him on here or not, but I definitely listed Marsh as one of my options. Probably has the best chance of replacing Tatis in the starting lineup.

OF: Jackson Merrill (SD). Definitely had him on mine, deserves it.

OF: Heliot Ramos (SF). I did not have Ramos on mine, as I assumed Webb would be the sole Giant, but I'm also very much in favor of his inclusion. 

OF: Bryan Reynolds (PIT). Absolutely, without a doubt, arguably should be starting.

DH: Marcell Ozuna (ATL). Considering the damage he's done this season I'd be worried if he wasn't on here.

Pitchers:

RHP: Tyler Glasnow (LAD). Absolutely.

LHP: Shota Imanaga (CHC). Weird that he's the only Cub, but absolutely.

RHP: Reynaldo López (ATL). I think I had Fried in his place but this does make sense. I might have also put Andrew Abbott here. 

LHP: Chris Sale (ATL). Yes, wild that he's making this appearance for the NL.

RHP: Paul Skenes (PIT). I 100% called this. I'd be flummoxed if they didn't include him. If this was one of Manfred's picks, I stand by it.

LHP: Ranger Suárez (PHI). Yes, absolutely.

RHP: Logan Webb (SF). Again, figured he'd be the only Giant.

RHP: Zack Wheeler (PHI). Another no-brainer. According to MLB he's a scratch for the game? I assume that means he's pitching the Sunday before? He'd better not be injured, we cannot have that. If he does need to come off, this is where Abbott should go.

RHP: Ryan Helsley (STL). A couple years ago I laughed at his inclusion, but this needed to happen this year. Saves leader? Without question. 

RHP: Jeff Hoffman AND LHP Matt Strahm (PHI): Okay...so...I think I get what Torey Lovullo was trying to do. And I think these two are incredible deserving relievers who've had great seasons. I would understand one or the other, not both. The issue is there's not enough actual closers here. I was thinking someone like Raisel Iglesias, Paul Sewald, Evan Phillips or Kyle Finnegan would be on here. And this is great, these two do deserve it, I just...I dunno. 

LHP: Tanner Scott (MIA). THIS I did call. I just think it's weird having more middle relief guys than closers, even if the closers they do pick would likely be doing middle relief anyhow.

RHP: Robert Suarez (SD). I called this, considering his season.

By and large, pretty strong rosters this year. A few trends I'm not sure about, and one or two exclusions that feel silly, but this is a pretty nice summation of 2024 so far, and I sincerely hope there aren't any bullshit revisions to this throughout the week.