If you have followed baseball recently, then you know MLB released this year’s All-Star list. Many think the Pittsburgh Pirates had a handful of snubs. Paul Skenes and Braxton Ashcraft will represent the Bucs at the Midsummer Classic. However, both Bryan Reynolds and Brandon Lowe have been two of the best hitters at their respective positions. There has been plenty of frustration. It’s far from the first time a great player did not get a deserving All-Star nod, and the Pirates have had plenty of examples, just in their recent history.
Brian Giles, 2002
Brian Giles was one of the Pirates’ best hitters in the late-90s and early-2000s. He made two All-Star Games in 2000 and 2001; however, his best season at the plate was in 2002. Giles was one of the best hitters across the entire sport. Despite his impressive numbers at the plate in the first half of 2002, the Pirates only sent one representative to the game, and it wasn’t Giles.
Giles hit .299/.426/.612 with a .431 wOBA and 165 wRC+ during the first half of the 2002 season. He had 22 home runs and walked more frequently (16.7%) than he struck out. Even by 2002 standards, Giles was more than deserving of a spot on the All-Star team. He ranked top ten in on-base percentage and slugging percentage, and was one of just 16 batters with at least 20 home runs in the first half of the season. Of those 16, just five walked more than they struck out.
Closer Mike Williams was the Pirates’ lone representative at the All-Star game. Outfielders including Adam Dunn, Shawn Green, and Luis Gonzalez also made the Mid-Summer Classic. Although they were also having fine seasons, Giles was far and away a top five National League outfielder who did not get an All-Star nod.
Francisco Liriano, 2013
The 2013 Pirates are one of the most memorable teams in the franchise’s history. Not only were they the first team to finish with a record over .500 since 1992, but they were also the first Pirates team to make the Postseason since 1992. While the Pirates sent a handful of players to the All-Star Game this season, their best pitcher of the season, Francisco Liriano, did not get an invite.
Liriano was nothing short of outstanding in the first half of the season. In 76.2 innings, the left-hander had a 2.00 ERA, 2.57 FIP, and 1.19 WHIP. Liriano struck out just over a quarter of opponents, with a 25.3% K%, while having an 8.9% BB%. Liriano, and that year’s eventual NL Cy Young winner, LA Dodgers’ ace Clayton Kershaw, had very similar numbers. Kershaw ended the second half with a 1.98 ERA, 2.50 FIP, and 0.98 WHIP. He also struck out about a quarter of batters he faced with a 24.8% K%, and had a 6.3% BB%. The only thing that separated them was that Kershaw had made eight more starts before the break.
Now granted, Liriano missed the first month of the season, and the Pirates sent five other players to the All-Star Game. However, a pitcher with an ERA hovering around 2.00 while pitching in most of the season and striking out a batter per inning, yet not making the game, is a snub. Liriano was one of only three pitchers with an ERA of 2.00 or lower, and of those three, was the only one with a K% over 25%.
Andrew McCutchen, 2017
Andrew McCutchen went through a down year in 2016. The 2017 season didn’t start red hot for the former MVP either. However, by the end of the first half of the season, McCutchen was one of the best hitting outfielders in the sport. While he had an unimpressive first few months of the year, it was clear by the All-Star break that Cutch deserved another chance at the All-Star Game.
McCutchen finished off the first half of the 2017 campaign batting .294/.380/.538 with a .384 wOBA and 138 wRC+. For reference, Cutch hit .307/.376/.471 with a 138 wRC+ in the first half of 2013, the year he won MVP. He was one of just seven NL outfielders with an OPS over .900. He also had the seventh-best wOBA and sixth-best wRC+. McCutchen hit just as well as what would end up being the 2017 NL MVP, Giancarlo Stanton, who owned a .933 OPS, .386 wOBA, and 142 wRC+ at the break.
The Bucs sent just one representative to the All-Star Game in 2017, which was infielder Josh Harrison. The reserve NL outfielders included New York Mets’ Michael Conforto, who had a deserving All-Star nod, and Ender Inciarte, who was the lone representative for what would become a 90-loss Atlanta Braves team. An outfielder with an OPS over .900 and nearly 3.0 fWAR throughout the first half of a season is more than deserving of an All-Star nod.
