The case for — and against — Snell as an all-star

by Gary Shelton on July 9, 2018 · 2 comments

in general

Snell was left out, but he wasn't robbed./CARMEN MANDATO

Snell was left out, but he wasn't robbed./CARMEN MANDATO

Monday, 3 a.m.

First, you light the torches. Later, you can gather the pitchforks.

Yeah, it's time to storm the castle all right. Blake Snell has been left off of the American League all-star team, and there is rage to be expressed.

Grrr. And all that.

But if you look a little more closely, the situation isn't quite as clear. Sure, Snell could have made the all-star team. And

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if you base it off of this year (he leads the league in ERA and is second in wins), he should have been one of the first pitchers selected. You can certainly make an argument that Snell should have been an easy choice to join catcher Wilson Ramos in the all-star game.

But the other starting pitchers -- Luis Severino, Corey Kluber, Justin Verlander, Gerrit Cole and Chris Sale -- are pretty good, too. All of them lead Snell in Whip. All but Kluber lead Snell in strikeouts.

Still, that's splitting hairs. These guys are ahead of him in some stats, Snell's ahead of them in others.

Here's the thing, though. Baseball didn't start with opening day of this season. I've always felt you have to pay some attention to the previous year, at least the second half of it.

Last year, Snell won five games all season. Sale won 17. Verlander won 15. Severino won 14 and Cole 12. If you're  trying to measure greatness, don't you have to consider everything?

Look, Snell will get in, and he'll deserve it. There were other factors that hurt him. He pitches for the Rays, for one thing. He was at his best after the votes were counted (at one point, he was 8-4, which is good but short of great.

Hey, I want to see Snell in the all-star game, too. I think he will be once other pitchers start to bow out.

Yes, he'll deserve it.

Won't he?

 

 

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