MLB All-Star Snubs? Four Red Sox Players Who Could’ve Cracked AL Roster

Major League Baseball on Sunday announced the full All-Star Game rosters for the American League and National League, and the Boston Red Sox had only one player named to the 2023 Midsummer Classic: Kenley Jansen.

Of course, substitutions will be named, for various reasons, and that could open the door for the Red Sox to have more representatives. But as of Monday afternoon, Jansen was the lone Boston rep, chosen by MLB to round out the AL’s pitching staff.

This marks Jansen’s fourth All-Star selection, as he was named each season from 2016 to 2018 as the Los Angeles Dodgers’ closer. And he’s certainly not a bad choice to represent the Red Sox. Each team must have at least one All-Star representative, and Jansen has performed well at the back end of Boston’s bullpen despite the Red Sox struggling to find consistency in 2023.

That said, there were at least four other Red Sox players who belonged in the All-Star conversation, if nothing else.

Alex Verdugo, OF
The American League’s starting outfield (as voted by the fans) consists of Mike Trout, Aaron Judge and Randy Arozarena. Yordan Alvarez, Adolis García, Austin Hays and Luis Robert Jr. received nods as reserves. Injuries to Judge and Alvarez could require subs, in turn paving the way for Verdugo’s first career All-Star nod, but as it stands, one could argue he should’ve cracked the roster, anyway.

Verdugo entered Monday ranked seventh among AL outfielders in fWAR (2.1). He ranked fourth in average (.295) and 10th in wRC+ (124) while posting the most hits (91) and doubles (26) of that group.

Red Sox manager Alex Cora said at the end of last season that Boston needed more from Verdugo in 2023, and the 27-year-old has responded by being arguably the club’s best all-around player in the first half. He’s made tremendous strides defensively.

Masataka Yoshida, OF
Yoshida’s fWAR (1.2; 16th among AL outfielders) suffers because analytics don’t view his defense and baserunning too favorably. But man, can he hit.

Yoshida ranked second among AL outfielders in batting average (.305) and on-base percentage (.377) as of Monday. He ranked fourth in OPS (.854) and wRC+ (134), trailing only two starters (Trout and Arozarena) and Robert in those categories.

It was difficult to project how Yoshida would fare in his first MLB season, transitioning from Japan to the United States. So far, so good. He’s been an offensive force for Boston.

Rafael Devers, 3B
It’s been a weird season for Devers, who certainly expects more of himself but nevertheless remains the foundation on which the Red Sox lineup is built.

Josh Jung of the Texas Rangers was voted the AL’s starting third baseman, which threw a curveball into the calculus, and few would argue against José Ramírez receiving his fifth All-Star nod as one of MLB’s premier players. So, there really just wasn’t room for Devers, an All-Star the past two seasons.

But, if you do some cherry picking, you could make a case for the 26-year-old Red Sox star. Most notably, Devers leads all AL third basemen in home runs (20) and RBIs (66) — by a fairly wide margin — and his .268 BABIP suggests he’s been a bit unlucky, especially when you consider he ranks in the 95th percentile in average exit velocity and the 94th percentile in hard-hit rate.

Brayan Bello, RHP
This probably is the biggest reach of the bunch. But as The Athletic’s Chad Jennings explained Sunday, it’s a scenario that was in play until the rosters were announced.

Basically, if it came down to the league office needing to pick a Red Sox representative (which was the case), there was a good chance, all factors considered, that it’d be a pitcher. And while Jansen ultimately received the nod, one conceivably could have opted for Bello instead despite the 24-year-old totaling just 13 starts and 73 innings to this point. He’s been that good of late.

Bello entered Monday ranked 14th in ERA (3.08) among AL starters with at least 70 innings pitched. He’s 5-4 with a 2.37 ERA since the beginning of May and has allowed two runs or fewer in 10 of his last 11 starts.

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