The Philadelphia Phillies are sending a franchise-record seven players to the All-Star Game. Cristopher Sánchez is not one of them. That’s a shame.
The 58-32 Phillies are a juggernaut full of surprise success stories and his is one of the most compelling. Sánchez went from interesting Rule 5 deadline acquisition to directionless prospect to No. 5 starter to a budding top-of-the-rotation arm in just a matter of a few years.
And he has the numbers to back it up. He is 6-4 with a 2.96 ERA in 97 2/3 innings. Before his worst start of the season in Chicago on the Fourth of July, when the votes were probably already in, Sánchez had a 2.41 ERA.
The interesting thing about six of the seven Phillies All-Stars is that they were among all the top vote getters in the players ballot. Ranger Suárez was tops among starters with 276 votes and Zack Wheeler finished third at 208. Matt Strahm and Jeff Hoffman finished first and second among relievers in the player ballot. Both Bryce Harper and Alec Bohm finished first in the player ballot at their position. Trea Turner is the only Phillie who needed the fan vote to get in.
The league fills in the rest of the roster, keeping in mind that all 15 National League teams, even the six that are under .500, must have a representative. The Cubs’ Shota Imanaga made the cut for Chicago. A ten-run start against the Mets a few weeks ago inflated his ERA, but the accomplishment of being the lesser hyped pitcher coming over from Japan and immediately dominating deserves some recognition.
The Giants’ Logan Webb, who was also selected to the team by the league, also deserves it. He leads the NL in innings pitched with 119 1/3 innings and has a 3.09 ERA. He rarely gets the consideration he deserves in the Cy Young race every year, so it’s nice to see him get his first All-Star nod.
And then there’s Pirates rookie Paul Skenes. The lack of major league innings, 59 1/3, is the only flaw in his case, but the league decided to overlook that for the sake of the showcase. The Paul Skenes story is worth telling: The first overall pick immediately lives up to all the hype and becomes an All-Star a year after being drafted. He deserves it.
But the Cristopher Sánchez is worth telling as well and it stinks that there are not enough spots on the roster for him. Things could change because pitchers, especially starters, drop out. Zack Wheeler is ineligible since he is slated to start the final game before the end of the first half. The league will have to name a replacement and Sánchez should be in consideration, despite the Phillies’ already unusually large presence at the Midsummer Classic.
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