A Completely Objective Analysis of the Orioles Being Snubbed at the All-Star Game

For most of my adult life, the idea of ​​the Orioles having three All-Stars this season was an unimaginable boon. Here in 2024, with the O’s having had four last year, and following up their 101-win season in 2023 by playing at a 103-win pace so far, the Orioles having three All-Stars is still fun, but it’s also a familiar feeling of blatant disrespect for Baltimore sports fans. Only three? Really, now.

In the same spirit in which I offered a completely objective analysis of which Orioles to vote for to go to the All-Star Game, let’s take a look at the Orioles players who doesn’t end up creating the game, compare them to those who made it, and determine who got snubbed and who didn’t.

As a reminder, the process that generated the rosters began with fan voting selecting the starters, a player vote selecting most of the reserves and most of the pitchers, and the commissioner’s office rounding out each league’s roster with several other selections that, if necessary, ensure there is at least one All-Star per team.

Designated hitter

The Oriole – Ryan O’Hearn

As hard as it may seem to be to believe now, O’Hearn was nearly indistinguishable heading into spring training a year ago from a group of players that also included Franchy Cordero, Lewin Diaz and Josh Lester. That speaks volumes about how poorly he’s performed in Kansas City over the past several years: Even after posting 1.2 WAR a year ago and 1.8 WAR so far in 2024, he’s still just 0.2 for his career.

O’Hearn is hitting even better than last year in a season where the rest of the league is hitting worse than a year ago; his OPS+ of 134 is third-best among Orioles regulars, behind only Henderson and Jordan Westburg.

The Competition – David Fry

Fry is one of the more unexpected success stories of the 2024 season, a player who was a pretty good hitter as a 27-year-old rookie for two months last year but didn’t really have a consistent position. Here in 2024, he’s in great shape, with a .920 OPS — 161 OPS+ — in 66 games played. Those are impressive numbers. If Fry had hit enough to qualify for the leaderboards, he’d be a top-10 prospect in MLB.

Fry is also not a designated hitter, having started only 14 games at the position.

The verdict

There’s no doubt that Fry should be a designated hitter in the All-Star Game, but if there has to be a backup designated hitter — and there is — then it shouldn’t be him. In a gesture of objectivity rather than joking, I’ll point out that the player who’s been snubbed more harshly than O’Hearn is Oakland’s Brent Rooker, who has been a designated hitter in 63 games with a 155 OPS+, has 90 more plate appearances than Fry, and has the misfortune of having Mason Miller as a player who benefits from the “we must have a designated hitter on every team” rule.

I give O’Hearn a 4/10 snubbed.

First base

The Oriole – Ryan Mountcastle

When All-Star voting opened, Mountcastle was the best first baseman in the American League, and second place wasn’t that close. He just went nearly a full month without a home run, and his slugging percentage over the last 28 days is a .632 OPS. That’s a shaky field on which to try to build an All-Star case.

The Competition – Josh Naylor

Cleveland has five All-Stars, which is a feat a team can pull off when a player like Fry does it, as is Naylor, whose batting average as a first baseman, currently .243/.313/.495, would be unmatched by any first baseman in most other seasons to date. He has 21 home runs, so good for him, but when a 1.1 bWAR first baseman is an All-Star, the people involved in this event should be embarrassed.

The verdict

Despite his down month, Mountcastle is at 1.7 bWAR for the season. Even with his 21 home runs, Naylor is at 1.1. It’s a snub, but not the kind of snub that should still make you angry 20 years from now. 6/10 snubbed.

Third base/Second base

The Oriole – Jordan Westburg

With six games left before the break, Westburg is on pace for a five-win season. He’s been remarkably consistent every month this season, switching positions without missing a beat (okay, the defensive stats aren’t great about him at 2B), and he’s a quiet but fun guy who’s one of the best hitters on the team with the best record in the American League. He didn’t bring a marquee star into the season, but if he keeps it up, he deserves to have him around this time next year.

The Competition – Rafael Devers, Isaac Paredes, Marcus Semien

It’s a tough field at third base. There’s no doubt that starter Jose Ramirez of Cleveland beat out Westburg in the second phase of fan voting. While I prefer not to write nice things about the Red Sox, Devers is hitting .971 on the season, which is one of the top three hitters in the American League. Paredes is a bit of a disappointing pick with just 1.9 bWAR on the season so far, but he’s the only Rays player who deserves a spot, so he’s in there.

It’s too bad the process doesn’t allow Westburg to be considered as a second baseman, where he’s played 28 games. I mean, if Fry is a designated hitter, then Westburg is a second baseman, right? (Fry was listed as a designated hitter for the fan vote.) Westburg’s performance is comparable to that of starter Jose Altuve, and he narrowly beats players’ choice backup Semien, who has had even worse results than Mountcastle over the last 28 days (.412 OPS).

The verdict

I think Westburg is getting hurt in two different ways, one by the fact that Paredes got the “one guy per team” boost and two by the fact that his flexibility actually costs him in a very rigid process as to what position you’re in. He’s great. He’s a 10/10 a snub. Torches and pitchforks.

Outfield

The Oriole – Anthony Santander

A batting average above .500 is something that shouldn’t be taken for granted in this year’s offensive environment. Among American League outfielders, there are only four guys who have done it. One of them is Santander, and the other three are the guys voted in by the fans: Aaron Judge, Juan Soto and Steven Kwan. His 23 home runs are tied for third among all American League hitters, and he’s one of only two MLB players with 20-plus homers who isn’t an All-Star. (The other, former Oriole Christian Walker, is probably the worst snubbed in the National League.)

The Competition – Jarren Duran, Riley Greene, Kyle Tucker

Of those three backup outfielders, the worst bWAR of the group is Tucker’s, with a 3.6. Even the lightest hitter of those three guys, Duran, is at least on par with Santander in terms of hitting, and each of them offers higher defensive value. This is a group of great players.

The verdict

Sorry, Tony, but this is a 0/10 snubbedYou’ll have to see if you can hit 13 home runs in May before you do the same thing again in June of next year.

Relief pitcher

The Oriole – Craig Kimbrel

With the season already half over, it’s still kind of weird that Kimbrel is an Oriole, you know? Even though people think he’s done for after some playoff woes last year, and despite a couple of bad weeks this season, Kimbrel is one of the best shortstops in the game, with a 2.10 ERA, the fifth-best among American League relievers with 10 or more saves, and a WHIP that’s the fourth-best. Those things are true, and we probably all expect him to blow a save attempt every time he comes out of the bullpen. Those are good numbers anyway.

The Competition – Clay Holmes

I wouldn’t have hesitated to say that Kimbrel should be an All-Star if it weren’t for the inclusion of Holmes, the Yankees’ slugger with a 3.00 ERA and 1.306 WHIP so far. He’s been pretty good the last two years before that, so if he had been chosen by the players, I would have shrugged. However, it’s been reported that this choice was made by the commissioner’s office. There’s another one to add to the pile for those who believe in a Yankees bias at the league level.

The verdict

Even if we were to limit the number of possible All-Star relievers to the players who got the most save chances for their team—which we shouldn’t do, because it was cool when Brad Brach, Darren O’Day and Yennier Cano were All-Stars—I think the biggest snubber is Seattle’s Andrés Muñoz. That team only has one All-Star, one way or another.

Boston’s Kenley Jansen is on a similar level of disdain to Kimbrel; these are two guys who have made multiple All-Star teams in their careers and have every reason to get one more this year. Kimbrel losing while an undeserving Yankee is in contention is a tough situation. 7/10 snubbedThat said, I won’t lose any sleep if Kimbrel doesn’t pitch during the entire All-Star break.

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