There are plenty of snubs each summer when the MLB All-Star Game rosters are revealed, and this year was no different.
The All-Star rosters were trimmed to 32 per league (from 34 in years past), but no matter the roster size there are always players that fans and objective analysts believe should be in the Midsummer Classic. It just comes with the territory.
So, with that in mind, here are the eight biggest snubs -- four per league -- from the 2017 All-Star Game rosters released Sunday night. We are not including the 10 players who are on the Final Vote ballot. Those fellows can still be voted into the game, after all.
The game is scheduled for July 11 at Marlins Park in Miami.
American League snubs
It's not impossible for a non-closer reliever to be selected for the All-Star Game -- Dellin Betances, Brad Hand, Andrew Miller and Pat Neshek all made it this year -- but they need to be having an excellent season to make it, and Astros relief ace Chris Devenski is doing exactly that. He's one of the new hybrid fireman/setup man types, who is capable of entering the game at any point and going multiple innings, if necessary.
Yankees outfielder Aaron Hicks is currently on the 10-day DL with an oblique strain and he won't be back in time for the All-Star Game, though that's no reason to leave him out of the Midsummer Classic. Yankees teammate Starlin Castro is on the 10-day DL himself, and he was still selected for the All-Star Game. Hicks is finally living up to his potential and he currently ranks 10th among AL position players in WAR.
Andrelton Simmons remains baseball's preeminent defensive shortstop, and he's having a career year at the plate as well. His nine home runs are already the second highest total of his career. And did I mention he's a fabulous defensive shortstop? That matters. The Angels only have one All-Star Game representative, and that's the injured Mike Trout. Simmons deserves an All-Star Game selection and he'd give the Halos a healthy representative.
A bit of a slow start to the season makes Marcus Stroman's overall numbers not as impressive as most of the guys in the All-Star Game. The Blue Jays hurler has a 3.25 ERA in his last 13 starts, however. Plus the All-Star Game is a meaningless exhibition now, right? It's not tied to home field advantage in the World Series. Surely there are some new-to-baseball fans who saw Stroman dominate en route to being named World Baseball Classic MVP, and want to see him again in the All-Star Game.
National League snubs
Reds slugger Adam Duvall was an All-Star last year, and he's having an ever better season this year. He's made progress with his contact rate and plate discipline, plus he still has all that power and remains a sneaky good defensive left fielder. Duvall is among the top eight in the NL in homers and slugging percentage.
Very quietly, Nationals southpaw is having a career year and a Cy Young caliber season. He's currently second among all NL pitchers in WAR and third in ERA. Know why Gonzalez isn't an All-Star? Because Max Scherzer and Stephen Strasburg are, and fitting three Nationals pitchers onto the roster would be tough. It's a shame. Gio belongs.
This has been a tough year for the Cardinals overall, but Jedd Gyorko has been one of the bright spots. He's sustained last year's power output while improving his batting average and on-base ability. The fact the NL is loaded with third basemen doesn't make Gyorko any less deserving.
Think the Red Sox would like to undo the Tyler Thornburg trade? Travis Shaw has been a monster for the Brewers and ranks among the NL top 10 in doubles and extra-base hits. He's become a surprisingly nimble third baseman as well. As with Gyorko, the hot corner is loaded in the NL, so Shaw got squeezed out in the numbers crunch.
