MLB All-Star Game update: Three replacements have been named to the Midsummer Classic, but snubs still remain.
Major League Baseball has announced that Bryce Harper, Yordan Álvarez and Josh Hader will be unavailable for this year’s All-Star Game. Harper and Álvarez are injured and Hader is officially listed as on the bereavement list (although Milwaukee-area reporters are saying that that is not actually the case).
Taking Harper’s place will be Miami Marlins outfielder Garrett Cooper, who is making his first-career All-Star Game. Replacing Álvarez will be Boston Red Sox outfielder J.D. Martinez, who has been selected to his fifth-career All-Star Gamer and replacing Hader will be San Francisco Giants ace Carlos Rodón, who is making his second-career All-Star appearance.
MLB All-Star Game update
Cooper, 31, has been one of the more productive bats in the Marlins lineup despite something of a power outage in his bat. Through his first 76 games on the year, Cooper has seven home runs, 40 RBI, a .299 batting average and an OPS+ of 133.
Martinez, 34, is having yet another strong season despite his age. In 76 games for Boston, he has an American League-leading 29 doubles to go with nine home runs, 38 RBI, a .313 average and an OPS+ of 141.
Rodón, 29, has made 17 starts for the Giants this season and has looked every bit as dominant as he did last season. In exactly 100 innings, Rodón is 8-5 with a 2.70 ERA and a 152 ERA+. He leads the National League in FIP (2.14) and HR/9 (0.4) and has been one of the most productive starting pitchers in the league.
Latest round of All-Star Game updates lead to more snub debates
With this announcement of the newest ASG representatives, the snub talk has continued around the social media world. Ty France, Tommy Edman and Austin Riley have been the most popular names in the Twitter-verse listed in the snub category.
There is still time between now and the game itself for additional roster changes to come about. More replacement players are sure to be announced in the coming days and it wouldn’t be a surprise to see each of France, Edman and Riley making their way into what would be the first ASG-selection of their respective careers.