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Milwaukee Brewers rookie Jacob Misiorowski is undeniably a rising star in the baseball world. But when Misiorowski, who has just five career games under his belt, was named to the MLB All-Star Game this week, it didn’t sit well with the baseball world.
More specifically, it didn’t sit well with the Philadelphia Phillies, who saw star pitchers Ranger Suarez and Christopher Sanchez miss out on the game in favor of the rookie despite having significantly better statistics over a much larger sample size.
Suarez told Matt Gelb of The Athletic that he declined the opportunity to pitch in the game as a replacement selection. But Sanchez, via his agent, says he was never asked to be a part of the game despite ranking sixth in the NL in pitching WAR according to FanGraphs.
Philadelphia Phillies Slam MLB For Ridiculous All-Star Game Selection Process
“What a joke,” Sanchez’s teammate Trea Turner said of the situation. “That’s f— terrible. I mean, that’s terrible, dude.”
“That’s just how MLB does it now,” J.T. Realmuto said. “Nothing against the Misiorowski kid. But those two (Sánchez and Suárez) are deserving of being on the team in the first place. There’s no doubt.”
Fellow teammate Nick Castellanos said that the MLB All-Star game is “turning into the Savannah Bananas,” while Kyle Schwarber said that “It’s unfortunate, but I wish my teammates were there. We know what we have, and I think that we’re grateful for what we have.”
Gelb reports that Sanchez misses out on a $50,000 bonus as a result of not making the All-Star Game.
Meanwhile, Misiorowski, a second-round pick in 2022, has skyrocketed to stardom. The 6-foot-7 righty is 4-1 with a 2.81 ERA in five starts for Milwaukee, including 11 consecutive no-hit innings to begin his career, setting a modern-era MLB record in the process.