Phillies OF Nick Castellanos Goes Scorched Earth On ASG Voting Because Two Of His Teammates Were Snubbed
Unlike most people, Castellanos guy has a point.
Every year, someone is upset that a certain player didn’t make the All-Star Game, and sometimes it's just people complaining for the sake of complaining. But Philadelphia Phillies outfielder Nick Castellanos has a reason to be frustrated over two of his teammates getting overlooked.
Milwaukee Brewers rookie flamethrower Jacob Misiorowski was given a spot in the Midsummer Classic. While he’s certainly good, it's a bit strange, given that he’s only pitched in less than 26 innings in the entire season.
His numbers are good, but not spectacular and certainly not All-Star worthy, especially when you compare them to two of Castellanos’ teammates.
Yeah, that’s not even close. Plus, Suárez and Sánchez have done it in more games this season than Misiorowski.
However, that’s what the results were, as determined by a mix of fan voting, player input, and the Commissioner's Office. Still, Castellanos is peeved that after all the vetting the league does, those two pitchers are on the outside looking in.
"(The voting process is) turning into the Savannah Bananas," he said.
But he wasn’t finished.
"Major League Baseball is really just focusing on the most marketable players," Castellanos added. "So the fact that they can have somebody in the game that is going to basically blow out one inning and throw 103, 104 [mph], they’re going to get more eyeballs on baseball. They’re going to think it’s getting more popular."
It makes sense that the league would want to make the game more popular by adding the most marketable stars. But to Castellanos’ point, is a guy who can throw 103 (which a lot of guys can do) going to move the needle or get undecided fans to tune in, especially when a ton of other A-list names will be there? I don’t think so.
Suárez and Sánchez did enough in the first half of the season to prove that they should play in Atlanta on July 15, and Castellanos has every right to view their respective exclusions as a terrible snub.