MLB snubs Jake Lamb, Brandon Crawford at All-Star Game

The MLB All-Star Game always features prominent snubs, and this year it’s Brandon Crawford and Jake Lamb.

The human element of baseball is one of the most sacred values the game has. It gives managers authority to go with their gut even when the math vehemently disagrees, it’s the reason umpires still call balls and strikes, and it plays a significant role in the election of All-Stars for Major League Baseball’s Midsummer Classic.

The human element, be it fan voting, the requirement to have a representative from every team or lunacy, is keeping two of the game’s best players out of the All-Star Game.

In fact, they played each other last night. San Francisco Giants shortstop Brandon Crawford went 2-for-3 with three runs batted in during last night’s 4-0 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks. In the visitor’s dugout was third baseman Jake Lamb, who went 1-for-3 and broke up Madison Bumgarner‘s no-hit bid.

Neither player will participate in the ASG unless a freak injury occurs and one is tabbed as a replacement. Crawford was passed up for the Chicago Cubs’ Addison Russell, the St. Louis Cardinals’ Aledmys Diaz and the Los Angeles Dodgers’ Corey Seager; Lamb is out in favor of the Cubs’ Kris Bryant, the Cardinals’ Matt Carpenter and the Colorado Rockies’ Nolan Arenado.

Both Crawford and Lamb have strong cases backing their ASG worthiness. Here is Crawford’s case (all stats entering Sunday):

Entering Sunday he was fourth in the National League in Baseball-Reference’s Wins Above Replacement among position players (3.6) and was eighth overall.
He was first in BR defensive WAR (2.4) and led the NL in Ultimate Zone Runs (12.3), according to Fangraphs.
He had career highs in batting average (.278) and on-base percentage (.351).

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Perhaps the most absurd aspect of Crawford’s snub status is the fact that he is the arguably the best player on his team. The Giants are sending four players—pitchers Bumgarner and Johnny Cueto, catcher Buster Posey and first baseman Brandon Belt—but it’s Crawford who leads the team in fWAR at 3.6 (he is second to Bumgarner in bWAR).

Belt won the ASG Final Vote contest over the Pittsburgh Pirates’ Starling Marte. (Marte was later added as an injury replacement.) While Belt is also deserving of ASG consideration, slashing .301/.406/.523 with 10 home runs, Crawford would’ve been the more accurate choice for the slot.

Now on to the case for Lamb (entering Sunday):

He is fifth in the NL in BR’s offensive WAR (3.2) and sixth in Fangraphs’ weighted runs created plus (152).
He leads the NL in slugging (.615), is third in on-base plus slugging (.987) and fourth in adjusted OPS+ (153).

The Diamondbacks will only be sending first baseman Paul Goldschmidt to San Diego, but it’s conceivable that Lamb is more deserving. Lamb leads the D-backs in fWAR but is second in bWAR, and he also leads the team in wRC+.

Lamb’s biggest misfortune is that he plays the same position as Bryant, Arenado and Carpenter. Bryant is third in all of baseball in fWAR, Arenado is second among third baseman in UZR and is having a career year at the plate, and Carpenter is fourth in the majors in wRC+. (Diaz replaced Carpenter on the NL roster after Carpenter injured his oblique; this should’ve gone to Lamb.)

Both Crawford and Lamb deserve to be at the ASG. Crawford is easily more deserving than Russell, and Bryant has spent significant time as an outfielder, so rather than add outfielders when Dexter Fowler or Yoenis Cespedes were injured, MLB could have chosen to add Lamb and consider Bryant an outfielder.

Next: Didi Gregorius snubbed too?

All-Star Game snubs are unavoidable. The Kansas City Royals almost got all eight of their position players to win starting roles due to fan voting, and that would’ve created an uproar. But Lamb and Crawford deserve to be in San Diego with their peers, no matter how you slice it.

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