San Diego Padres: Four All-Star Snubs
MLB messed up the upcoming 2019 All-Star Game by not promoting the young talent. Here are some San Diego Padres players that were snubbed.
This season MLB has made it a point to ‘Let the Kids Play’ and there have been a lot of young stars that have shown out in the first half of the season, but for some reason are not going to be in Cleveland for the All-Star Game on July 9. They include San Diego Padres youngsters Fernando Tatis Jr., Franmil Reyes, and Hunter Renfroe.
The only Padre that was invited was closer Kirby Yates, as he has been MLB’s best reliever in 2019 with 27 saves.
Among my snubs doesn’t include Manny Machado, who has been on a tear as of late hitting three home runs in his last two games
Snub #1: Fernando Tatis Jr.
As Ken Rosenthal has noted, Tatis needs to be in the All-Star Game because he shows the most hustle and energy in the game.
Tatis leads all National League shortstops in batting average, on base percentage, and slugging percentage—but he isn’t an All-Star.
Cardinals shortstop Paul Dejong made the NL All-Star team, but he is hitting .260 while Tatis is hitting .337.
On Sunday the rookie scored from first base on a single to right field by Eric Hosmer.
Earlier in the month in Pittsburgh, he tagged up on a lazy pop-up to second base.
He routinely shows off his arm in the hole to steal base hits away from opposing hitters.
Tatis has brought never before seen energy to San Diego, introducing the “chop’ that originated from the Dominican Republic.
He did all of this while missing a month after sustaining a hamstring injury while doing the splits to try to get a force out at second base.
He was hitting .300 in the first month of the season before he was sidelined, and since then his batting average has risen an astounding 37 points.
Snub #2: Eric Hosmer
Padres first basemen Eric Hosmer isn’t as young as Tatis is but he still deserved to be an All-Star this season– for the first time since he won the ASG MVP when it was in San Diego.
Hosmer got off to a slow start, but he has certainly turned it on recently. No disrespect to the Mets’ Pete Alonso, but Hosmer is hitting .297 with just three less RBI’s than New York’s rookie does.
So, yet again Alonso gets all of the attention because he is in New York. If Mets fans want to bring up Alonso’s home runs, well I will just tell you that Hosmer’s teammates Hunter Renfroe and Franmil Reyes have 24 homers each, but they got snubbed as well.
Snub #3: Hunter Renfroe
We don’t exactly know if Hunter Renfroe will be in Cleveland, as there are still two open spots in the Home Run Derby.
He has said that it would be an “honor” to represent the San Diego Padres in the Derby. If he were to be selected to participate he would be joining Ronald Acuna Jr., Pete Alonso, Josh Bell, Carlos Santana, Christian Yelich, and Vlad Guerrero Jr.
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Renfroe is having his best year yet, as he leads San Diego in home runs with 24 and he hasn’t started in all of the games he has played in.
Colorado’s David Dahl is having a great season, but Renfroe has already hit 13 more home runs than Dahl.
He may have created the best moment of the Padres season when he smashes a walk-off grand slam into the Western Metal Supply Co. building in left field to beat the rival Los Angeles Dodgers.
He would put on a show in Cleveland if he were selected to the HR Derby. The Derby is his only route to Cleveland because was snubbed of a roster spot.
Renfroe definitely deserved being on the roster because he has improved defensively and has been very consistent on offense.
Snub #4: Franmil Reyes
When the MLB wants to talk about introducing young talent to the world, there is no one better than Franmil Reyes.
Reyes has the most personality on the San Diego Padres, who are filled with different personalities. He has also had a career year with 24 home runs along with a .863 OPS.
I think he would have a good chance to win the derby if he were chosen.
Reyes has also expressed interest in hitting bombs in Cleveland, saying he is “just waiting” for MLB to extend a request.
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Hunter Renfroe and Franmil Reyes both have had amazing offensive years and deserved to be in the All-Star Game, but may have to settle for the Home Run Derby.