Salty’s All-Star Game Snub Reinforces Need For Change
By now we know all too well that slugger David Ortiz is the lone representative for the Red Sox at this year’s all-star game in Kansas City. While he certainly deserves the recognition, there is at least one other player who wears a Boston uniform that also warranted the recognition, catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia.
Salty was snubbed by the seemingly popularity contest in what has become the all-star voting by fans, reinforcing the fact that the process needs to change.
Recently Earl Nash, a staff writer here at BSI broke down how the current system works and made his recommendations of how to improve it. There’s no point in re-writing what Earl said as he was bang on, so let’s focus on the fact that Salty was indeed snubbed.
Mike Napoli of the Texas Rangers was voted in as the starter. Joe Mauer of the Twins and Matt Weiters of the Orioles are the reserves and all three are deserving of their all-star nod. But when you look at the numbers it’s hard to argue that Salty should not at least be a reserve catcher, if not starting the game.
Mauer has the best slash line of the four at .324/.414/.445/.859. But he only has 4 home runs to go with his 36 RBI. All-star game selection warranted? Yes, we’ll give it to him based on his impressive averages.
Weiters is having a nice season and it is very comparable to Salty’s. He has a line of .249/.331/.440/.771 with 11 home runs and 38 RBI; all-star selection warranted? Yes.
Napoli is the one I’m not sold on. He has a slash line of .235/.335/.438/.773 with 12 homers and 30 RBI. Still good numbers for a catcher but are they better than Salty’s? No, making his all-star selection unwarranted.
Salty’s line of .254/.302/.537/.838 is well below Mauer’s in average and on-base percentage but he blows him out of the water in slugging and OPS. Not to mention he leads all catchers in the AL with 15 long balls and is fourth with 37 RBI.
If Mike Napoli is voted the starting catcher then the current system wreaks of failure. The Rangers have been to the World Series for two consecutive years and are gaining popularity with the casual baseball fan. Hence the nod to start the game despite having sub-par numbers to the other three players mentioned.
It’s unfortunate that Salty didn’t get the all-star nod after being more than deserving. But in every cloud there is a silver lining and this one reinforces the point that the fans currently voting in the starting lineup just is not working anymore. Just like Bud’s brilliant idea of giving home field advantage in the World Series to the league that wins the all-star game. Let’s hope the game doesn’t go to extra innings or Bud could smear another black mark on the game we all love by making another idiotic decision to leave the game in a tie. You want to see smoke? Watch Bud Selig have to make a difficult decision, you’ll see it coming from his ears.