Philadelphia Phillies ace Cristopher Sanchez was overlooked for an All-Star spot once again.
That has been a shocking theme heading into the Midsummer Classic, with the lefty not getting selected for the initial roster and then being overlooked in favor of players with lesser statistics during the first round of injury replacements.
But entering this weekend is when things reached a fever pitch.
After Zack Wheeler informed Major League Baseball that he was not going to participate in the event, it was revealed that San Diego Padres reliever Adrian Morejon would take his spot.
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There was confusion about why Sanchez wasn’t the replacement, but since the Phillies left-hander is set to pitch on Sunday, it was understandable why he another player might have been selected to avoid yet another swap needing to be made.
However, the selection of Milwaukee Brewers rookie Jacob Misiorowski after just five starts and 25 2/3 innings pitched is when things were taken too far in the mind of many people.
That includes plenty of notable names in Philadelphia’s clubhouse, with Trea Turner, J.T. Realmuto and Nick Castellanos not mincing words about what they thought of that decision.
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Sanchez was back in the spotlight regarding being an All-Star snub, and that forced Major League Baseball to finally reveal why they never selected the Phillies youngster to take a roster spot.
According to the MLB, Sanchez was offered an All-Star spot if he agreed to waive the restrictions to make himself available for an inning during the Midsummer Classic two days after his start. This, according to Matt Gelb of The Athletic (subscription required), was said to have been declined by Sanchez.
However, that claim is now being refuted by Sanchez and his agent Gene Mato.
“He is willing to pitch no matter what,” Mato said, per Gelb, with the agent also stating that Major League Baseball never asked Sanchez to be part of the event.
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This story continues to be a complete mess, and it further highlights the ridiculousness that has become the All-Star Game.
With fan voting being a featured part of the process and a rule in place to make sure every team has one representative on the roster, there were already question marks each and every year about who actually deserves to be on the team.
The Sanchez situation could be the turning point.
Not only was a pitcher with a 2.59 ERA in 18 starts on one of the best teams in baseball during the first half of the season not selected to be part of the initial All-Star roster, but he was repeatedly overlooked throughout the process that calls into question everything that goes into these selections.
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