Apr 30, 2025; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Cristopher Sanchez (61) pitches against the Washington Nationals during the first inning at Citizens Bank Park. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-Imagn Images Bill Streicher
While the NFL and NBA have continually bungled their attempts at All-Star Games, MLB had stood apart. But they've lost the plot. With each passing year, the lines that once made the MLB All-Star Game truly feel like the Midsummer Classic are getting blurred.
Things reached a boiling point Friday evening when it was announced that Milwaukee Brewers' rookie right-hander Jacob Misiorowski — who has pitched 25 2/3 innings in the majors — was added as a replacement for the game. Don't get it twisted, Misiorowski has a 2.81 ERA and 11.6 K/9 in his first five MLB starts — he looks like someone who has the chance to make multiple All-Star Game appearances in the future. But he's made five starts! It has to be a little awkward even for him because there's no reasonable argument to be made that on the merits he deserves to be there.
Contrast this with Cristopher Sánchez, who probably should have just been selected on the initial roster, but now hasn't been added as a replacement because he will start on Sunday and won't be able to actually compete in the game. Sánchez is being robbed of a deserving selection — he has a 2.59 ERA in 18 starts this year — because of how the schedule played out. His legacy will forever be altered by the fact that he had the unfortunate distinction of being in line to pitch the final game of the first half. As Grace Del Pizzo wrote for On Pattison earlier this week, the process has absolutely screwed Sánchez.
Multiple former All-Stars on the Phillies slammed the recent developments related to the game in a tremendous story by Matt Gelb of The Athletic Friday that's worth your time.
In the story, it's also revealed that "the league offered Sánchez an All-Star spot if he agreed to waive the restrictions and make himself available for an inning two days after his start." He and the Phillies elected not do to that, per the league.
However, there doesn't even seem to be agreement on whether that happened:
An update to The All-Star Situation: Gene Mato, Cristopher Sánchez's agent, disputes that MLB ever asked Sánchez to go.
"He is willing to pitch no matter what," Mato said.
Sánchez, by not being selected, misses out on $200k bonus. More @TheAthletic: https://t.co/hLX5g49uUd
Suárez, in a contract year, told the media in San Diego Friday — including Destiny Lugardo of Phillies Nation — that he declined the opportunity to be named as a replacement, instead choosing to rest. It's certainly the right decision for Suárez and the Phillies, but if MLB is offering you an All-Star spot, you should still be recognized as having been an All-Star. If not, then don't make the offer.
It's clear that things have reached a tipping point like they did in 2002, when the game finished in a tie. Here are a few possible solutions to get the game back on track.
This is such a layup. We're not saying that teams not in playoff position shouldn't have All-Stars. Of course, Paul Skenes should be in the All-Star Game, even though the Pittsburgh Pirates are a disaster of a team.
But let's say Skenes wasn't on the Pirates. Is there anyone in Pittsburgh that would go out of their way to watch the All-Star Game for the chance that another undeserving Pirate makes a short appearance late in the game?
Most teams will end up with the All-Star anyway. But if there's a few terrible teams that don't, so be it. Maybe their ownership needs to be more invested if they want to have a representative. If you take out two or three undeserving players, that opens the door for a few less snubs.
Clayton Kershaw is one of the greatest pitchers in MLB history, but has absolutely no business being in the All-Star Game this year. He did record his 3,000th strikeout earlier this month, and he'll be rewarded for that one day with an induction into the Hall of Fame.
The commissioner's office forcing him onto the NL roster this year — and in over someone who is deserving — is embarrassing. He has a 3.38 ERA and 4.19 FIP over 10 starts, which is pretty impressive for a 37-year-old in his 18th season. But it's not worthy of being in the All-Star Game, and forever getting to state that he's now an 11-time All-Star.
In recent years, the commissioner's office has started this trend of adding legacy players to the All-Star Game after they reach a milestone and/or it's perceived that this may be their final year. In addition to Kershaw, Miguel Cabrera and Albert Pujols are among those who have gotten undeserving All-Star Game nods late in their careers in recent years. And there's no nuance. History will just view it the same as all their previous All-Star Game selections.
I've long been a proponent of ending fan voting, but honestly, the league making selections seems to be a bigger problem right now.
Considering that the season began in late March and runs until late October, there probably isn't a ton of wiggle room here. But a four-day break in the middle of the season isn't enough, and it's why you see not only Suárez drop out in a contract year, but also Zack Wheeler ultimately decline to participate. And the game is worse off for it.
Players deserve to have a chance to rest and be with their families during the middle of the season. But you also want the best players to be in the All-Star Game. So instead of it being a four-day break, make it a seven-day break. Either the weekend before or the weekend after turns into an off weekend, so players can get some rest and relaxation, while still participating in the game if they are picked. This won't stop all players from opting out, but it will help.
Additionally, if you have either the weekend before the game off or move the game later in the week, you would no longer have to worry about pitchers who start the final game of the first half — like Sánchez — not being able to pitch in the game. That would mean more deserving players get selected, and there is less of a need for replacements.
When there was uproar over the tie in the 2002 All-Star Game, then-commissioner Bud Selig responded by instituting one of the most controversial policies in MLB history — from 2003-2016, home-field advantage in the World Series was determined by which league won the All-Star Game.
Frankly, I thought that was great. It incentivized players on World Series contenders — who make up a large chunk of the rosters — to not only play in the game, but take it seriously.
It's Wheeler's right to opt out of the All-Star Game, and under the current structure, it's probably the correct decision, especially if you've already done the exhibition before.
But if home-field advantage in the World Series was on the line, would Wheeler still be opting out? It would be a much more difficult decision, because that could directly affect him in October.
The reality is that we probably make too big of a deal of how important home-field advantage late in postseason series is. The Phillies lost Games 6 and 7 in the NLCS at home in 2023. The Cubs won Games 6 and 7 in Cleveland in the 2016 World Series. The road team won all seven games of the 2019 World Series between the Washington Nationals and Houston Astros.
But the chance that how the best players in the sport performed in July could determine what happens in October made the game more meaningful.
If you don't like the home-field advantage thing, fine. Make it determine something else. Increase financial incentives for players. Do something to make it worthwhile for those selected, particularly pitchers, to actually compete. Because under this current system, the game is becoming a joke.
