Why Rays’ Wander Franco isn’t an All-Star yet, and how he still can be
ST. PETERSBURG — There was no word Monday on adding replacements to the American League All-Star team, which means Rays shortstop Wander Franco remains among the biggest snubs.
Franco ranks as the best position player in the AL with a 4.2 WAR by baseball-reference.com and has an impressive stat line that includes a .283 average, nine homers, 42 RBIs, 26 steals and an .802 OPS.
But he wasn’t voted on to the team by the fans, who overwhelmingly chose Texas’ Corey Seager as the starting shortstop over Toronto’s Bo Bichette and had Franco a distant third in the second of the two updates released publicly. Houston’s Jeremy Pena was fourth.
Nor was Franco elected by the players, who favored Bichette by a narrow margin over Seager. (The other top finishers in the player vote are not released.)
Under the current system, the top finisher in the player vote gets added to the team as a reserve if he wasn’t the fan-elected starter. If the same player wins both votes, the second-place finisher in the player vote is added.
Which is how, since it seems a popular question, Toronto’s Whit Merrifield — despite a pedestrian stat line of .282, two homers, 30 RBIs and a .700 OPS — is on the team: He finished second in the player vote at second base.
The players also elect eight pitchers — five starters (including the Rays’ Shane McClanahan) and three relievers.
After all that is sorted out, Major League Baseball officials, in some consultation with the All-Star manager — Houston’s Dusty Baker this year— fill out the rest of the 32-man roster.
Their first priority is making sure all teams are represented, which accounted for five of their seven picks on the AL roster: Royals catcher Salvador Perez, White Sox outfielder Luis Robert Jr. and pitchers Luis Castillo (Mariners), Kenley Jansen (Red Sox) and Michael Lorenzen (Tigers).
The other two league additions were pitchers: Toronto’s Kevin Gausman and Houston’s Framber Valdez.
That is why Franco is not yet on the team.
How he is expected to get on the team is to be chosen by MLB to replace a position player who is injured or for some other reason can’t play in the July 11 game in Seattle.
There will be at least two such moves, as fan-voted outfielder Aaron Judge (Yankees) and player-voted outfielder Yordan Alvarez (Astros) are both injured. Given that there are still five healthy outfielders (plus backup DH Brent Rooker) on the team, MLB officials should have some positional flexibility to add a dynamic 22-year-old who ranks statistically as one of the best players in the game.
B-Lowe set to return
Infielder Vidal Brujan was optioned to Triple-A Durham on Monday’s team off day, clearing the way for second baseman Brandon Lowe to be activated off the injured list. Lowe last played in the majors on June 3, sidelined with a back issue that was later diagnosed as a herniated disc. He went 4-for-17 in a five-game rehab assignment between the Florida Complex League team and Durham. Before being sidelined, he hit .205 with nine homers, 29 RBIs and a .696 OPS.
National perspective
Having lost eight of their last 14 games and 11 of 21, the Rays have a challenging final week before the All-Star break, hosting the revitalized Phillies and baseball-best Braves. “They are two teams that we don’t see that much during the regular season, but we get to know them a little bit more in spring training,” manager Kevin Cash said. “They’re pretty star-studded lineups. So, we’ve got to make sure that we’re on point with executing pitches.”
Miscellany
Infielder Yandy Diaz not only returned from the road trip an All-Star starter but also leading the AL in hitting (.318) and on-base percentage (.403). He is second, behind Shohei Ohtani, in OPS (.914). … Team president Matt Silverman and other Rays officials toured Seattle’s T-Mobile Park as part of their ongoing information-gathering process at stadiums and arenas. … First pitches Tuesday will be thrown by Rays baseball operations staffers Eduardo Sanchez and Wilson Made, who recently received United States citizenship. ... Tickets for the weekend series against the Braves are selling well.
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