Cleveland Indians: 3 Tribe players snubbed from the All-Star roster

3 Cleveland Indians snubbed from the All-Star roster

This past weekend saw Major League Baseball announce the roster for the 2021 MLB All-Star Game that will be played in Colorado next week. The Cleveland Indians were fortunate enough to see two players named to the roster with Jose Ramirez and Shane Bieber. With Bieber on the injured list, Ramirez might be the team’s lone representative to take the field during the course of the game.

While two representatives was great to see for the club, there were of course snubs from the roster as well. This is a yearly occurrence and happens in pretty much every sport. Most teams can make a case for at least one or two players that had a shot at being named to the All-Star rosters, but there’s only so many that can be named. For the Cleveland Indians, it’s really no different.

Ramirez and Bieber were very clearly deserving of being named, but there were a few other players that were deserving as well on the Tribe’s roster. There’s a chance that more players could be added for injuries all the way up until the July 13 game, but with the top three snubs on Cleveland’s roster being pitchers the odds of making it on to the roster and into the game seem slim.

For that reason, Ramirez will still be the one with the best shot of seeing the field in Colorado. Bieber won’t be able to defend his 2019 MLB All-Star Game MVP crown since he’s hurt and any with only nine innings to play, the odds of seeing an injury replacement pitcher in the game is rather unlikely.

Whether they see the field or not, these three players deserved All-Star status this season based on their performance on the field in the first half. The stats speak for themselves and are very comparable to players who did make the roster. If there are injury replacements at the pitcher position, these three should be at the top of the list.

Cleveland Indians All-Star Snub #1: Aaron Civale

Before he hit the injured list, Aaron Civale was one of the top pitchers in the American League. He was the first, and is still the only, pitcher in the entire MLB to hit double-digit wins with 10 at this point in the season. At the time that he hit the IL he was still holding a 10-2 record over 15 appearances, setting a winning percentage of .833, which leads the American League.

While Civale was effective in picking up wins, his ERA might have hurt his chances a bit in the All-Star Game. Through those 15 starts, Civale registered an ERA of 3.32 and recorded 76 strikeouts with only 23 walks.

While Civale had one more start than Bieber, their stats were rather comparable. Civale had three more wins, two fewer losses, and ERA only 0.04 higher on top of 10 less walks. The only main difference was that Bieber was averaging just shy of six more strikeouts per nine innings.

That’s a strong point to make the difference, but the argument is definitely there that if Bieber is an All-Star, then Civale should be as well. Their season stats are very close and Civale leads the majors in the stat. Not even Bieber can say that right now.

Cleveland Indians All-Star Snub #2: James Karinchak

Moving from the starting rotation to the bullpen, the Cleveland Indians had a pair of backend relievers that could have easily been among those on the All-Star roster for the American League. While the Tribe don’t have a clear cut closer, both that are in the mix have performed well and could make a case to be included on the roster.

Of Cleveland’s 22 saves this season, James Karinchak has logged nine of them. He’s had 10 save opportunities, giving him a 90% success rate in save situations. Totaling 37.1 innings this season, Karinchak has struck out an impressive 64 batters, accounting for 57% of the outs recorded while he’s been on the mound,

The knock against Karinchak is that he has walked 22, but even with that he still has a WHIP below 1.00 at 0.99. Of pitchers with at least 10 save opportunities, only 12 have a WHIP below that mark.

Karinchak’s ERA is also at 2.41 and while that might seem high for a closer, it’s actually pretty solid. Of the 25 pitchers in the MLB with 10 save opportunities or more, only 10 have an ERA lower than Karinchak. That makes him one of six pitchers to have at least 10 save opportunities, an ERA below 2.50 and a WHIP under 1.00. That seems worthy of All-Star consideration.