Why Rays' Wander Franco Isn't An All-Star Yet And How He Still Can Be

ST. PETERSBURG — There was no word on Monday about the addition of substitutes to the American League All-Star team, meaning Rays shortstop Wander Franco remains among the biggest snubs.

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Franco is considered the top positional player in the AL with a 4.2 WAR by Baseball-Reference.com and has an impressive stat line that includes an .283 average, nine homers, 42 RBIs, 26 steals and an .802 OPS.

But he wasn’t voted into the team by fans, who overwhelmingly chose Corey Seager of Texas as their starting shortstop in place of Toronto’s Bo Bichette, and put Franco a distant third in the second of the two publicly released updates. Houston’s Jeremy Pena was fourth.

Franco was also not chosen by the players who favored Bichette by a slim margin over Seager. (The other top players in the player vote will not be published.)

Under the current system, the first place finisher in player voting is added to the team as a reserve if they weren’t the fan-chosen starter. If the same player wins both votes, the runner-up player pick is added.

That’s why Toronto’s Whit Merrifield — despite a .282 walking stat, two home runs, 30 RBIs and a .700 OPS — is on the team because this seems to be a popular question: He finished second in player voting at second base .

Players also choose eight pitchers — five starters (including the Rays’ Shane McClanahan) and three relievers.

With everything settled, Major League Baseball officials, in consultation with the All-Star manager — this year Houston’s Dusty Baker — complete the remainder of the 32-man roster.

Her top priority is making sure all teams that made up five of their seven picks on the AL roster are represented: Royals catcher Salvador Perez, White Sox outfielder Luis Robert Jr. and pitcher Luis Castillo (Mariners), Kenley Jansen (Red Sox). and Michael Lorenzen (Tigers).

The other two additions to the league were pitchers: Toronto’s Kevin Gausman and Houston’s Framber Valdez.

That’s why Franco isn’t in the team yet.

As he is expected to join the team, he will be selected by MLB to replace a position player who is injured or otherwise unable to attend the July 11 game in Seattle.

There will be at least two such changes as fan-chosen outfielder Aaron Judge (Yankees) and player-chosen 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 is statistically among the best players in the game counts.

B-Lowe wants to return

Infielder Vidal Brujan was selected for Triple-A Durham on Monday’s non-game, clearing the way for second baseman Brandon Lowe, who was left off the injured list. Lowe last played in the majors on June 3 after being sidelined with a back problem that was later diagnosed with a herniated disc. In a five-game rehab stint between the Florida Complex League team and Durham, he won 4 of 17. Before being sidelined, he hit .205 with nine home runs, 29 RBIs and a .696 OPS.

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national perspective

After losing eight of their last 14 games and 11 of 21, the Rays face a challenging final week before the All-Star break, which will see a resurgent Phillies and the Braves’ top baseball players. “These are two teams that we don’t see that often during the regular season, but we get to know them a little better in spring training,” said manager Kevin Cash. “These are pretty high-profile casts. So we have to make sure that we are on the right track when it comes to implementing the pitches.”

various

Infielder Yandy Diaz not only returned from the road trip as an all-star starter, but also led the AL in batting average (.318) and percentage on base (.403). He is second behind Shohei Ohtani in the OPS (.914). …Team President Matt Silverman and other Rays officials toured Seattle’s T-Mobile Park as part of their ongoing intelligence gathering process at stadiums and arenas. … The first pitches will be thrown Tuesday by Rays baseball staffers Eduardo Sanchez and Wilson Made, who recently received US citizenship. … Tickets for the weekend series against the Braves are selling well.

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