Major League Baseball announced the reserves for the All-Star Game, with no Diamondbacks being named to the National League roster. Naturally, that raises the question of first baseman Christian Walker getting snubbed.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!When addressing the topic of a good player getting snubbed from one of the game’s highest honors, we have to start with who got in. For the National League, Bryce Harper is named the starter with Freddie Freeman and Pete Alonso named as the reserves. Alonso is the lone representative for the New York Mets, which likely hurt Walker’s case.
On paper, the numbers favor Walker over Alonso in roughly the same number of plate appearances. However, the issue at hand is the representation rules. Every team gets at least one All-Star named to the initial roster. With Ketel Marte named the starting second baseman for the NL, there was no guarantee anyone else on the Diamondbacks would be named.
There’s also the issue of Bryce Harper and his hamstring injury. Reports out of Philadelphia are the Phillies’ first baseman is on track to come off the 10-day injured list before the All-Star break. Walker is a potential replacement candidate should Harper elect to bow out of the All-Star game. Since Harper was the leading vote-getter for the entire NL in the fan vote, the league has the discretion on who will be the replacement.
Walker is enjoying another excellent season, batting .268 with 22 home runs and 64 RBI in 90 games. He’s on track for another 30 home run, 100 RBI season as the main run producer on a Diamondbacks squad in the hunt for a Wild Card spot. He’s also on track for his third consecutive Gold Glove Award at the first base. He’s third amongst National League first basemen in bWAR at 2.8 entering play on July 7.
It’s worth noting much of that damage came in the Dodgers series, where he went 8-for-13 with five home runs in his favorite ballpark. Walker generated a lot of headlines for his dominance at Dodger Stadium. That series gave his season numbers a big boost to make it a lopsided matchup vs. Alonso when their offensive numbers were relatively close for much of the season.
However, that strong series perhaps came too late to save his All-Star candidacy. Theo Mackie of the Arizona Republic reported earlier in the week that the player votes were cast by Sunday.
Player/coach voting for All-Star reserves closed on Sunday. Tough break for Christian Walker, who has hit three homers in two games since then.
But the league office selects injury replacements, which could be relevant if Harper isn’t back in time.
— Theo Mackie (@theo_mackie) July 4, 2024
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Michael McDermott covers the Arizona Diamondbacks and more for Burn City Sports. You can follow him on X via @MichaelMcDMLB
