Bryant’s absence an example of stupidity of All-Star voting
Baseball is a sport that doesn’t know how to market its young stars, a problem magnified every July when the inevitable MLB All-Star Game selections and snubs are announced.
Instead of encouraging fans to vote 5,000 times online, the MLB should just, you know, get it right.
For instance, name one good reason why Chicago Cubs star Kris Bryant isn’t on the team. I’ll give you a minute to think about it ... OK, time’s up. You couldn’t think of a reason because there’s no justifying the sheer stupidity that last year’s National League MVP and one of the game’s top-5 players is missing from the NL roster.
Bryant could’ve made it as a reserve, but instead we have the Pirates’ Josh Harrison and the Rockies’ DJ LeMahieu occupying spots. By the way, Bryant is batting .263/.391/.511. He ranks seventh in the NL in on-base percentage (Harrison is 20th, LeMahieu is 28th). Bryant’s only hope to get in is via last-chance online voting, which is the popularity contest of all popularity contests in professional sports.
The fan vote-in and manager write-in system is way past tired. This is the time of year when MLB should showcase its best young players and not, in the case of Kris Bryant, tell them to stay at home.
*** Once touted as the third baseman of the future, Maikel Franco hasn’t lived up to the hype. It’s hard to imagine him being anything better than a bench player on a first-division team.
Franco hasn’t learned the intricacies of what it takes to be a good hitter. His plate discipline is poor, his pitch recognition is laughably bad.
Since the start of 2016, Franco has produced 1.5 wins above replacement (WAR), including -0.3 this year, according to Baseball Reference. He’s also a defensive liability (-1.5 defensive WAR for his career). If the organization believes in Franco’s potential, it should send him to Lehigh Valley where he can have a chance to salvage what has been a disappointing career, because it isn’t working out with the big club.
*** Don’t listen to the Twitter-ons labelling J.P. Crawford a bust.
One of the youngest players in Triple-A at 22, Crawford hasn’t soared through the system as many expected. The Phillies’ No. 1 prospect has been hampered by a groin injury and inconsistencies at the plate this year, but he has 44 walks in 301 plate appearances (a pace of 100-plus).
Despite his struggles, Crawford still projects as a contact hitter who plays gold-glove caliber defense. His plate discipline and defense alone will make him a potential perennial AllStar.
Since returning from injury June 10, Crawford is slashing .280/.379/.460. If he can keep that pace through the end of the International League season, he will get a cup of coffee with the Phillies in September.