The MLB All Star Game is this weekend, and while some teams are excited about watching their players compete in the ‘Midsummer Classic’, other fans are still scratching their heads.<\/p>\n
MLB All Star Roster Snubs<\/p>\n
One of the biggest storylines surrounding the MLB All Star Game, every season, is who got snubbed.<\/a> In other words, which players were left off the rosters for the game that should be playing. The other side of that coin is what players did\u00a0make the rosters, who shouldn’t have. But sometimes its a little deeper than surface level, which is what’s happening with the Texas Rangers.<\/p>\n St. Louis Cardinals v Chicago White Sox<\/p>\n Photo by Zoe Davis\/Getty Images<\/p>\n There is a rule that says\u00a0every\u00a0MLB team has to have at least one representative on the All Star rosters, no matter how bad they are. Teams like the Chicago White Sox<\/a>, or Colorado Rockies, probably shouldn’t have All Star representation. But MLB forces them to get a spot. So the White Sox have pitcher Shane Smith taking up a roster spot, even though he sports a 3-7 record with a 4.20 ERA through his first 17 starts<\/a>. His WAR (wins above replacement) is 0.6, which compared to most All Star pitchers is extremely low. Right now, the top 10 WAR for starting pitchers in 2025 is between 3.4 and 4.8, with Paul Skenes<\/a> of the Pittsburgh Pirates topping the MLB.<\/p>\n Should Every MLB Team Get One All Star?<\/p>\n The Texas Rangers are in a similar boat to the Chicago White Sox, where they only have one All Star representative. But not every All Star roster spot is the same. While the White Sox have Smith,\u00a0with his\u00a03-7 record\u00a0and 4.20 ERA, the Rangers’ All Star is pitcher Jacob deGrom who has a 9-2 record and a 2.29 ERA in his first 18 starts<\/a>.<\/p>\n Baltimore Orioles v Texas Rangers<\/p>\n Photo by Sam Hodde\/Getty Images<\/p>\n But deGrom <\/a>might not even be the best pitcher on the Rangers’ roster. Which is where the snub category and ‘every team represented’ rule clash.<\/p>\n Texas Rangers Pitcher Nathan Eovaldi Is An All Star Snub<\/p>\n The Texas Rangers also have pitcher Nathan Eovaldi, who might be having a better season than deGrom<\/a>, but was left off the All Star roster. Through his first 14 starts, Eovaldi is 5-3 with a 1.75 ERA…including a “Maddux Game” this year. <\/a>That means he threw a complete game shutout in less than 100 pitches. He shutdown the Cincinnati Reds in April on 99 pitches with 8 strikeouts. Even though he has less wins that deGrom, he has more strikeouts-per-nine-innings, a better strike-out-to-walk ratio, and a better WHIP.<\/p>\n Texas Rangers v San Francisco Giants<\/p>\n Photo by Ezra Shaw\/Getty Images<\/p>\n