ANAHEIM, Calif. — Each summer brings with it some omissions for the All-Star Game roster. On Saturday, two Red Sox players who were thought to be good bets for inclusion on the AL roster were, instead, left off.
First baseman Willson Contreras was not chosen despite his 18 homers and 53 RBI and a slugging percentage of .532. Contreras ranked second in WAR (2.8) as calculated by FanGraphs among AL first baseman — only the Athletics' Nick Kurtz (3.5) had a higher figure.
Sonny Gray, who started Saturday night in the second game of the Red Sox' nine-game road trip, was 9-1 with a 2.69 ERA that would have ranked him fourth among AL starters had he qualified. Gray missed some time in April on the IL, and that absence prevented him from qualifying.
"The way I look at it is," said interim manager Chad Tracy, "we do have a couple more players who, when you look at the numbers and what they've done, are definitely deserving. I'm still holding out hope. Between now and when the All-Star Game happens, there's so much roster fluctuation. It happens every year, where people can't go or get hurt or things happen. So I'm still holding out hope that there's a couple more guys (selected) on our team that I feel are deserving, no question about it."
"I'm not disappointed," said Contreras. "I try not to build up too many expectations when it comes to the All-Star Game. But if you ask me if I feel like I'm personally deserving, I would tell you, 'Yes.' But talking about with my teammates, I wasn't filling my head up with illusions of being on the team."
First baseman Willson Contreras was not chosen despite his 18 homers and 53 RBI and a slugging percentage of .532. Contreras ranked second in WAR (2.8) as calculated by FanGraphs among AL first baseman — only the Athletics' Nick Kurtz (3.5) had a higher figure.
Sonny Gray, who started Saturday night in the second game of the Red Sox' nine-game road trip, was 9-1 with a 2.69 ERA that would have ranked him fourth among AL starters had he qualified. Gray missed some time in April on the IL, and that absence prevented him from qualifying.
"The way I look at it is," said interim manager Chad Tracy, "we do have a couple more players who, when you look at the numbers and what they've done, are definitely deserving. I'm still holding out hope. Between now and when the All-Star Game happens, there's so much roster fluctuation. It happens every year, where people can't go or get hurt or things happen. So I'm still holding out hope that there's a couple more guys (selected) on our team that I feel are deserving, no question about it."
"I'm not disappointed," said Contreras. "I try not to build up too many expectations when it comes to the All-Star Game. But if you ask me if I feel like I'm personally deserving, I would tell you, 'Yes.' But talking about with my teammates, I wasn't filling my head up with illusions of being on the team."
3 months ago
