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Tuesday, July 14 in Philadelphia.
Bob Nightengale reporting the Cardinals have their first All-Star locked in: Oli Marmol will be on Dave Roberts’ coaching staff, along with Don Mattingly. https://t.co/fgiAfC36dP
— Jeff Jones (@jmjones) June 7, 2026
I’m actually more interested in who is named reserves than the results of the fan vote. JJ deserves an All Star appearance. Him and Walker are the two who deserve it in my opinion.
Congrats to Jordan Walker for being a first time all-star.
Thought JJ and O’Brien might make it but they didn’t.Still have a week for players to opt out and perhaps one or both Cardinals would be invited instead.
We very could have a slew of Cardinals getting the nod in the 2027 All Star game. Unfortunately, I presently don’t see any pitchers on the radar for this coveted distinction. JJ, Burly, Walker, Winn, Herrera and even Church are viable candidates.
Years of hard work and perseverance 💪
The moment Jordan Walker found out he's heading to the All-Star Game: pic.twitter.com/YiQdzU2TxO
— St. Louis Cardinals (@Cardinals) July 4, 2026
The Boston Red Sox have two of the biggest All-Star snubs: Willson Contreras and Sonny Gray.
— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) July 4, 2026
Great to see Junior get his first of what is hopefully many ASG appearances!
Yeah, the two ex-Cards Sonny and Willson are tearing it up. Sonny at 10-1 with a 2.61 ERA for a sub-.500 team. Willson with 19 jacks and already has accumulated 3.5 bWAR. Add those two back to our club and we might be right there with the Crew. But Contreras would put Burleson in left field, which early on might have also been a plus as his bat would have helped a lot.
And I am not sure how much the Monster is helping him. Sonny though – man, he would be a nice presence.
Gray is the only questionable trade. He was a good pitcher, when healthy. Fitts, Clarke and Galle have promise but each have their concerns to reach that promise. The Cardinals ended up paying a very large part of Gray’s remaining salary obligations and could use him in the rotation.
The fan voting really hurt the Cardinals.
Atlanta’s Ozzie Albies has just 1.8 fWAR, which is only seventh among NL second basemen, but he was selected as the NL starter by the fan vote.
The other 2B on the roster is Luis Arraez (3.4), selected by the players.
Wetherholt is first among NL 2Bmen at 3.8 and third highest among all NL position players and was passed over.
The fan voting is part production and part popularity. It’s great to get the fans involved but you have the popularity part to deal with. There was that year back in the ‘50s when the NL team was 7 Reds and Stan I think. But management stepped in and overruled most of those elected.
What is it about second base? The top vote getter in the AL (all positions) is Toronto’s Ernie Clement, fourth of seven qualifiers at his position in fWAR.
A lot of people would be happier with an All Stats game. A computer could determine the roster. But the All Star game with a fan vote is the bone thrown to the fans by MLB, which otherwise doesn’t care what we think or want. Besides, since 2016 it doesn’t matter who wins.
It didn’t matter who won the AS game prior to 2003 either, but in days of yore I can recall when the players played the game almost as if the lives of their children hung in the balance of the outcome. The only motivation they needed was a strong sense of professional pride and a burning desire to win.
Red Sox 1B Willson Contreras joins his brother, Brewers catcher William Contreras, at the All Star Game. Willson Contreras replaces Vladimir Guerrero Jr. on the AL team.
— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) July 7, 2026
As a kid this was such a fun event. I never missed a game or even an inning. If the league and players don’t take the game seriously, then how in the heck do they expect us to? I haven’t watched a baseball all star game in it’s entirety for at least 15 years. The only event worth watching is the home run contest…….because the players actually want to win.
I still like the game and watch it. But it was better when the leagues were autonomous. Now with MLB one big league, the game does not have the sense of “our league is better than yours” like it once had. I still have a vivid mental image of my mom’s parents visiting us in the summer of 1970, and me, my dad and my grandpa all watching the game. Pete Rose bowling over Ray Fosse…man, that was classic. Real hard-nosed baseball.
But I tell ya, I liked that game last year where they had the three guys square off in a home run contest to decide it. Real rogue, but I thought it was cool.
I don’t follow the all star game like I used to. As others have mentioned the players don’t seem to care about it like they once did. One other tidbit that irks me is the fact that the players don’t wear their teams uniforms anymore.
IMO, this is a major “look for the positive” stretch. In 2022, Albert was 42 years or and in his last season as a player. He had nothing to lose. The only thing similar to Walker, IMO, is that they played for the same team.
Don't have to look far for hand-wringing about Jordan Walker participating in the Home Run Derby, and yet I've not seen on here one mention of this anecdote:
Pre derby — .215 BA, .376 SLG, 6 HR
Post — .323 BA, .715 SLG, 18 HRPujols, Albert c. 2022https://t.co/OXQaZu6H24
— Derrick Goold (@dgoold) July 10, 2026
All-Star Iván! 🌟
Iván Herrera has been named to his first National League All-Star Team! pic.twitter.com/BKw4M1I9j1
— St. Louis Cardinals (@Cardinals) July 10, 2026
gscottar said:
I don’t follow the all star game like I used to. As others have mentioned the players don’t seem to care about it like they once did. One other tidbit that irks me is the fact that the players don’t wear their teams uniforms anymore.
Yes they do. They went back to wearing their team jerseys last year.
They don’t for the events prior to the game, like the Home Run Derby, but they do for the game.
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