Cubs’ All-Star Snubs: Suzuki, Busch, Hoerner, and Kelly deserved a spot |
Anthony Pasquale
· · 1 day ago
MLB’s All-Star game was the most watched All-Star event across sports this season. It featured an exciting finish with a brand-new tie-breaking home run derby. The Cubs were well represented with Pete Crow-Armstrong and Kyle Tucker, who were named as starters in the outfield for the National League.
PCA and Tucker were about as deserving as you can get, even in a loaded NL outfield race. PCA is on pace for a 40/40 season, all while providing arguably the best defense in the sport. Meanwhile, Tucker has been extremely productive in his first season as a Cub — well on his way to a 30/30 season with an OPS north of .900. Tucker made a nice sliding catch to rob Cal Raleigh of a hit, and PCA hit a double. Matthew Boyd was named as an All-Star pitcher for the National League, for the first time in the veteran’s career. Deservedly so. Boyd leads the Cubs in ERA, innings pitched, strikeouts, and wins — and ranks top 3 in the National League in both wins and ERA. Boyd did not pitch in the midsummer classic in an effort to preserve his arm for the stretch run. But with the Cubs jockeying for the best record in baseball, the contributions extend far beyond that of three players. In fact, there is a strong case to be made for four additional players that many believe should have been All-Stars in 2025. We’ll start with the most egregious of snubs: Seiya Suzuki. The Cubs signed Suzuki to a five-year, $85 million contract ahead of the 2022 season, and Suzuki has turned into a bargain. In each of the last two seasons, Suzuki has ranked as a top-20 hitter in the sport — and in 2025, he has already posted career highs in home runs and RBIs before the All-Star break. In fact, Suzuki led the entire league in runs batted in, which would mark the first time since 1935 that the league leader in RBIs was not an All-Star. Suzuki’s competition at designated hitter has been fierce, especially with Shohei Ohtani’s prowess and fan influence — starting the All-Star game seemed like a tall order. Kyle Schwarber is also enjoying a strong season in Philadelphia — and helped the NL win the All-Star game — so it is not to say the former Cub isn’t deserving, but Suzuki certainly is. Next: Michael Busch. In all baseball, Busch ranks top-10 in OPS — all of the hitters in front of him are All-Stars, as well as the next 9 of 10 hitters behind him. Busch owns better numbers than almost every first baseman in baseball. When compared to the three first basemen that made the All-Star team (Freddie Freeman, Pete Alonso, and Matt Olson), Busch owns the highest batting average, on-base percentage, slugging percentage, OPS, and OPS+. Not to mention, Busch has more home runs and RBIs than the starter Freeman, and a higher WAR than both Freeman and Alonso. With three first basemen elected in the NL, Busch certainly should have been one of them. The next snub, Nico Hoerner. Hoerner leads all second basemen in almost every defensive metric, but is also enjoying a strong season at the plate. In 2025, Hoerner owns a higher WAR than both All-Star second basemen Ketel Marte and Brendan Donovan. He also has just as many hits or more and just as many RBIs or more than both players. When you factor that in offensively and then mix in his stellar defense, it’s hard to see how Hoerner did not earn his first All-Star nod. Finally, Carson Kelly. Kelly started the 2025 season on fire, undoubtedly the NL’s most productive offensive catcher. While he has since cooled off, he still has been posting substantial numbers. Kelly has a higher WAR, a higher on-base percentage, and a higher OPS than Hunter Goodman, the NL’s backup of Will Smith. Goodman is the Rockies' lone representative at the midsummer classic, but does every team truly need an All-Star when they are 50 games below .500? The All-Star game should feature the league’s best players, plain and simple. If that were the case, the Cubs would have been sending seven players to Atlanta instead of three.
