Tarik Skubal becoming an MLB All-Star was a foregone conclusion. The Detroit Tigers ace and one of the best pitchers in baseball has dominated on the hill this season for a team with a 13.5 game lead in their division and the best record in baseball (57–34).
The lefthander officially earned his All-Star bid Sunday when each league's pitchers and reserve position players were announced, joining the starters who were announced earlier this week. Was Skubal happy with his second All-Star appearance? Sure. But he may have been more disappointed for his teammates who didn't hear their names called.
"To be honest, I’m a little disappointed with only the four guys we got," Skubal said Sunday via The Athletic's Cody Stavenhagen. "I think there’s a lot more deserving guys on our team. We got the best record in the American League. I would like to think we’d be more represented there."
In addition to Skubal, the Tigers have three All-Stars—Gleyber Torres, Riley Greene and Javier Báez—who all got in as starters. Four is a big number with a finite amount of spots, but Skubal's comments may have been sparked because he was the only Tiger to become an All-Star Sunday when the pitching staffs and reserve position players were announced. Spencer Torkelson and Zach McKinstry both have decent cases to get in as reserves, while Detroit's No. 2 starter Casey Mize has nine wins with his own argument to join Skubal on the AL All-Star staff.
The National League-leading Los Angeles Dodgers got five players in—three position players and two pitchers. The Seattle Mariners (48–42) tied Detroit with four All-Stars. More Tigers could make their way into the Midsummer Classic as replacement players if they are needed and chosen by the league, but their ace thinks that shouldn't need to be the case considering their incredible season so far.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Tarik Skubal Didn't Mince Words About Tigers Teammates Left Off AL All-Star Team.
