The first thing we as baseball fans want to do whenever the MLB All-Star Game rosters are announced is to pick them apart. We want to look where the fan vote was wrong, where there might be some good debate about starters versus reserves, and most importantly, who the biggest snubs are from the American League and National League. And who am I to deny that conversation from happening?
So looking at both the AL and NL rosters, these are the five players that look like the most obvious and egregious snubs from the All-Star Game. Moreover, since it’s always said when you talk about snubs, I’ve also pinpointed the players currently on the roster who these snubs deserved to be representing their respective leagues more than.
Brice Turang, 2B – Milwaukee Brewers
Who he should replace: Ozzie Albies
The Milwaukee Brewers have the second-best record in all of baseball, and yet their biggest offensive weapon, second baseman Brice Turang, didn’t get the nod to go to the All-Star Game for the National League. And beyond just the team that the infielder plays on, that doesn’t make even an ounce of sense given how good Turang has been this season.
Turang is third among NL second basemen in terms of fWAR (3.2) behind only JJ Wetherholt and Luis Arraez. But he’s also tied for the highest wRC+ at the position and has the second-best OPS among second basemen as well at .824. And he’s just done it across the board at the plate. He has 12 home runs, 20 doubles and three triples with 51 RBI and 62 runs scored while also stealing 13 bases.
Everywhere you look, he’s been checking the right boxes. And while Ozzie Albies and the Braves might be playing on an overall more star-laden and exciting team, Turang has quite clearly been the better player as he has the edge over Albies in everything but home runs this season.
With all due respect to Albies, who has enjoyed a delightfully resurgent 2026 season, the fact of the matter is that he’s not been one of the best second basemen in the NL, at least in terms of the limited All-Star spots available. Turang is far more deserving of that honor and distinction.
Davis Martin, SP – Chicago White Sox
Who he should replace: Michael Wacha
Quite frankly, the majority of the Chicago White Sox feel like they were overlooked when it came to the American League selections for the All-Star Game. You can understand Munetaka Murakami being left off due to injury, and Miguel Vargas obviously got the nod. However, that doesn’t make it any less egregious that Davis Martin was left off the roster based on how good he’s been for the Southsiders this year.
Martin has established himself as a stalwart in the White Sox rotation thus far in the 2026 season. He’s ninth among AL starters with at least 80 innings pitched in ERA (3.08) and top 25 in terms of WHIP. And for the old-school people out there, he’s tied for second in the American League in wins with a 9-3 record on the year.
To be sure, Martin hasn’t been an overwhelming force like a Cam Schlittler or a host of others in the National League, but he’s been All-Star-caliber beyond a shadow of a doubt. And unfortunately for Michael Wacha, Martin has just been the better pitcher.
Wacha has a worse ERA, K-BB% and a lower fWAR than Martin on the season. Yes, he has the better WHIP, but he just hasn’t had the same statistical success overall, and that’s before you even mention that Wacha has just a 5-6 record for the lowly Royals. Martin should’ve been the next representative of this surging White Sox team instead of Wacha getting the nod out of Kansas City.
Zack Wheeler, SP – Philadelphia Phillies
Who he should replace: Logan Webb
In all honesty, the only thing really working against Zack Wheeler as an All-Star candidate is the fact that the Philadelphia Phillies star has made just 13 starts and gone 80.0 innings on the season. Once you get beyond that, however, it’s hard to make a real case that he doesn’t deserve to be in the mix for the National League, because the veteran righty has been downright dominant on the bump.
Among NL pitchers with 80 or more innings pitched this season, Wheeler ranks sixth in ERA (2.36) and third in WHIP (0.94). He’s striking out 27.3 percent of the batters faced (10th-best in the NL) while walking only 6.5 percent of batters faced at this point as well. Oh, and make however much of this you please, but he’s 8-1 on the season as well. Whatever metric you want to look at, Wheeler has checked the boxes across the board since getting back on the mound for the Phils.
And that’s where you have to look at someone like Logan Webb. Based on pedigree, we know he’s one of the most well-respected starters in baseball, but his performance hasn’t totally been up to snuff this season. Despite two more starts and 13.1 more innings, he has a lower fWAR than Wheeler on the season, which goes along with a relatively pedestrian (by his standards) 3.66 ERA, not to mention his 5-6 record on the year.
If you’re looking for the best pitchers this season who have put in enough work to say it’s not just a small sample size, I truly don’t know how you would look at Wheeler and say he’s not been better than Webb — and Webb isn’t even the only one in that conversation. That’s just how good the Philadelphia right-hander has been.
JJ Wetherholt, 2B – St. Louis Cardinals
Who he should replace: Sal Stewart
Pete Crow-Aromstrong and Otto Lopez are No. 1 and 2, respectively, in terms of fWAR earned by non-pitchers in the National League to this point in the season. And right behind them is St. Louis Cardinals rookie JJ Wetherholt. The one thing that sets Wetherholt apart from that duo at the top, however, is that they are heading to Philly as an All-Star while Wetherholt is going to be at home.
But rather than argue that both of the second baseman on the National League roster, Albies and now Luis Arraez, should be left off in favor of other players, I’m actually going to give Arraez his deserved due in this spot and say that, instead, it should be Sal Stewart who should be left off in favor of Wetherholt.
Just among NL second basemen, the Cardinals youngster is first in fWAR, sixth in OPS and fourth in wRC+, while also being one of the best overall defensive players in baseball already. He’s been electric and getting it done routinely since getting called up to start this season in St. Louis. The only thing that Stewart really has an advantage over him is the power numbers, but that shouldn’t be what gives him the nod over a more complete player like Wetherholt.
Especially for a team in St. Louis that has been one of the most fun surprises in MLB this season, it feels like getting another one of their young, ascending stars on the All-Star roster would’ve been the correct inclusion here.
Willson Contreras, 1B – Boston Red Sox
Who he should replace: Vladimir Guerrero Jr.
The undeserving nature of Vladimir Guerrero Jr. as an All-Star this season has already been covered widely at this point, especially considering that the prevailing question has been what’s wrong with the Blue Jays star rather than how he’s on an All-Star trajectory. But if you’re talking about the player who deserves to fill that spot on the roster, it’s Willson Contreras.
Now, to be fair to the situation, if Vladdy wasn’t on the roster, then the Athletics’ young star, Nick Kurtz, would then be the rightful starter in the American League. However, Contreras has been flat-out awesome and by far the best part of an overall woeful Boston Red Sox team this season, particularly offensively.
Contreras is behind only Kurtz this season in terms of fWAR at 2.9 on the season while sporting the fourth-best OPS (.914) and wRC+ (150) among American League first basemen. His 19 home runs are also tied for fourth among AL players at the position well, and he’s done all of this while also being one of the better defensive first baseman in baseball.
Make no mistake, Contreras being a bit of a lightning rod for outbursts and kerfuffles certainly doesn’t help his case. However, if we’re talking about the players whose performance on the field says that they should be an All-Star, there’s no world in which the Red Sox veteran deserved to be left off the roster.
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