July 12, 2025 • 11 mins
Sounding off on this year’s MLB All Star voting, particularly a questionable All Star reserve pick over some guys who definitely deserve to be there more. I mean it is a glorified popularity contest after all…
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome to Pag's Perspective with your host Ryan Pagano. All Right,
so it is much of a secret that MLB All
Star voting has been a joke for years now. What
I've been arguing for as long as I can remember
is that All Star voters aren't voting on who actually
(00:23):
deserves to make it to the All Star Game. They're
merely voting, if anything, based off who's the most popular
in the league. Like the All Star voting has become
a popularity contest. And never has this been more clear
than with this season. I'm really fired up about this
today because Jacob Misarowski, the rookie starting pitcher on the
(00:48):
Milwaukee Breweries, He's had a very good start to his career. Okay,
that isn't to be denied whatsoever. And I mean just
look at his stats through his first five starts in
the big leagues. And I say first five because those
are his only appearances in Major League Baseball up to
this point. He's had a really solid start to his career.
(01:10):
And he's only a couple months older than me. Okay,
So four and one record, two point eight to one ERA,
thirty three strikeouts and twenty five and two thirds innings.
That's not too bad for somebody who just made his
big league debut a few months back. But it was
(01:36):
just announced that ms Rowski was going to be named
an All Star reserve, replacing Matt Boyd of the Chicago Cubs,
who's not going to be able to pitch in the
game on Tuesday, as he's going to be making a
start today. Of course, IMLB has rules where if you
pitch on the weekend right before the All Star Game,
(01:58):
you're not allowed to pitch during the actual game itself
to try to protect pitcher's arms and all that. And
I like that rule gives us more of an opportunity
to see more replacement All Stars, but not when these
All Stars have only pitched five games in Major League Baseball.
All right, all of his career appearances in the big
(02:21):
so far can be counted on one hand one even
if it was Chubbs doing the counting. And yes, I
did just make a Happy Gilmore reference there, Thanks for asking,
But this is just such a joke. And look, I
have nothing against ms Roski whatsoever. It's a good pitcher.
(02:47):
He's only going to get better from here. He's somebody
that I've been rooting for to succeed since its very
first start in the BIGS, and this will definitely be
the first of many more All Star appearances to come
for him. I'm sure not to mention when he found
out about getting voted in by National League manager Dave
(03:10):
Roberts as a replacement reserve, he seemed pretty happy and
humble to have been named to the All Star Team
and breaking Paul Skeens's record by the way of least
amount appearances in the majors before making it to an
All Star team. I don't know, this feels a bit
(03:30):
different because Skeens, I believe, made eleven starts before getting
voted to the n All Star Team just last season,
but that was different. Though he pitched in a majority
of his team's games up to that point, so that's
a little bit different. You could at least count the
(03:51):
number of Skens's appearances before his first All Star Game
on more than one hand, more than both of your hands, actually,
But to be named an All Star after five starts,
I mean that just rubs me the wrong way. It's
rubbing so many other people the wrong way. And you
know who's no exception to that. The Philadelphia Phillies. They're
(04:16):
really fired up about this because they've got two of
their own who definitely deserve to make the All Star Team.
I'd say, and this is coming from a fan of
a division rival, saying that these guys deserve to make
it to the All Star Team. I just want to
give you some quotes from a few Philadelphia Phillies who
(04:38):
found out about miss Rowski's All Star appearance. Tray Turner,
he certainly was not one to hold back, saying, quote,
it's not the All Star Game in the sense that
the best players go there or people who have had
the best season. It's whoever sells the most tickets or
has been put on social media the most. And they're
not wrong. They're considering that Christopher Sayanchez and Ranger Suarez,
(05:01):
they both had really good campaigns up to this point,
and I'd argue that both of them heavily deserve to
be on the team over a kid who only made
five starts up to this point. And just for smantic context,
Christopher Sanchez very impressive season seven to two record, two
(05:22):
point six EIGHTYRA, one hundred and eight strikeouts in one
hundred and two thirds innings in seventeen games, and for
Ranger Suarez twelve games but same record, one point nine
to ninety ra seventy three strikeouts in seventy seven innings pitched.
Both of these guys are very worthy of making it
to the NL All Stars. And I'm saying this is
(05:45):
a fan of a division rival guys, a division rival,
by the way, who just had one of their own
starting pitchers named to the All Star team, David Peterson, which,
by the way, congratulations to him. I'm making his first
All Star appearance now, Wood, Sanchez, and Suarez deserved that
spot over Peterson. I feel like you can make that case,
(06:10):
although Pete, I gotta give it to him at a point.
For the New York Mets, where most of their starting
pitchers have dealt with injuries, mostly with Coodei Sanga being
out the past month. Of course, he returned just yesterday
against the Royals and Sean Maniyah, their big offseason acquisition.
(06:34):
On the pitching side of things, he hasn't even pitched
a game this season yet. I believe he's still expected
to come back past the All Star break, but that's
still a pretty far timeline considering that most of us
were expecting him to be back long ago, and I'm
talking like early June. He was supposed to be back
(06:56):
here and given the Mets some quality starts, but it
has happened yet. Pete, he's really continuing his twenty twenty
four successes where he really broke out after missing the
start of the season with injury, carrying that success over
into twenty twenty five six and four record, three point
zero six cra ninety three strikeouts and one hundred and
(07:19):
nine innings pitched eighteen starts. By the way, for him. Now,
looking at this from an unbiased Mets fan perspective, should
Suarez or Sanchez have made it over Peterson, I feel
like the argument really is there. I mean, both of them,
in my opinion, have had statistically better seasons compared to
(07:43):
David Peterson. Again, this isn't to diminish any of the
great seasons that these players have had up to this point,
because they've both done what they've needed to do to
try to get to this point of being named All
Star worthy. Even for Peterson in a Misrowski, both of
them have pitched great seasons. I have nothing against them whatsoever.
(08:04):
They're both great pitchers in their own right, definitely far
better than me, I'll tell you that much. But isn't
the point of the All Star Game, after all, supposed
to be voting the guys in who you deserve to
be there. And this has nothing to do with Kershaw
(08:24):
being named a Legends pick or whatever by Commissioner Manfred
But I'm just talking about the reserve selection process as
a whole. It's merely become a joke, and it's been
that way for about as long as I can live.
I mean, when I think back to the All Star
(08:46):
selections just being a damn joke, I think all the
way back to two thousand and two, very controversial All
Star Game in and of itself, but I distinctly remember
both managers choosing their own players to fill out some
of the reserve spots on both All Star rosters over
(09:07):
guys who definitely deserved it more in my opinion, like,
for example, Joe Torre, the ale manager on that side
in two thousand and two, but he picked Robin Ventura,
his own third baseman, to be on the roster, over
Eric Chavez, who definitely deserved it way more, was having
(09:32):
a statistically better season and by the way, he never
made an All Star appearance. Probably one of, if not
the greatest player of all time to never make an
All Star team, right up there with Tim Salmon. And
the same can be said for the National League side.
National League manager Bob Brenley of the two thousand and
(09:52):
one World champion Arizona Diamondbacks, he picked his own backstop,
Damian Miller, to make it to the All Star Team
over paul A Duca of the Dodgers, who was having
a really good season and deserved it more. Now, unlike
which Chavez, Laduca would at least make some All Star
teams in his career, including with the Mets, So that's
(10:13):
not as bad, i'd say, But still, it's been a
popularity contest for years and it's only gonna continue to
be this way. So here, on this beautiful Saturday before
the All Star Game, the one prompt that I have
for you all here, and I hope a lot of
(10:36):
you can agree with me on this, although if you
were to disagree, can't say I fault you for that. Hey,
that's the glory of having our different opinions in the end.
But let's go back to having the All Star Game
consists of the players who actually deserve to be there
(10:56):
and not just because they made a good first impression
of live starts. All right, can we go back to that,
because I sure as hell would love to, A lot
of baseball fans would sure as hell love to, and
that way, you want to get Phillies players like Nick
Castiano's comparing the All Star Game voting to the Savannah Bananas, which,
by the way, that's another quote from a Philadelphia Philly
(11:17):
that I didn't mention earlier. Se Yeah, for once, I
did not think I was gonna be saying this as
a Mets fan, but for once, I have sympathy for
the Philadelphia Phillies. That's kind of wild if you ask me,
But from an unbiased perspective, yes, I feel their frustration completely,
and I'm just really hopeful that we can go back
(11:40):
to having these All Star spots be deserved. It's the
way it was back in the day. There's no reason
that it can be now. Happy All Star Game weekend,
everybody
Welcome to Pag's Perspective with your host Ryan Pagano. All Right,
so it is much of a secret that MLB All
Star voting has been a joke for years now. What
I've been arguing for as long as I can remember
is that All Star voters aren't voting on who actually
(00:23):
deserves to make it to the All Star Game. They're
merely voting, if anything, based off who's the most popular
in the league. Like the All Star voting has become
a popularity contest. And never has this been more clear
than with this season. I'm really fired up about this
today because Jacob Misarowski, the rookie starting pitcher on the
(00:48):
Milwaukee Breweries, He's had a very good start to his career. Okay,
that isn't to be denied whatsoever. And I mean just
look at his stats through his first five starts in
the big leagues. And I say first five because those
are his only appearances in Major League Baseball up to
this point. He's had a really solid start to his career.
(01:10):
And he's only a couple months older than me. Okay,
So four and one record, two point eight to one ERA,
thirty three strikeouts and twenty five and two thirds innings.
That's not too bad for somebody who just made his
big league debut a few months back. But it was
(01:36):
just announced that ms Rowski was going to be named
an All Star reserve, replacing Matt Boyd of the Chicago Cubs,
who's not going to be able to pitch in the
game on Tuesday, as he's going to be making a
start today. Of course, IMLB has rules where if you
pitch on the weekend right before the All Star Game,
(01:58):
you're not allowed to pitch during the actual game itself
to try to protect pitcher's arms and all that. And
I like that rule gives us more of an opportunity
to see more replacement All Stars, but not when these
All Stars have only pitched five games in Major League Baseball.
All right, all of his career appearances in the big
(02:21):
so far can be counted on one hand one even
if it was Chubbs doing the counting. And yes, I
did just make a Happy Gilmore reference there, Thanks for asking,
But this is just such a joke. And look, I
have nothing against ms Roski whatsoever. It's a good pitcher.
(02:47):
He's only going to get better from here. He's somebody
that I've been rooting for to succeed since its very
first start in the BIGS, and this will definitely be
the first of many more All Star appearances to come
for him. I'm sure not to mention when he found
out about getting voted in by National League manager Dave
(03:10):
Roberts as a replacement reserve, he seemed pretty happy and
humble to have been named to the All Star Team
and breaking Paul Skeens's record by the way of least
amount appearances in the majors before making it to an
All Star team. I don't know, this feels a bit
(03:30):
different because Skeens, I believe, made eleven starts before getting
voted to the n All Star Team just last season,
but that was different. Though he pitched in a majority
of his team's games up to that point, so that's
a little bit different. You could at least count the
(03:51):
number of Skens's appearances before his first All Star Game
on more than one hand, more than both of your hands, actually,
But to be named an All Star after five starts,
I mean that just rubs me the wrong way. It's
rubbing so many other people the wrong way. And you
know who's no exception to that. The Philadelphia Phillies. They're
(04:16):
really fired up about this because they've got two of
their own who definitely deserve to make the All Star Team.
I'd say, and this is coming from a fan of
a division rival, saying that these guys deserve to make
it to the All Star Team. I just want to
give you some quotes from a few Philadelphia Phillies who
(04:38):
found out about miss Rowski's All Star appearance. Tray Turner,
he certainly was not one to hold back, saying, quote,
it's not the All Star Game in the sense that
the best players go there or people who have had
the best season. It's whoever sells the most tickets or
has been put on social media the most. And they're
not wrong. They're considering that Christopher Sayanchez and Ranger Suarez,
(05:01):
they both had really good campaigns up to this point,
and I'd argue that both of them heavily deserve to
be on the team over a kid who only made
five starts up to this point. And just for smantic context,
Christopher Sanchez very impressive season seven to two record, two
(05:22):
point six EIGHTYRA, one hundred and eight strikeouts in one
hundred and two thirds innings in seventeen games, and for
Ranger Suarez twelve games but same record, one point nine
to ninety ra seventy three strikeouts in seventy seven innings pitched.
Both of these guys are very worthy of making it
to the NL All Stars. And I'm saying this is
(05:45):
a fan of a division rival guys, a division rival,
by the way, who just had one of their own
starting pitchers named to the All Star team, David Peterson, which,
by the way, congratulations to him. I'm making his first
All Star appearance now, Wood, Sanchez, and Suarez deserved that
spot over Peterson. I feel like you can make that case,
(06:10):
although Pete, I gotta give it to him at a point.
For the New York Mets, where most of their starting
pitchers have dealt with injuries, mostly with Coodei Sanga being
out the past month. Of course, he returned just yesterday
against the Royals and Sean Maniyah, their big offseason acquisition.
(06:34):
On the pitching side of things, he hasn't even pitched
a game this season yet. I believe he's still expected
to come back past the All Star break, but that's
still a pretty far timeline considering that most of us
were expecting him to be back long ago, and I'm
talking like early June. He was supposed to be back
(06:56):
here and given the Mets some quality starts, but it
has happened yet. Pete, he's really continuing his twenty twenty
four successes where he really broke out after missing the
start of the season with injury, carrying that success over
into twenty twenty five six and four record, three point
zero six cra ninety three strikeouts and one hundred and
(07:19):
nine innings pitched eighteen starts. By the way, for him. Now,
looking at this from an unbiased Mets fan perspective, should
Suarez or Sanchez have made it over Peterson, I feel
like the argument really is there. I mean, both of them,
in my opinion, have had statistically better seasons compared to
(07:43):
David Peterson. Again, this isn't to diminish any of the
great seasons that these players have had up to this point,
because they've both done what they've needed to do to
try to get to this point of being named All
Star worthy. Even for Peterson in a Misrowski, both of
them have pitched great seasons. I have nothing against them whatsoever.
(08:04):
They're both great pitchers in their own right, definitely far
better than me, I'll tell you that much. But isn't
the point of the All Star Game, after all, supposed
to be voting the guys in who you deserve to
be there. And this has nothing to do with Kershaw
(08:24):
being named a Legends pick or whatever by Commissioner Manfred
But I'm just talking about the reserve selection process as
a whole. It's merely become a joke, and it's been
that way for about as long as I can live.
I mean, when I think back to the All Star
(08:46):
selections just being a damn joke, I think all the
way back to two thousand and two, very controversial All
Star Game in and of itself, but I distinctly remember
both managers choosing their own players to fill out some
of the reserve spots on both All Star rosters over
(09:07):
guys who definitely deserved it more in my opinion, like,
for example, Joe Torre, the ale manager on that side
in two thousand and two, but he picked Robin Ventura,
his own third baseman, to be on the roster, over
Eric Chavez, who definitely deserved it way more, was having
(09:32):
a statistically better season and by the way, he never
made an All Star appearance. Probably one of, if not
the greatest player of all time to never make an
All Star team, right up there with Tim Salmon. And
the same can be said for the National League side.
National League manager Bob Brenley of the two thousand and
(09:52):
one World champion Arizona Diamondbacks, he picked his own backstop,
Damian Miller, to make it to the All Star Team
over paul A Duca of the Dodgers, who was having
a really good season and deserved it more. Now, unlike
which Chavez, Laduca would at least make some All Star
teams in his career, including with the Mets, So that's
(10:13):
not as bad, i'd say, But still, it's been a
popularity contest for years and it's only gonna continue to
be this way. So here, on this beautiful Saturday before
the All Star Game, the one prompt that I have
for you all here, and I hope a lot of
(10:36):
you can agree with me on this, although if you
were to disagree, can't say I fault you for that. Hey,
that's the glory of having our different opinions in the end.
But let's go back to having the All Star Game
consists of the players who actually deserve to be there
(10:56):
and not just because they made a good first impression
of live starts. All right, can we go back to that,
because I sure as hell would love to, A lot
of baseball fans would sure as hell love to, and
that way, you want to get Phillies players like Nick
Castiano's comparing the All Star Game voting to the Savannah Bananas, which,
by the way, that's another quote from a Philadelphia Philly
(11:17):
that I didn't mention earlier. Se Yeah, for once, I
did not think I was gonna be saying this as
a Mets fan, but for once, I have sympathy for
the Philadelphia Phillies. That's kind of wild if you ask me,
But from an unbiased perspective, yes, I feel their frustration completely,
and I'm just really hopeful that we can go back
(11:40):
to having these All Star spots be deserved. It's the
way it was back in the day. There's no reason
that it can be now. Happy All Star Game weekend,
everybody
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