Every year, the All-Star roster leaves a few worthy players stranded on the outside looking in. Sometimes it’s bad timing.
Sometimes it’s roster math. Sometimes it just doesn’t make much sense.
This season, the White Sox ended up with only one All-Star, and that alone feels light for the kind of year they’ve put together.
The easy names to point to are Colson Montgomery and Munetaka Murakami. Both have cases, and both were left off. But neither omission lands quite like Davis Martin’s.
Murakami’s situation is easier to explain, even if it still stings. If he had stayed healthy all season, he would have been a lock.
Instead, he got hurt at the end of May and his offensive production flattened out. On top of that, Toronto fans voting Vladimir Guerrero into the mix helped push Murakami out.
Nick Kurtz and Ben Rice are also worthy picks, and both have simply been available longer.
Montgomery’s absence looks rough at first glance, too. He’s near the top of the league in several categories, including home runs and RBI, and his 23 homers lead all major league shortstops. Tigers rookie Kevin McGonigle has also put together a strong season, though, and the numbers show how close that comparison is:
fWAR
G
H
HR
RBI
SB
BA
OPS
E
Field%
Montgom.
2.6
85
71
23
53
1
.224
.801
7
.975
McGonigle
3.7
87
93
7
31
11
.284
.817
7
.975
The real head-scratcher is Martin. His 2026 breakout has been strong enough that leaving him off the roster feels hard to justify, especially when the path for him to get in looks so crowded.
Bryan Baker has had a good year, but the AL didn’t need a fifth reliever; the NL only has three on its roster. The Tampa Bay Rays already have Junior Caminero as their representative, so that requirement is covered. Even then, the decision got worse when Kansas City’s Michael Wacha was chosen by the commissioner’s office over Martin.
The numbers make that call look even stranger. Martin has been better than Wacha in almost every meaningful category this season:
WAR
G
GS
IP
W-L
ERA
ERA+*
SO
K%
BB
BB%
Martin
3.2
17
17
96.1
9-3
3.08
139
90
22.7
29
7.3
Wacha
3.7
18
18
114.2
5-6
3.45
120
91
19.6
31
6.7
Martin’s line stacks up just fine, and in some spots it’s better. Wacha has been an All-Star before, with St.
Louis in 2015, but that still doesn’t explain why he got the nod here. The Royals already had Bobby Witt Jr. as their representative, and he was the right choice.
There’s still a chance Martin gets in. Ranger Suárez left Sunday’s start with an apparent injury, and Yankees ace Cam Schlittler is currently scheduled to start Sunday.
Either one could open a spot. But Martin’s season has already done enough to earn the honor without needing a replacement slot.
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