Multiple Phillies players ripped Major League Baseball's decision to add Jacob Misiorowski to the National League All-Star roster, questioning the league's selection process and citing the Brewers rookie's lack of experience in the majors.
MLB announced Friday that the hard-throwing Misiorowski, who has made just five starts for Milwaukee, would replace Cubs pitcher Matthew Boyd on the NL roster.
The Phillies, already miffed at what they perceived to be a number of All-Star snubs on their roster, voiced their resentment later Friday night.
"What a joke," shortstop Trea Turner told The Athletic. "That's f---ing terrible. I mean that's terrible, dude."
"It's turning into the Savannah Bananas," outfielder Nick Castellanos added.
The Phillies pointed to left-handers Ranger Suarez and Cristopher Sanchez as examples of more deserving All-Star replacements that Misiorowski.
"That's just how MLB does it now," catcher J.T. Realmuto told The Athletic. "Nothing against the Misiorowski kid. But those two (Suarez and Sanchez) are deserving of being on the team in the first place. There's no doubt."
Misiorowski is 4-1 with a 2.83 ERA in his five starts, striking out 33 over 25 2/3 innings while wowing fans with a fastball that averages 99.3 mph. The 6-foot-7 right-hander has unleashed 89 pitches this season that have reached at least 100 mph.
"Major League Baseball is really just focusing on the most marketable players," Castellanos told The Athletic. "So the fact that they can have somebody in the game that is going to basically blow out one inning and throw 103, 104, they're going to get more eyeballs on baseball. They're going to think it's getting more popular."
Turner was asked by The Athletic whether popular additions like Misiorowski potentially cheapen the All-Star selection process.
"Yeah, 100 percent," he said. "I mean, 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. That's essentially what it's turned into."
Although not as flashy as Misiorowski, the Phillies' duo of Suarez and Sanchez both boast All-Star-worthy resumes this season.
After missing the first month, Suarez is 7-3 with a 1.94 ERA over 83 2/3 innings -- the lowest ERA in the NL for any pitcher with at least 80 innings pitched.
Suarez said last week that MLB invited him to the All-Star Game on the condition that he would be available to pitch. The left-hander said he declined, citing his desire to rest, and MLB therefore opted against naming him an All-Star.
"Even if you're going to ask him that, then he should be labeled an All-Star at that point," Kyle Schwarber, the Phillies' lone All-Star, told The Athletic. "Not just if you can pitch."
Sanchez is 7-2 with a 2.59 ERA -- the league's fourth-lowest among qualified starters -- and has a 4.1 WAR, the third-best among NL pitchers.
"If (Sanchez) is not an All-Star, then no one is," Turner told The Athletic.
Sanchez was slated to pitch the Phillies' game Sunday in San Diego against the Padres, which likely would restrict his availability in Tuesday's All-Star Game in Atlanta.
But Turner, Realmuto Schwarber agreed that MLB could have named Sanchez to the roster and then selected another replacement.
"He should be named an All-Star still," Schwarber said.
"That's unacceptable that they can't name him an All-Star and (replace him on the roster)," Turner added. "So the only excuse that that guy's not in the All-Star Game is that he can't pitch that day? That's terrible."
