Team representatives for the 2024 MLB All-Star Game were revealed on Sunday. The Los Angeles Dodgers will send six players to Arlington, Texas for the July 16th tilt. None of those six come as a surprise. Shohei Ohtani had already been voted in as a starter, with Freddie Freeman, Will Smith, Mookie Betts, and Teoscar Hernández joining on the position side.
Tyler Glasnow is the team's lone representative on the mound. But should they have had another? It's hard to argue against Gavin Stone being deserving of a shot at appearing in the Midsummer Classic.
Stone has excelled as rookie for the Dodgers this season. He's posted a 3.03 ERA and 3.52 FIP to go along with a 19.3 K% (73 total) and 7.4 BB% (28). His 33.0 HardHit% is one of the league's best, as well. It's hard to look at a pitching category on the stat sheet and not find Stone lingering around the top.
Stone's ERA sits seventh among National League starters. He's 26th in strikeout rate and 18th in BB%. From a more cumulative perspective, his total strikeouts rank 30th, while his walks sit 16th. Overall, Stone has logged the 26th-most innings among NL starting pitchers (92.0). That's all among 35 qualifying starting pitchers.
From an ERA standpoint, it's an easy justification for getting Stone to Arlington. Few have been better at preventing runs. Which is, arguably, the main goal of a pitcher (preventing runs vs. recording outs is a discussion for another day).
Based on some of the other numbers, though, it becomes more difficult to find a place for Stone on the National League roster.
There are already eight starting pitchers currently on the roster against five relievers. Each of that group are well above Stone in the strikeout game, while Atlanta's Reynaldo López is the only one with a higher walk rate. So in terms of those already selected to the roster, it's hard to find an argument that Stone was a snub.
It is possible, though, that Stone finds his way onto the roster as a substitute. Pitchers tend to bail out on participation depending on timing around their last outing prior to the break. If that's the case, it becomes somewhat realistic that we see him head to Texas. There will still be some stiff competition, however.
Someone like Washington's Jake Irvin could be added. Philadelphia starter Cristopher Sánchez has been excellent, assuming there aren't already too many Phils on the roster. Max Fried or San Diego's Michael King could merit selection as a sub, too. So even in that conversation, there's some upper tier competition if Stone were to be selected. One imagines that, like Sánchez, the high volume of Stone's teammates already in could work against him.
Not that that should take away from anything Gavin Stone has accomplished this year. He's been excellent and will surely garner some votes for National League Rookie of the Year. But given how much excellent pitching we see across the NL landscape, it's simply a numbers game that isn't likely to work in Stone's favor this time around.