The Major League Baseball season will come to a halt next week to honor the 2015 All Star Game played in Cincinnati on Tuesday July 14th. The starters and reserves have been selected and like every year, there have been some great players left off the roster. Part of this is because of fan voting. Up until 2 weeks ago, the Kansas City Royal fans had eight out of nine players as the leading vote getters for their position. Major League Baseball corrected it and we now have four Royals in the big event. Let’s take a look at two notable snubs from both the NL and AL.
1. Justin Turner 3B Los Angeles Dodgers – NL
Turner is having one of his best seasons of his career. While it may have taken him awhile to realize his potential, Turner is hitting .314 with 11 home runs and 38 runs batted in. Not bad for a guy who normally averages 3 home runs, 24 runs batted in and a .286 batting average each season. The 30 year old arrived in Los Angeles last season and really feels comfortable. His stellar numbers this year come a year after he hit .340 with 7 home runs and 43 runs batted in in just 288 at-bats. Turner is not a part of the Final Vote and will look to be added as an injury replacement.
2. Brett Gardner OF New York Yankees – AL
Brett Gardner and Jacoby Ellsbury had the Yankees rolling at the top of the order early in the season. When Ellsbury hit the DL, Gardner didn’t allow the Yankees to miss a beat. Gardner has been a great table setter at the top of the order for the Yankees. For the season, Gardner sports a .296 average with 9 home runs, 39 runs batted in, and 15 stolen bases. Keep in mind Gardner hits leadoff so to have 39 runs batted in is pretty impressive, especially when you have guys at the bottom of the Yankee order like Didi Gregorious and Stephen Drew who both have hit sub .200 for much of the year.