Cubs Slugger Listed as Snub From National League All-Star Team

The Chicago Cubs had a great first half of the season, and they were recently well-represented with some of their players making the All-Star team.

After a strong offseason, the Cubs have emerged as one of the best teams in the National League. Even though the NL Central has proven to be a bit more challenging than originally thought, Chicago has remained in first place.

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With the All-Star break coming up, it won’t be a time to rest for some players. The Cubs had three players make the team, including two starters with both Pete Crow-Armstrong and Kyle Tucker in the outfield.

Furthermore, starter Matthew Boyd was selected for his first All-Star game and was the only member of the pitching staff to be chosen.

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With the overall success of Chicago, they had a couple of players who might have been deserving of making the team, but were ultimately left off.

Chad Jennings of The Athletic (subscription required) recently wrote about Cubs first baseman Michael Busch being left off the All-Star team as one of the biggest snubs of the year.

“It’s a great group, but it left no room for Busch, who’s fifth in the Majors — regardless of position — in wRC+.”

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After Freddie Freeman got the nod to be the starter, there was a good chance that another one of the talented first basemen in the league was going to get snubbed.

That ultimately ended up happening with Matt Olson and Pete Alonso getting the nod over Michael Busch. Olson is arguably the most deserving of making the team, leading NL first basemen in WAR at 3.6.

Furthermore, Alonso has had an excellent campaign so far with a WAR of 3.1, while slashing .287/.380/.543 with 20 home runs and 73 RBI.

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While both Alonso and Olson are deserving, so is Busch. The slugger leads NL first basemen in OPS at .950, and is second behind Olson in WAR. However, compared to the others, he doesn’t quite have the name recognition, and that might have hurt him.

In a rivalry series against the St. Louis Cardinals recently, the Cubs’ first baseman played excellent totaling nine hits, four home runs, and six RBI in a series win.

Even though he might not have made the All-Star team, it has certainly been a great campaign thus far for Busch. While Crow-Armstrong and Tucker have rightfully received a lot of the attention for their performance so far, Busch has been very good as well, creating a lot of depth in the lineup.

For more Cubs news, head over to Cubs On SI.