Twins' Byron Buxton makes AL All-Star team; Joe Ryan, Jhoan Duran snubbed

Buxton was selected to his second career All-Star Game on Sunday. It's a well-deserved honor for an electrifying player who has stayed healthy this year and is on pace to have easily the best season of his career. Buxton hit his 20th home run of the season on Sunday and also stole his 16th base (on as many attempts). His .878 OPS ranks fourth among AL outfielders and is well ahead of the Tigers' Javier Baez, who was voted in as a starter alongside Aaron Judge and Riley Greene.

Players can be added to the All-Star rosters as replacements for those who were selected but don't end up playing due to injury or other factors. But for now, neither Joe Ryan nor Jhoan Duran were among the group of 12 AL pitchers selected to the team.

Both Ryan and Duran certainly had a case to be included — particularly the former.

Ryan went six strong innings on Sunday, striking out eight batters. With one start left before the All-Star break, he has a 2.76 ERA with 116 strikeouts in 104.1 innings. He's in the top three among AL pitchers in WHIP and opponent batting average. Ryan certainly has better numbers than Shane Smith of the White Sox and Yusei Kikuchi of the Angels, who made it because of the rule that every team has to be represented. With that said, there's also a pretty strong statistical case to be made that Ryan deserved to make it over Seattle's Bryan Woo.

Duran's snub is less egregious because only three AL relievers made the team, and all three — Josh Hader, Andres Munoz, and Aroldis Chapman — have had great seasons. Duran doesn't have eye-popping strikeout or save numbers, but he does have a 1.56 ERA over 40.1 innings pitched.

We'll have to wait and see if either Ryan or Duran wind up added to the roster as a replacement.

The 2025 MLB All-Star Game is on Tuesday, July 15 in Atlanta.