Tigers: 3 players who should have got the All-Star nod over Michael Lorenzen
Michael Lorenzen will represent the Detroit Tigers in the 2023 MLB All-Star game, but should he?
Was Michael Lorenzen really the best choice to represent the Detroit Tigers at the 2023 MLB All-Star game?
The Detroit Tigers will only have one player represent the team at the 2023 MLB All-Star game on July 11. That player will be starting pitcher Michael Lorenzen, which was a surprise to everyone, including Lorenzen himself.
We mean no disrespect to Lorenzen here. He's a veteran guy who seems like a great dude. He was doing pretty well for the Tigers earlier this season, but he was 0-4 with an ERA of 5.30 in the month of June. He's currently 2-6 with an ERA of 4.25 and a K/9 of 6.80. He's perfectly fine as a fifth starter, but as an All-Star? That's pushing it.
Again, no disrespect to Lorenzen, but there were much better options for the All-Star team on the Detroit Tigers. Today, we're going to go over a few of those.
There aren't very many players deserving of an All-Star selection on this team, but there are still a handul that would have been better than Lorenzen.
Here are three Tigers that are more deserving of an All-Star nod than Michael Lorenzen
1. RHP Jason Foley
Foley has become the Tigers best reliever over the course of the season. With Alex Lange's recent struggles, it makes perfect sense why he wasn't seleted as the Tigers All-Star. But Foley has been flat out dominant.
In 37 games, Foley has a 2.17 ERA with a 1.2 fWAR in 37.1 IP. His 61% groundball rate in ninth among MLB relievers. He has yet to allow a home run this season.
He's recently started to rack up the strikeouts as well. He struck out 8.76 batters per nine in June. Combine that with his ability to miss barrels, and you have one shutdown reliever on your hands.
It's unfortunate Foley didn't get the nod. He was the most deserving player on the team. His sheer dominance deserves to be recognized on a national stage.
2. RHP Jose Cisnero
Well I certainly didn't expect to be writing this at the beginning of the year. In fact, I was advocatingfor Cisnero to be DFA'd earlier this season. He looked totally cooked. But here we are, halfway through the season, and he looks like the Cisnero of old.
Cisnero has an ERA of 2.18 in 33 IP this season. His fastball has life again. His slider is still inconsistent, but it's gotten the job done for the most part. Quite possibly the biggest change for Cisnero is that he's added a cutter to his pitch mix.
He started mixing that in with the fastball and slider, and it has done wonders for him. It might have even saved his career.
Some of his peripherals still aren't great, but Cisnero has turned this around. He would have been a fine choice for an All-Star game appearance.
3. C Jake Rogers
This might seem like an odd pick at first, but when you take a closer look at Rogers' numbers, you realize he's been much better than you would expect.
Rogers is hitting .203. Other than maybe Joey Gallo, that won't get you anywhere close to the All-Star game. But he's hit 11 home runs, has a .473 slugging percentage, and a whopping .270 ISO. His hard-hit rate of 46.1% is fourth in all of baseball among players with at least 170 plate appearances. His barrel rate of 16.9% is 15th in baseball, one spot ahead of Mike Trout.
Sure, he strikes out about 35% of the time, which is pretty awful. But when he walks at a 12% clip, crushes the ball when he does make contact, hits for power, and on top of that, plays stellar defense behind the plate, you can live with the strikeouts.
Add that all up, and you get a 1.8 fWAR, which is tied for second in the AL with Adley Rutschman...in half the plate appeances. That's how good Jake Rogers has been this season.
In fact, the lack of consistent playing time is likely what has cost Rogers a spot in the All-Star game. He just recently starting playing more than Eric Haase, who has struggled mightily this season.
He should have got the nod over Salvador Perez of the Royals, who's skills behind the dish have dimished quite a bit this season. He only has a 0.4 fWAR this year, despite another solid showing offensively.
Jake Rogers may not be a flashy name that everyone knows, but nobody on this team is. The fact of that matter is he's had a great season so far, and should have been recognized