Cubs designated hitter Seiya Suzuki was left off the National League All-Star roster.
And then he showed why that might not have been the best call.
Suzuki bashed his team-leading 25th home run, the loudest hit in a runaway 11-0 victory over the Cardinals on Sunday night.
He added an RBI double, backing up the legions of Cubs fans who took to social media to voice frustration over his exclusion from the Midsummer Classic.
Indeed, Suzuki had an excellent case to make the All-Star team, even before adding to his league-leading RBI total (77). After Shohei Ohtani of the Dodgers was elected the obvious starting DH for the NL, it was Phillies slugger and former Cub Kyle Schwarber who took the reserve DH spot instead of Suzuki.
Head to head, Suzuki has a couple fewer homers, and Schwarber has a healthy advantage in the runs-scored department. But Suzuki leads Schwarber — as well as every other player in the majors — in RBI and owns the edge in doubles, as well.
“[There’s] not necessarily [any disappointment],” Suzuki said. “As a DH, looking across the league, there’s a lot of great DHs. Looking at how they’re doing, it really pushes me to feel better. So no [hard] feelings.”
But Suzuki isn’t the only Cubs hitter who could be considered an All-Star snub, not surprising given the Cubs’ nearly season-long status as one of the best offensive teams.
Michael Busch owns a .950 OPS that leads all first basemen and ranks fifth in the majors. He had a tough road to the All-Star Game, however, considering the Dodgers’ Freddie Freeman was elected the starter and the Mets’ Pete Alonso is a deserving reserve. But the Braves’ Matt Olson made the team, too, even with Busch having a statistical edge.
Then there’s Carson Kelly, whose .879 OPS ranks third among catchers with at least 200 plate appearances. His absence might be the easiest to explain, with Hunter Goodman tabbed as the mandatory representative of baseball’s worst team, the Rockies, soaking up the only available spot behind starter Will Smith of the Dodgers.
“We have a number of other guys in this room who are deserving of being there,” outfielder Ian Happ said. “Some of the performances you’ve seen across the diamond are special and deserve to be represented in that game. Hopefully, in the next week or so, some of those guys get in, because they deserve it.”
Is Suzuki even free for the game?
“I’m sorry, my plans are full,” he said. “Just kidding.”
Big-game Busch
Who knows if Busch’s somewhat under-the-radar style hurt his All-Star chances.
But the guy who quietly has been having one of the better offensive seasons in the bigs — he had two hits and was on base four times Sunday — is starting to make people notice, whether he cares to or not.
“You can give Michael Busch a lot of attention; he’s not going to care,” Counsell said Saturday. “He’s not going to do anything differently. That’s just not who Michael is.”
Busch opened everyone’s eyes to the kind of hitter he has become with his three-homer game as part of the record-setting Cubs slugfest Friday.
“The nature of how he performs, a big, exciting game makes everybody take notice,” Counsell said. “Maybe it took a big game like that to put him on everybody’s map.”
