Brewers: 2 Players That Snubbed Freddy Peralta From ASG Spot

The National League is stacked with incredible pitchers for this year’s MLB All-Star Game in Denver. In terms of ERA, 15 out of the top 20 pitchers in baseball this year are from the NL. And the guy with the ninth-best earned run average among eligible pitchers is the Brewers’ Freddy Peralta, and he didn’t get an All-Star nod.

129 strikeouts. 0.90 WHIP. 2.23 ERA. 3.3 WAR. These are a few of the staggering numbers that Freddy Peralta has put up in 17 games so far. He’s widely considered as one of the biggest snubs, even with the Crew having three other pitchers make the roster.

So here are two players that did receive an All-Star Game invite that I feel did not deserve it more than the Brewers’ Freddy Peralta.

1. Germán Márquez

7-6 / 3.59 ERA / 1.17 WHIP / 105 K

The All-Star Weekend hosts only have one representative for the game this season….and it’s not Trevor Story. I understand that every team needs to have at least one player selected to make it to the midsummer classic but if Márquez wasn’t selected and Trevor Story was, I think Freddy Peralta would’ve made the roster or at least it would’ve been a tough decision with Max Scherzer.

Germán Márquez is tied for the most games started so far on the season with 18 but his season numbers just don’t warrant an All-Star Game selection. Meanwhile, Story started off slow in 2021 but he’s coming around after a solid month of June. The Rockies shortstop may be on his way out of Denver soon, but I believe he’s still the face of the team and that’s typically who’s chosen for the honor if the host team isn’t doing too well.

Congratulations to Germán Márquez because he has improved his numbers in the last month, but Freddy Peralta has just been more consistent in 2021.

2. Yu Darvish

7-3 / 2.65 ERA / 0.95 WHIP / 123 K

This selection I’m not as surprised about as the first because the MLB has been pushing to make the Padres as nationally covered and beloved as possible, but I don’t believe Yu Darvish has had a better season than Freddy Peralta. Darvish is coming off his first month of the season with an ERA above 3.00. Meanwhile, ‘Strikeout Freddy’ just put up a June ERA of 1.78 and hasn’t even eclipsed a 2.51 earned run average in any month so far.

Don’t get me wrong, Yu Darvish is an exceptional pitcher and will help that Padres team make a playoff run, but he hasn’t shown the consistency that Peralta has. Freddy has given up less hits, home runs, and runs in general and he’s got a better WHIP, ERA, WAR, FIP and has struck out more batters. The choice doesn’t seem too complicated to me.

The Crew having three pitchers make the All-Star roster is a new club record, but it appears that they maybe should’ve had four. Regardless, not being selected shouldn’t downplay the brilliance that Freddy Peralta has shown on the rubber in 2021. He has taken a huge step this season and has greatly contributed in the current run that Milwaukee is on.

Perhaps as more starting pitchers drop out because they pitch the Sunday before the All Star Game, Freddy Peralta can be named as an alternate. But for right now, the Brewers starter been snubbed.