I'm Happy For Michael Lorenzen, But His All-Star Selection Makes Zero Sense

I really do enjoy the fact that every team in baseball gets a representative in the All-Star Game. Baseball has, far and away, the best All-Star Game, to begin with, and I think allowing at least one player from every team to be a part of the festivities does add to the mystique. But if every team will have a representative, can you make sure those selections make sense? 

I feel bad even writing a blog like this because it seems like I'm disparaging a remarkable accomplishment by a veteran pitcher who has worked his ass off. I've enjoyed watching Michael Lorenzen pitch this year. He's the definition of a solid number-four starter in a rotation. This Tigers pitching staff has been decimated by injuries (what else is new?), and Lorenzen has been one of the few on this team who has made his turn through the rotation almost every time. He's a key reason why, against all odds, the Tigers find themselves within striking distance in the god-awful AL Central. He's a serviceable pitcher. But he's 2-6 with a 4.28 ERA. What are we doing?

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I'll plead ignorance here. Who decides who a team's All-Star representative will be? The Tigers obviously would not have had an All-Star under normal circumstances, so somebody picked Lorenzen. I would like to know who that person is. As I said, Lorenzen has been fine this year, and if I felt like he was the most deserving Tigers of the bunch, I'd support the decision to send him to Seattle, even with the numbers being what they are. But he was not the best option. 

Riley Greene and Eduardo Rodriguez would've been likely candidates if not for their injuries. I would still argue that E-Rod is probably more deserving than Lorenzen, but he didn't clock enough innings, so I understand. Detroit still has not had a position player selected to the All-Star Game since Justin Upton in 2017, and there isn't anyone in this current group that's deserving. I predicted that the Tigers would send their closer as a representative much like the last two seasons. In 2021 and 2022, it was Gregory Soto. I figured in 2023; it was going to be Alex Lange. Through May, that seemed like a great idea. I like Alex Lange, but he has a 9.53 ERA since the calendar turned to June. That's not precisely All-Star material. 

The one Tiger deserving of a spot on the All-Star team is setup man Jason Foley. Foley has been fantastic this year, putting up a 2.17 ERA in 37 appearances with a sinker that just eats people up. It should've been him, and it kind of makes me sad that it wasn't. Foley is 27 years old, and he's only in his second full season, but who knows if he'll ever have a better shot than this? 

In the future, I'd be nice if the Tigers could find a few players who, ya know, are deserving of a spot in the All-Star game, but if they're going to have this problem, I feel like they should be doing a better job of selecting the players who deserve it the most. And I hope Michael Lorenzen soaks in every moment. He's been around for a long time and probably never expected his name to be called, but this is an All-Star Game, and he just hasn't put up All-Star numbers. Foley, on the other hand, has.