Just like in 2019 the Chicago White Sox were awarded three All-Stars. Unlike in 2019, all of them are pitchers. Carlos Rodon, Liam Hendriks, and Lance Lynn will all be representing the White Sox in Colorado on July 13th at Coor Field. While all three players are deserving there was a notable name left off the list. Tim Anderson.
Rodon making the team is a no-brainer. He leads the White Sox with 122 strikeouts, has a 2.37 ERA, and threw a no-hitter in April. It will be his first appearance in an All-Star game. Lance Lynn has the lowest ERA on the team with a 2.02 mark and also leads the White Sox with 8 wins. His ERA is the second-lowest in all of baseball and he has the third-best BAA (.190). He will be making his second trip to the All-Star game and he has a real opportunity to be the starter for the American League. The last time he played in the game was in 2012 with the St Louis Cardinals.
Liam Hendriks is also making his second trip to the All-Star game. He made his first appearance in 2019 with Oakland in 2019. This year he leads the league with 21 saves. He is the first Australian-born player to ever go to two All-Star games.
Meanwhile, Tim Anderson is still searching for his first All-Star appearance. He is going to have to wait another year despite hitting .298 with 87 hits and 14 stolen bases. In 2019 he won the league batting title and in 2020 he hit .322 with 10 home runs in the 60 game season. Anderson has been helping make the game cool over the past couple of years. He has turned into one of the faces of baseball with his outspoken personality.
This season he did not even make the top three for voting among shortstop. Bo Bichette was chosen over him to be a reserve player despite the fact that Anderson has a higher batting average, more stolen bases, and plays for a first-place team. The fact he was snubbed yet again from playing in the Midsummer Classic, is something that did not sit well with Frank Thomas.
“Tim Anderson led baseball in hitting two years ago, last year he finished as the runner up, this year he is hitting .298. If that’s not a consistent All-Star in this league, what is an All-Star?”
The Big Hurt said on the White Sox Pregame show on Monday.
“I’m tired of hearing about it, cause it happened to me too many times and I’m yelling for Tim Anderson right now! I got five All-Star games, 13 postseason All-Star games but I’m a first-ballot Hall of Famer. It doesn’t add up. I’m sitting here going ‘young players who had a good couple months, oh flavor of the month’ that’s what they are. There have been so many flavors of the months the last two decades making the All-Star game you never hear from them again in this league. Tim Anderson has proven to be a superstar in this league.”
Preach Frank! Thomas wasn’t finished either saying that he is getting no respect from the commissioner’s office.
TA single-handedly making MLB cool and getting no respect from the commissioner's office 😤
The Big Hurt is BIG MAD pic.twitter.com/h2dI8GgckY
— White Sox Talk (@NBCSWhiteSox) July 5, 2021
After recording a hit on Monday against the Twins, Anderson extended his hit streak to eight games. He also drew a pair of walks. While it is clear that Anderson deserves at least one All-Star appearance to his name the shortstop continues to play hard for the White Sox. He can continue to show the MLB he is an All-Star caliber player despite never getting recognized for it.
