Philadelphia Phillies starting pitchers Cristopher Sanchez and Ranger Suarez have certainly pitched well enough in the 2025 season to earn an invitation to the MLB All-Star Game. Yet, as replacements poured in for both the National League and the American League alike, Sanchez and Suarez were seemingly passed over. As such, teammates like Kyle Schwarber, Trea Turner, J.T. Realmuto and Nick Castellanos all blasted MLB for not including either of the southpaws. The problem is, however, that Sanchez and Suarez weren't chosen as replacements because they ostensibly wouldn't be able to pitch.
While Castellanos said the game was "turning into the Savannah Bananas", while Turner called it "a joke" and "f*****g terrible", while Schwarber called it "unfortunate", all via Matt Gelb of The Athletic ($), that leaves out a crucial piece of context that Gelb also reported. Per Gelb's sources, Major League Baseball offered both Sanchez and Suarez a spot as a replacement, but both declined due to Sanchez being scheduled to pitch Sunday and Suarez having started on Friday before the break and both wanting to be rested.
For what it's worth, Gelb later added that Sanchez's agent, Gene Matos, refuted that MLB asked the lefty to pitch, saying, "He is willing to pitch no matter what."
At the heart of the matter, though, is the simple fact that MLB informed the team that they will only agree to name a replacement player for the All-Star Game if that player agrees to pitch in the game. If either of the Phillies standouts truly declined to do so, then they have no gripe with the league, even if they are deserving of the recognition — and even if Sanchez loses out on a $200,000 bonus for not being named an All-Star.
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Phillies don't have a leg to stand on complaining about All-Star Game snubs
Again, this is by no means saying that Sanchez and Suarez aren't deserving of being labeled All-Stars. Sanchez will enter his final start before the break on Sunday with a 2.59 ERA and 1.133 WHIP, posting a 7-2 record on the year and holding a career-high 9.7 strikeouts per nine rate. Suarez has been arguably even better, putting up a pristine 1.94 ERA with a 1.052 WHIP, even if only sporting a 7-3 record, across just 13 starts.
If they were going to be named All-Stars, though, the real snub came earlier in the week when the rosters were announced. That's when the Phillies should've been crying afoul to the degree that they are now about the snubs. Where things currently stand, the calculus there has absolutely changed.
While I can sympathize with the idea that being called an All-Star is an honor that Sanchez and Suarez aren't receiving — even more so if it means costing the players roster bonuses — MLB remains a business. The All-Star Game is an exhibition in which the league wants to put on a game that fans will want to see, which means that the players on the rosters are able to play in the game. If Sanchez and Suarez aren't able to do so (though the agent disputing that Sanchez was asked is an intriguing wrinkle), then MLB has every right to move past them without some ceremonial awarding of a roster spot only to then name another replacement.
I just don't see how the Phillies players can be this outraged over what's happened when you consider all of the details. It's not like the two lefty starters are being forgotten about — it's a simple logistical problem that they don't have the position to get their guys into the game through. And really, if the endgame for the Phillies is to win an NL Pennant and potentially win a World Series, it probably means a helluva lot more to have them on the mound before the break against the Padres than it would in an exhibition this week in Atlanta.