The 2024 Major League Baseball All-Star game reserves were announced on Sunday, July 7, 2024, for the National and American Leagues. Believe it or not, New York Mets fans, Pete Alonso was the only Met player to be announced. It’s the Polar Bear’s fourth career All-Star game appearance and the first one where he will be the lone Met amongst everyone else. But, what about Brandon Nimmo and Francisco Lindor? How come they weren’t selected? That’s the million-dollar question surrounding most fans right now. However, there might be a couple of reasons why these two valuable Mets players didn’t quite make it. So, let’s talk about potential reasons why Nimmo and Lindor got snubbed from the All-Star game this year.
Why Nimmo, Lindor Didn’t Make The 2024 MLB All-Star Game
Brandon Nimmo
Strikeouts
Let’s start with Nimmo, also known as the happiest man in baseball. This guy has been with the Mets organization for such a long time. Throughout the nine seasons he has been in the big leagues, he has never been in an MLB All-Star game. He had just about as big of an opportunity as you can get, but to no avail. There is, however, something about Nimmo’s performances throughout the years that could spell out why it was decided not to select him as a reserve for the mid-summer classic. That would be his strikeouts.
Yes, as we all should know, everyone strikes out in baseball. That includes Nimmo, although he does tend to strike out a lot. Looking at his statistics, his strikeout numbers are in the hundreds for three of the nine seasons, excluding this season as it’s still ongoing. He has already struck out 89 times in 83 games this year. Now, this is not to say that Nimmo is a bad player. He is a good player. He has solid offensive numbers and he has improved a lot defensively. However, the number of times he has struck out could be something that was considered critical in deciding whether or not he is a 2024 All-Star.
Francisco Lindor
Slow starts
Now, let’s get to Lindor, who’s been the No. 1 shortstop for the Mets since 2021 and the new leadoff hitter in the starting lineup for a while. Since Lindor came to the Mets in 2021 in a trade with the Cleveland Guardians, there have been several instances where he doesn’t always start that well. And we’re talking about the beginning of seasons. Of course, it’s really how you finish that counts, but you also want to start your seasons off on the right foot. In 2o21, he kind of underperformed just like a lot of other Mets players did that year. This year, 2024, he was really off to a slow start, particularly on offense. He eventually got it together, and to this day he has been clutch for the Mets. How about Sunday’s game against the Pittsburgh Pirates? He delivered a clutch two-out RBI single to give the Mets the lead in the top of the ninth inning.
Lindor has been to All-Star games in the past, but, unfortunately, he got snubbed this year. However, it could be the slow starts he has gotten off to that caused him to get snubbed, and maybe a lot of people thought that this year was an example he probably didn’t receive that many votes.
Do Nimmo and Lindor still have a chance?
Is this even a trick question? Of course, the answer is yes. Just think about what Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said on Sunday in response to the news that Alonso is the only Mets All-Star this year. He said they deserve to be there and things happen like injuries and other stuff. So, for example, if an outfielder gets hurt or doesn’t play for any reason, Nimmo should get a call requesting him to be a replacement. It’s the same thing for Lindor when it comes to any shortstop not playing. Overall, at present, it’s disappointing that they didn’t make it as reserves.
Main Image: Jim Rassol-USA TODAY Sports
