Yasiel Puig has been so impressive in his limited time in the bigs, there have been calls from some people to put the phenom in the All-Star Game. San Francisco Giants manager Bruce Bochy, who will manage the NL All-Star squad, says Puig making the All-Star team is a “long shot.”
Puig is not on the All-Star ballot, so it is unlikely for him to be voted in as a write-in candidate this late in the season. His best chance of getting into the game would be if the players or All-Star team manager put him in. Bochy told MLB Network Radio’s Jim Bowden and Casey Stern that he is unlikely to add Puig to the team.
“I’ve got to be honest here, that would be really hard for me to consider that,” Bochy told the hosts in response to a question, via the LA Daily News. “And I’ve already had that question. I guess there was somebody who wrote they would like to see him there and that he deserves to go because this game is for the fans and they want to see not just the best players, but the most interesting or intriguing players.
“I would have a hard time picking somebody who has been here three weeks, to be honest. The numbers would have to be so stupid that you say, ‘Ok I’ll consider it.’ But, you know, I couldn’t take away from a player who has been here and done it the whole half and been out there grinding every day and he doesn’t go. I couldn’t look at that player. I couldn’t look at myself, to be honest. So that’s why I’m saying, that’s a really long shot.”
Bochy’s point about not putting a guy in the game who has played less than a month is well taken, but Puig does have the type of eye-popping numbers — or “stupid” numbers as Bochy calls it — that would merit consideration. Puig has batted .474 with five home runs and a 1.289 OPS in 15 games. Still, I agree that an amazing two weeks is not enough to warrant an All-Star selection. If he keeps it up, the 22-year-old will have plenty of chances to make All-Star teams in the future.
But this is also funny coming from Bochy, who has been a huge homer when choosing the All-Star team in the past. If Puig were playing for his Giants, I guarantee you he wouldn’t be a “long shot.” You have to wonder how much Puig playing for the rival Dodgers factors into this matter.
