Do the five Boston Red Sox All-Stars deserve more acclaim ahead of the "Midsummer Classic?"
MLB.com's Will Leitch on Friday ranked the 60 players selected to compete in the the 2021 Major League Baseball All-Star Game. Among the 60 are Boston's five All-Stars -- Matt Barnes; Xander Bogaerts; Rafael Devers; Nathan Eovaldi and J.D. Martinez. However, only one of Boston's All-Star contingent, Bogaerts, appears in the the top-25 of Leitch's rankings.
Here's where Leitch ranked the five Red Sox All-Stars and his justifications:
Bogaerts, No. 25
This guy has been through every up and down in Boston for nearly a decade now. And he’s back on top again.
Devers, No. 29
It feels like he has been around forever, but he’s still only 24. Is he the most low-key fantastic Red Sox player in recent memory?
J.D. Martinez, No. 30
The nightmare 2020 is long behind him: He’s a terror at the plate again.
Eovaldi, No. 48
It turns out the 2018 World Series was just the start.
Barnes, unranked
We’ll stop there, because it does not feel right to rank anyone last here. After all, these are All-Stars and this is wildly subjective anyway!
Leitch recognizes his rankings are entirely subjective and he bases them on these factors: "How each player is playing in the first half of this year, how he's played in his career, and how much I want to watch him play right now … which, after all, is why we have an All-Star Game in the first place."
However, given the Red Sox have more All-Stars than any other team and have the fourth-best record in the majors at the break, surely they warrant more acclaim, i.e. higher rankings, than Leitch gives them.
The Red Sox All-Stars will showcase their skills Tuesday night in Denver at Coors Field in the 2021 MLB All-Star Game. Perhaps they'll show Leitch the error of his ways.
