MLB released its hitter Power Rankings on Friday.
The Power Rankings are a way to know who are the hottest hitters in baseball, but they also must have some sort of track record, especially recent, of production.
It’s about who is hot, but also who has been doing it for a while, too.
In this case, Atlanta Braves third baseman Austin Riley is topping the Power Rankings for hitters ahead of sluggers like Aaron Judge, Yordan Alvarez, Nolan Arenado, Paul Goldschmidt, and others.
There is an odd development, though: Of the top ten hitters in the Power Rankings, only one didn’t make the All-Star team.
A hint: it starts with an R and ends with an “iley”.
The League’s Hottest Hitter Doesn’t Have A Place In The All-Star Game
The Braves’ Triple-A affiliate wasn’t afraid to point out the situation.
No All-Stars in the top one. Makes you think.
— Gwinnett Stripers (@GoStripers) July 15, 2022
“No All-Stars in the top one. Makes you think,” the Gwinnett Stripers tweeted.
It’s off that the league considers Riley to be the hottest player alive, but couldn’t find a way to include him in the All-Star roster.
We know that third base is a bit stacked in the National League, with Manny Machado starting and Arenado as a reserve.
But Riley had as good of a case as both of them to be included at least as a reserve.
The Braves’ young slugger is slashing .284/.347/.564 with 25 home runs in 386 plate appearances.
You would think that’s worthy of a place in the Midsummer Classic, but the league or the voters didn’t think so.
Riley will have no choice but to keep mashing to show people they were wrong not to pick him to the game.
