A message to Johnny Cueto: Shut up!

With the All Star rosters being announced yesterday, it was expected that there would be talk of snubs and miscues. It was easy to see mistakes, chiefly Pablo Sandoval being voted in as a starter. There were also many worthy players left off the roster thanks to the fan voting procedure and the rule that every team must be represented. There was one team however that had problems with the selection process: the Cincinnati Reds. Namely Johnny Cueto and Brandon Phillips.

Yahoo originally reported on this and I personally find it to be hilarious. Of the two players, Cueto was more upset about things than Phillips.

"“I see that I have great numbers,” Cueto said. “I thought the way I pitched this year, I’d have a chance to go to the All-Star Game. I don’t know what happened. I don’t if know the manager of All-Star Game is pissed at me because I went out with one of his girlfriends.”"

All this quote shows is exactly why Cueto wasn’t chosen. Among pitchers, LaRussa’s picks were Cole Hamels, Jonathan Papelbon, Clayton Kershaw, Wade Miley, and Huston Street. Of those five pitchers, the only questionable choice was Huston Street. His selection, however, was caused by the fan vote of Pablo Sandoval. Since Sandoval got the start, David Wright had to be the backup. This all pushed Chase Headley out, meaning Street had to be the Padres representative. The battle really comes down to the starting pitchers. The following chart shows that the only stat Cueto leads the way is his ERA.

Miley is really the only pitcher that it can be argued that Cueto has an advantage statistically over, and he made the team because the Diamondbacks needed a representative. The only other option would have been Aaron Hill, which would have still kept Brandon Phillips out of the game. Not to mention, even disregarding the fact that Tony didn’t choose Cueto, Cueto’s own peers opted not to vote him in. Maybe Cueto is right and this is all because a grudge is being held, but he need only blame himself if his fellow players don’t want to support someone who kicked wildly at other players with metal spikes on. Regardless of which group decided not to vote Cueto in, there is another problem that arises.

Now obviously since the stats are the same as the table above, it is obvious to see that Player A is Johnny Cueto. Player B, however, has vastly superior stats and was also left off the roster. He also plays for an NL Central team and one that the Cardinals had a couple of dust-ups with last year at that. Player B is Zack Greinke. If Greinke hasn’t complained about not making it, then Cueto should keep his mouth shut.