When the whole rosters for the 2023 MLB All-Star Match ended up uncovered, the typical gripes about players who had been still left off the listing adopted. Of class, most of these issues conclude up becoming premature, as numerous gamers are included as injuries replacements in the times top up to the Midsummer Classic by itself. But the absence of Padres star right fielder Fernando Tatis Jr. drew an interesting explanation from a popular MLB insider.
The Athletic‘s Ken Rosenthal wrote on Sunday that Tatis was omitted from the National League roster by his fellow players, at least in section, as a evaluate of even further punishment for his earlier use of overall performance improving medicine. Tatis was levied an 80-recreation suspension in August of very last calendar year, and skipped the very first 20 games of 2023 in advance of generating his time debut on April 20.
“It is however unusual for a participant to brazenly criticize a teammate or rival who is caught employing PEDs,” Rosenthal wrote. “But when it arrives to Tatis, I can photo gamers sitting down at lockers filling out their [All-Star] ballots and wondering, “F— this man.”
Rosenthal notes that Tatis is not seen as a “pariah” by the league or the players union, but that an endorsement to head to the All-Star Video game is deemed a “separate make a difference.”
Regardless of lacking the to start with element of the period, Tatis has had an superb to start with fifty percent. He’s batting .280/.341/.526 with 16 home operates and 14 stolen bases in 64 video games coming into Monday, rating sixth among the all qualified outfielders with 3.2 WAR, for each FanGraphs.
