Reds first half standout snubbed as unfortunate victim of flawed All-Star process

For Cincinnati Reds fans, Andrew Abbott's triumphant return in mid-April from a shoulder injury should have him in the 2025 Cy Young conversation. It is hard to argue with the reasoning there as Abbott boasts a 2.15 ERA across 15 starts and he has been a big reason why the Reds have been as competitive as they have been in 2025.

Unfortunately, when All-Star rosters were revealed on Sunday. Abbott's name was not among them. Reds fans had been preparing for his snub for a little while, but it is still wild to see that a starter in the National League who has been as dominant as Abbott has been could be overlooked for the Midsummer Classic.

In Abbott's case, it appears as though his omission from the All-Star Game is more a function of a flawed selection process than anything else.

Andrew Abbott was a snub, but Reds fans should point their ire at the entire selection process

Here is the fundamental problem with how All-Stars are selected. MLB wants voters to have agency over who plays in the game, but they also want to have players involved AND for each team to have representation in the game. What you end up with are All-Star rosters that don't usually have only the best of the best and who are generally biased towards markets with energetic and/or massive fan bases.

Abbott was already facing an uphill battle to get picked. Not only is the National League loaded with good pitching in 2025, but he started the season on the injured list and therefore doesn't have the counting stats that get the attention of players for the vote. Combine that with Freddy Peralta being the Brewers' sole representative and you can see where adding Abbott was probably doomed from the beginning.

Is Abbott having a better season than guys picked over him for the ASG like Peralta and Matt Boyd? Probably, and you could make the case for him over others as well. Unfortunately, the All-Star Game isn't the award for excellence that it should be. Instead, it is how MLB wants to showcase it's product to a nationwide audience and that is bound to overlook guys like Abbott every single year.

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