Brandon Nimmo should have been an All-Star

When it comes to baseball takes, saying that a certain player was snubbed for the All-Star Game is somewhat of a tired act. Having said that, Brandon Nimmo was absolutely snubbed for this year’s All-Star Game and deserved to take part in the festivities.

While Nimmo has slowed down a bit with his production at the plate in recent weeks, he’s hit .253/.373/.490 with 13 home runs and a 139 wRC+ in 311 plate appearances this year. Among qualified outfielders in all of baseball, that wRC+ is the seventh-best mark. If you narrow down that field to National League outfielders, Nimmo ranks first—ahead of the starting trio of Matt Kemp (137 wRC+), Nick Markakis (135 wRC+), and Bryce Harper (119 wRC+).

The NL’s outfield reserves—Lorenzo Cain (125 wRC+), Christian Yelich (121 wRC+), and Charlie Blackmon (114 wRC+)—trail Nimmo by quite a bit, too. Factor in the other aspects of the game, and Nimmo ranks fifth among NL outfielders in fWAR at 2.5, which is within 0.2 of the second-best mark in the league.

If Nimmo can maintain his level of production over the course of this full season and beyond, perhaps improving upon it, he’ll get an All-Star Game nod in the not-too-distant future. He just deserved a spot on the roster this time.