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There will be no Detroit Tigers starting in the 2026 MLB All-Star Game, at least for now.
As revealed by MLB on Thursday, June 25, the Tigers had zero players named as American League All-Star finalists. That's a big snub for two players in particular – catcher Dillon Dingler, who leads all catchers in FanGraphs WAR at 3.7, and shortstop Kevin McGonigle, who is second in the AL among shortstops in fWAR at 3.3.
Neither was expected to move on after the first phase of voting, with Dingler lagging behind the Athletics' Shea Langaliers and Toronto's Alejandro Kirk (who has appeared in 13 games this season) and McGonigle well behind Kansas City's Bobby Witt Jr. and Toronto's Andrés Giménez among shortstops.
Langaliers and Kirk were officially named finalists for the AL catcher nod on Thursday, while Witt and Giménez were named finalists as shortstops.
FELL SHORT: Tigers fans need to stuff MLB All-Star ballot box for Kevin McGonigle
As of Monday, the Tigers player closest to being named a finalist was outfielder Riley Greene, who was slashing .289/.385/.439 over 80 games entering Thursday's game. But he missed out on being named one of the six outfield finalists, with New York Yankees' outfielders Aaron Judge and Cody Bellinger, Toronto outfielders Daulton Varsho and Jesús Sánchez, Los Angeles Angels outfielder Mike Trout and Minnesota outfielder Byron Buxton all named finalists.
Just because the Tigers missed out in this round, however, it doesn't mean the Tigers will have zero representation in this year's All-Star Game. The fan voting process excludes pitchers, for example, who get selected via a player ballot and by the Commissioner's Office. Players can also be named to the All-Star team as injury replacements, something that could very well happen with Dingler or McGonigle.
Still, the results lie in stark contrast to last year's results, when four Tigers were named as starters (Greene, 2B Gleyber Torres, LHP Tarik Skubal and CF Javier Báez) and two others as reserves (RHP Casey Mize, UTL Zach McKinstry). And while this year's starters have yet to be finalized, the Tigers may drop from four All-Star starters in 2025 to zero in 2026.
It's a small window into have far the Tigers (34-46) fallen over the past year.
Need to catch up on the news during your lunch break? Sign up for our Sports Briefing newsletter to get daily summaries of Detroit sports!
You can reach Christian at [email protected].
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Zero Detroit Tigers named American League All-Star finalists
Continue reading...
As revealed by MLB on Thursday, June 25, the Tigers had zero players named as American League All-Star finalists. That's a big snub for two players in particular – catcher Dillon Dingler, who leads all catchers in FanGraphs WAR at 3.7, and shortstop Kevin McGonigle, who is second in the AL among shortstops in fWAR at 3.3.
Neither was expected to move on after the first phase of voting, with Dingler lagging behind the Athletics' Shea Langaliers and Toronto's Alejandro Kirk (who has appeared in 13 games this season) and McGonigle well behind Kansas City's Bobby Witt Jr. and Toronto's Andrés Giménez among shortstops.
Langaliers and Kirk were officially named finalists for the AL catcher nod on Thursday, while Witt and Giménez were named finalists as shortstops.
FELL SHORT: Tigers fans need to stuff MLB All-Star ballot box for Kevin McGonigle
As of Monday, the Tigers player closest to being named a finalist was outfielder Riley Greene, who was slashing .289/.385/.439 over 80 games entering Thursday's game. But he missed out on being named one of the six outfield finalists, with New York Yankees' outfielders Aaron Judge and Cody Bellinger, Toronto outfielders Daulton Varsho and Jesús Sánchez, Los Angeles Angels outfielder Mike Trout and Minnesota outfielder Byron Buxton all named finalists.
Just because the Tigers missed out in this round, however, it doesn't mean the Tigers will have zero representation in this year's All-Star Game. The fan voting process excludes pitchers, for example, who get selected via a player ballot and by the Commissioner's Office. Players can also be named to the All-Star team as injury replacements, something that could very well happen with Dingler or McGonigle.
Still, the results lie in stark contrast to last year's results, when four Tigers were named as starters (Greene, 2B Gleyber Torres, LHP Tarik Skubal and CF Javier Báez) and two others as reserves (RHP Casey Mize, UTL Zach McKinstry). And while this year's starters have yet to be finalized, the Tigers may drop from four All-Star starters in 2025 to zero in 2026.
It's a small window into have far the Tigers (34-46) fallen over the past year.
Need to catch up on the news during your lunch break? Sign up for our Sports Briefing newsletter to get daily summaries of Detroit sports!
You can reach Christian at [email protected].
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Zero Detroit Tigers named American League All-Star finalists
Continue reading...
