Philadelphia Phillies ace Zack Wheeler isn't interested in a consolation prize.
After being left off the National League's initial roster for Tuesday's MLB All-Star Game, Wheeler revealed Saturday that he declined an invitation to be a replacement, saying he felt the league had already made its opinion of him clear.
"I'm not gonna be disrespected," Wheeler told Charlotte Varnes of The Athletic. "It felt like I was the fifth option."
Wheeler's comments came just days after he delivered a dominant response on the mound, striking out a career-high-tying 14 batters in a 4-1 victory over the Cincinnati Reds on Tuesday. The outing improved his record to 9-1 and served as what he called "a reminder for whoever needs to be reminded" that he deserved an All-Star selection.
"It pisses me off and it's kind of BS," Wheeler said after that performance.
His frustration was caused by Major League Baseball announcing three National League replacement pitchers earlier that day — St. Louis' Riley O'Brien, Phillies teammate Jesús Luzardo and Pittsburgh's Braxton Ashcraft — while Wheeler remained off the roster for the game in Philadelphia.
Those replacements were needed after Paul Skenes, Jacob Misiorowski and Max Meyer became unavailable because they were scheduled to pitch for their respective clubs this weekend. Wheeler is also set to start this weekend against the Detroit Tigers, and he believes that scheduling conflict unfairly cost him a spot.
"Just because I pitch on a certain day, I get — you know — I don't even know the right word," Wheeler said. "Because I pitch on a certain day, I can't pitch in the All-Star Game or even be there or get the recognition."
The 36-year-old argued that deserving players should still receive the honour of being named an All-Star, regardless of whether they're available to pitch in the game itself.
"Maybe if I wasn't necessarily right in there I wouldn't be saying this, but I feel like I've earned it," Wheeler said. "There's certain ways to do it, and you figure they would have a clue about it by now — how many All-Star games they've had."
Wheeler added he would have even been willing to throw one inning on two days' rest, noting that it would have lined up with a normal bullpen session.
"I'll be fine throwing an inning," he said. "But it's not even an option, I guess. It's kind of a BS rule that just because I pitch on a certain day I get punished."
Phillies slugger Kyle Schwarber, who earned his fourth All-Star selection after hitting his major league-leading 31st home run of the season, backed his teammate's stance.
"When someone deserves it, you want them to get that acknowledgment," Schwarber said. "We're only in this game for so long. You want to be able to look back and feel like you have some things that put some feathers in the cap."
--With files from the Associated Press.
