Josh Hader and Juan Soto named to National League All-Star team

Major League Baseball announced their All-Star Game pitchers and reserves on Sunday night and only two San Diego Padres players were included: Josh Hader and Juan Soto.

If you would have told me on Opening Day that the Padres would only have two All-Stars, I wouldn’t have believed you but that just shows how unpredictable baseball can be.

Hader and Soto are deserving of the honor, as Hader owns a 1.21 ERA with 18 saves and a sub-1 WHIP. Despite starting the season barely hitting .200, Soto has elevated his average to .277 and currently has a .926 OPS, which is top 10 in all of baseball.

Some Padres fans may be surprised to not see Fernando Tatis Jr. named to the team and I would agree. No disrespect to Lourdes Gurriel Jr. but would most fans rather see him or Tatis play in the All-Star Game? I think we know the answer to that.

Plus, the numbers back up Tatis going over Gurriel. While he missed the first 20 games due to his PED suspension, the 24-year-old leads the Padres in WAR and leads Gurriel in many offensive categories.

Tatis can still be named as a replacement player but he’s done enough to have earned a spot on the initial roster.

Ha-Seong Kim also should deserve at least recognition for his good first half of the season. Kim has a higher batting average, on-base percentage and OPS compared to last season. He’s also tremendous defensively as he has 17 defensive runs saved.