Cubs shortstop Dansby Swanson made his first All-Star Game a year ago, and won a World Series a season before that. In case you forgot that Marcus Stroman made an All-Star team in 2019, he was wearing his old hat from that game while addressing the media Sunday.
Not to take anything away from them, the emergence of 27-year-old left-hander Justin Steele as a star worthy of joining those two veterans in Seattle to represent the Cubs at the All-Star Game next week took top billing—at least in the clubhouse.
“Way more excited for the news for Justin than myself,” said Stroman.
“We had a team meeting,” said manager David Ross of the announcement. “Dansby got a couple of claps, Stro got a couple of claps and the place kind of erupted for Steeley.”
For Steele, a fifth-round draft pick who was never rated as a top-100 prospect by any public outlet, the selection is the culmination of a breakout that was hinted at with a dominant final outing at the end of a rebuilding season in 2021. Less than two years later, he has the lowest ERA (2.43) of any qualified starter in baseball and touts a unique fastball that draws comparisons to Jon Lester for how Steele can manipulate and command it.
“His fastball essentially can be four different pitches, really,” said catcher Tucker Barnhart. “[Steele and Stroman] are similar in how they attack guys. They make other teams and lineups make adjustments to them.”
Stroman has spent much of the past few weeks publicly campaigning for Steele’s candidacy, discussed Saturday night the importance of resting during the All-Star break to prepare for making a run in the second half and minimized the importance of personal accolades. But making his second All-Star team at 32 serves as a clear validation of where his game is at, at a moment in his career where his long-term value is a regular source of debate, if not active negotiation.
“I’m very thankful and grateful, especially to get back here after all these years,” Stroman said. “My last All-Star was in 2019, so four years later to still consider myself at the top of my game, I truly feel like I’m in my prime. I feel like I’m going to stay here for a long time.”
Stroman, who is fourth in the NL in ERA and third in innings, wanted to spread credit to clubbies, training staff and team massage therapists, but also felt his double play combination of Nico Hoerner and Dansby Swanson deserved recognition for their all-around contributions.
In the case of Swanson, voters listened. The 29 year-old entered Sunday hitting .261/.348/.407 with nine home runs in 79 games in his first year of a seven-year contract with the Cubs, and Ross feels his power numbers would be stronger with better early season weather. But more notably, Swanson’s defense is rated as the best of any NL shortstop by Statcast’s Outs Above Average metric.
“Dansby’s been the stabilizing force,” said Ross. “Dansby’s the new guy in town carrying the big contract, but never has he shied away from any moment. All he wants to do is play, he wants to grind, he wants to be in there for the boys. He’s a team player and everything is about winning.”
With the focus on winning, the question will soon turn to whether the Cubs All-Star entries—particularly their crucial top of the rotation arms—will participate in an exhibition game. But Ross did not reveal any initial intent to weigh in on that.
“I’ll leave that to them and what they want to do,” said Ross. “This honor today is special and whoever is managing that stuff can take care of that. I’ll stay out of that discussion.”
