All-Star voting shutout is Mariners' final humiliation of a 2026 first half to forget

No one will deny this has been a disappointing first half of the regular season for a Mariners team which had genuine World Series aspirations. Following the demoralizing series loss in Pittsburgh versus the Pirates, the M's stand at a thoroughly underwhelming 41-41. As such, it should come as no surprise they will have no starters in this year's All-Star Game.

As per Theo DeRosa of MLB.com, the Phase 1 voting results are in for the AL and NL, with the top two vote-getters in each league at every position, and the top six outfielders, advancing to Phase 2. There had been some hope for Randy Arozarena and Julio Rodríguez in the outfield, but ultimately they fell short. And as SoDo Mojo's Zachary Rymer alluded to earlier this week, the Mariners deserved their fate in the All-Star Game voting.

We get that the whole All-Star Game voting hoopla is in many ways one big popularity contest. It's why the Blue Jays have a finalist at every AL position and two in the outfield advancing to Phase 2, helped significantly by having an entire country voting for them. Heck, this even helps explains why Ernie Clement is the top vote-getter in the AL full stop, even though Cole Young is the top second basemen in the majors, based on a 2.3 bWAR (Clement only has a 1.0 bWAR).

In respect of Young, he's probably one of the few Mariners who does deserve to be an All-Star, along with Arozarena. As it is, they will have someone representing them in Philadelphia, albeit only because every team must have at least one player as a rule. Ultimately though, you can only blame the popularity aspect of the voting process so much.

The reality is, as stated up top, the Mariners have been a disappointment so far. It doesn't help that the offense has regressed of late, scoring no more than three runs in the previous 11 games and in the process going 4-7. As a result, the M's are 25th overall in average runs per game.

Despite the disappointment, there's still reason for Mariners fans to be hopeful

However, as rough as it has been for the Mariners, there's still hope for a team which has too much talent to be this mediocre. And not just because they've dealt with a horrendous number of injuries, or because they play in the worst division in the majors. Hot first halves have just not been their thing in the 2020s, but they usually manage to bounce back:

Now yes, we appreciate the Mariners only made the playoffs twice in the past five years, but the fact remains they have been a better team during the second half of the regular season. It's also interesting to note the only time they started strong, in 2024, they ended up having their poorest record of the five campaigns in question.

Look, it is a shame the Mariners have done so poorly in All-Star voting this year, especially one season after having five selections, which was their most since the 116-win 2001 season. Ultimately though, this is still a supremely talented team which has, for some reason lacked a sense of urgency. Let's just hope the All-Star voting snub provides the necessary humilation and reality check to finally wake them up.

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