Griffin gets late nod for All-Star Game
Foster Griffin will be an All-Star after all, selected by MLB to replace Pirates right-hander Braxton Ashcraft on the NL pitching staff
It took an extra week to happen, but Foster Griffin is an All-Star after all.
The Nationals left-hander learned Saturday night he had been added to the NL All-Star roster by Major League Baseball, replacing Braxton Ashcraft, who was no longer eligible to pitch in the Midsummer Classic after starting Saturday’s game for the Pirates.
Griffin had been waiting patiently all week, left off the initial All-Star roster but aware he could get the call at some point if enough fellow NL pitchers had to be removed.
“I was pretty content, honestly,” he said. “I felt like everything happens for a reason, and perfect timing. So I was really good with it either way. I knew it was so much out of my hands that I couldn’t control it. Me getting upset about it isn’t going to do anything. If it was going to happen, great. If not, I was going to get some time with family, and it was going to be a great time.”
Though he wasn’t an original choice to make the roster, Griffin had a compelling case all along. He enters the break tied for fourth in the NL in wins (10), eighth in ERA (2.77), third in WHIP (1.02), seventh in innings pitched (110 1/3) and seventh in strikeout-to-walk ratio (4.19). He’s allowed zero or one run in seven consecutive starts.
Griffin becomes a first-time All-Star at 30, technically a rookie in his first season with the Nationals after spending three years pitching in Japan. Signed for a modest $5.5 million plus incentives, the lefty has become an indispensable member of the Nats rotation.
“We would be nowhere near where we are without Foster Griffin on this team,” manager Blake Butera said. “And I couldn’t be happier for him.”
The addition of Griffin gives the Nationals three All-Stars in the same season for the first time since 2021. He’ll head to Philadelphia along with CJ Abrams (voted by fans as the NL’s starting shortstop) and James Wood (voted by fellow players as a reserve outfielder).
Though they had high hopes when they signed him, the Nats could not have envisioned Griffin performing this consistently well from the outset. It leaves his future with the organization very much up in the air, with the free-agent-to-be a potential candidate to be dealt before the Aug. 3 trade deadline if the team falls out of the wild-card race. The franchise could also attempt to sign him to an extension before ever reaching free agency, locking up a key rotation member for 2027 and beyond.
For now, Griffin is just trying to figure out how he and his family will get to Philadelphia on short notice while at the same time canceling reservations for the beach trip he intended to make during the four-day break.
“That can wait,” he said.
Cool