While Kris Bryant was a nominee for the National League’s Final Vote, the spot ultimately went to Los Angeles Dodgers third baseman Justin Turner. As far as defending World Series champions go, that puts the Chicago Cubs in a dubious class by themselves.
Kris Bryant is not an All-Star, so the Cubs are the 1st World Series champ ever with 0 All-Stars that made it previous year (@EliasSports) pic.twitter.com/yIYuxplIzQ
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) July 6, 2017
In fact, barring any replacements, nobody who was on the 2016 World Series champions will be in Miami. Closer Wade Davis is Chicago’s lone All-Star, and he was with the Kansas City Royals in 2016.
This goes directly in line with what team president Theo Epstein recently said, saying his team didn’t need a trade, but better play.
It’s no secret that the Cubs’ World Series defense has not gone smooth. At the beginning of the year, it would have been unfathomable that one of baseball’s most-talented rosters wouldn’t feature more than the minimum one Chicago player. By contrast, in 2016, the Cubs had seven All-Stars including five starters and the entire National League starting infield.