Athletics starter Chris Bassitt was selected to his first All-Star team on Saturday.
It was about time.
Bassitt’s boasting a 3.41 ERA with 115 strikeouts in 111 innings, good enough for a 1.07 WHIP.
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A’s manager Bob Melvin said the team was beyond happy for Bassitt’s honors to play in the midsummer classic in Denver next week.
“Elated. We all were,” Melvin said Saturday. “We had a little ceremony in there for him today.”
The little ceremony was the team gathering around, wishing Bassitt congratulations. Just as they did with first baseman Matt Olson, who also was selected to his first All-Star game last week.
“A lot’s been documented where he’s come from in his career to where he is now,” Melvin said. “He was pretty emotional after his first shutout, leading the way as a starter for the last year and a half. This kind of culminates all that hard work and perseverance. We recognize that. We celebrated in there and you look forward to seeing him in Colorado here next week.”
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The emotional postgame interview after Bassitt’s first career complete game shutout showed exactly why his teammates were singing his praises on social media and why when you glance into the dugout, everyone surrounds him.
The tears he shed were him realizing how far he has come and how thankful he was to those who were there along the way.
Last season, Bassitt was hoping to simply make the starting rotation. Over the last two years, he has become the most dependable starter on the A’s staff. He has also become a leader, but shied away from admitting that. He gave the leadership naming honors to the media. So that’s what we dubbed him.
Bob Melvin used to worry about some of his own players playing in the All-Star game. An exhibition game in the middle of the season could create concerns of injuries, but Melvin said earlier this week those worries are long gone. He’s just happy for those who get to play in the game.
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Since Bassitt was named one of the All-Star replacements, he was given the honors after Olson received his. Melvin wanted to make sure Bassitt got the attention he deserved.
“Everybody kind of knew ahead of time, but still wanted to gave him his props, and gave him a hand. He’s such a big part of this clubhouse, this team and we didn’t want that to be any different when it was when we announced Matt.”