2018 All-Star Game rosters announced
Pitchers and reserves have been named to the American League and National League All-Star Teams, as announced today by Major League Baseball and the Major League Baseball Players Association. The 2018 AL and NL All-Star rosters were unveiled earlier this evening during the "2018 Camping World All-Star Selection Show" on ESPN.
In addition to the starters who were elected by the fans, pitchers and reserve players were named to the All-Star Game rosters by the Player Ballot - a vote of the players, managers and coaches - and by Major League Baseball. In making the selections, MLB has ensured that each of the 30 Major League Clubs will be represented in the All-Star Game.
American League position players who are invited to the 2017 All-Star Game presented by Mastercard as a result of Player Balloting are catcher Salvador Perez of the Kansas City Royals; first baseman Mitch Moreland of the Boston Red Sox; second baseman Gleyber Torres of the New York Yankees; shortstop Francisco Lindor of the Cleveland Indians; third baseman Alex Bregman of the Houston Astros; outfielders George Springer of the Astros, Michael Brantley of the Indians and Mitch Haniger of the Mariners; and designated hitter Nelson Cruz of the Seattle Mariners.
AL pitchers who have made the Midsummer Classic as a result of the Player Ballot include starters Justin Verlander of the Astros; Corey Kluber of the Indians; Luis Severino of the Yankees; Gerrit Cole of the Astros; and Chris Sale of the Red Sox. The relievers who are All-Stars via the Player Ballot are Edwin Díaz of the Mariners; Craig Kimbrel of the Red Sox; and Aroldis Chapman of the Yankees.
MLB had five selections to fill out the remainder of the AL roster, with each of the picks being used to represent the five Clubs that did not have an All-Star after the fan and player balloting processes. The four pitchers chosen include starter José Berrios of the Minnesota Twins; starter J.A. Happ of the Toronto Blue Jays; reliever Joe Jiménez of the Detroit Tigers; and reliever Blake Treinen of the Oakland Athletics. The one position player who is among MLB selections is outfielder Shin-Soo Choo of the Texas Rangers. In addition, player-elected All-Star Justin Verlander, who is scheduled to pitch on Sunday, July 15th, will be inactive at the 89th Midsummer Classic. MLB has selected Indians starter Trevor Bauer to replace Verlander on the active roster.
The 2018 Camping World All-Star Final Vote will determine the 32nd AL roster spot. The candidates are Red Sox outfielder Andrew Benintendi; Twins outfielder Eddie Rosario; Mariners shortstop Jean Segura; Los Angeles Angels shortstop Andrelton Simmons; and Yankees designated hitter Giancarlo Stanton.
National League position players who are invited to the 89th Midsummer Classic as a result of Player Balloting are catcher Buster Posey of the San Francisco Giants; first baseman Joey Votto of the Cincinnati Reds; second baseman Ozzie Albies of the Atlanta Braves; shortstop Trevor Story of the Colorado Rockies; third baseman Eugenio Suárez of the Reds; and outfielders Christian Yelich of the Milwaukee Brewers, Charlie Blackmon of the Colorado Rockies and Lorenzo Cain of the Brewers.
NL pitchers who have made the 2018 All-Star Game presented by Mastercard as a result of the Player Ballot include starters Max Scherzer of the host Washington Nationals; Jacob deGrom of the New York Mets; Aaron Nola of the Philadelphia Phillies; Mike Foltynewicz of the Braves; and Jon Lester of the Chicago Cubs. The relievers who are All-Stars via the Player Ballot are Josh Hader of the Brewers; Brad Hand of the San Diego Padres; and Sean Doolittle of the Nationals.
MLB had seven selections to fill out the remainder of the NL roster, including for three teams yet to have an All-Star elected by the fans or players. The four pitchers selected include starter Patrick Corbin of the Arizona Diamondbacks; reliever Kenley Jansen of the Los Angeles Dodgers; starter Miles Mikolas of the St. Louis Cardinals; and reliever Felipe Vázquez of the Pittsburgh Pirates. The three position players selected are second baseman Scooter Gennett of the Reds; first baseman Paul Goldschmidt of the Diamondbacks; and catcher J.T. Realmuto of the Miami Marlins.
The 2018 Camping World All-Star Final Vote will determine the 32nd NL roster spot, a competition that will feature first baseman Jesús Aguilar of the Brewers; first baseman Brandon Belt of the Giants; infielder Matt Carpenter of the Cardinals; infielder Max Muncy of the Dodgers; and shortstop Trea Turner of the Nationals.
The three AL Division leaders - the Astros, Indians and Red Sox - will each send a Major League-high five players to the Midsummer Classic. It marks the second consecutive year for Houston to have at least five All-Stars, following their six selections last year, and it is the first time in franchise history that the Club has had at least five All-Stars in consecutive years. The Indians are sending five representatives for a second straight season, marking the first time they have accomplished that since they sent six players to the All-Star Game in 1998 and 1999. The Braves will have an NL-best four players represented at the Midsummer Classic. It is the first time the Braves will send as many as four players to the Midsummer Classic since 2012.
For the second consecutive season, the Yankees have a rookie named to the AL All-Star team as second baseman Gleyber Torres joins Joe DiMaggio (1936), Tom Tresh (1962), Willie Randolph (1976), Hideki Matsui (2003) and teammate Aaron Judge (2017) as Yankees rookie position players to be selected an All-Star.
Torres is one of the 25 All-Stars (11 AL, 14 NL) making their first trip to the Midsummer Classic, and he is also one of the 29 players (16 AL, 13 NL) age 27-or-younger who have been selected to the All-Star rosters. In addition, there are 21 foreign-born players on the All-Star rosters (14 AL, 7 NL), including players from Venezuela (7), Puerto Rico (5), the Dominican Republic (3), Cuba (2), Curaҫao (2), Canada (1) and South Korea (1). Rangers outfielder Shin-Soo Choo is the first Korean-born position player, and just the third Korean player overall to make an All-Star team, joining pitchers Chan Ho Park (2001) and Byung-Hyun Kim (2002). Braves second baseman Ozzie Albies is just the fifth player from Curaҫao to be selected to the Midsummer Classic, joining fellow 2018 All-Star Kenley Jansen (also 2016-17), Andruw Jones (2000, 2002-03, 2005-06) and Jair Jurrjens (2011).
Angels outfielder Mike Trout and Red Sox pitcher Chris Sale were each named to the Midsummer Classic for a seventh consecutive time. They are followed by Arizona's Paul Goldschmidt (six straight), Washington's Max Scherzer (six straight), Kansas City's Salvador Perez (six straight), Houston's Jose Altuve (five straight) and Colorado's Nolan Arenado (four straight).
Following the Camping World All-Star Selection Show, fans can begin casting votes to select the final player for each League's 32-man roster via the 2018 Camping World All-Star Final Vote. Fans will cast their votes from a list of five players from each League over the balloting period, which concludes on Wednesday, July 11th at 4:00 p.m. ET. Now in its 17th season with over 760 million votes cast, fans again will be able to make their Final Vote selections on MLB.com, Club sites and their mobile devices. The winners of the Final Vote will be announced live on MLB Network on Wednesday, July 11th at 8:00 p.m. ET.
This year's final phase of All-Star Game voting again will have fans participating in the official voting for the Ted Williams All-Star Game Most Valuable Player Award presented by Chevrolet. During the Midsummer Classic, fans can vote exclusively at MLB.com and the 30 Club sites - online or via their mobile devices - with the 2018 All-Star Game MLB.com MVP Vote, and their collective voice will represent 20 percent of the official vote determining this year's recipient of the Arch Ward Trophy.
MLB All-Star Week includes the MLB All-Star Game presented by Mastercard at Nationals Park (July 17th), Gatorade All-Star Workout Day featuring the T-Mobile Home Run Derby (July 16th), All-Star Sunday featuring the SiriusXM All-Star Futures Game and All-Star Legends & Celebrity Softball Game (July 15th), GEICO All-Star FanFest at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center (July 13th-17th), and PLAY BALL Park at The Yards (July 13th-17th), plus a lineup of additional events taking place around the city. The 89th Midsummer Classic will be televised nationally by FOX Sports; in Canada by Rogers Sportsnet and RDS; and worldwide by partners in more than 180 countries. FOX Deportes will provide Spanish language coverage in the United States, while ESPN Radio and ESPN Radio Deportes will provide exclusive national radio coverage of the All-Star Game. MLB Network, MLB.com and SiriusXM also will provide comprehensive All-Star Week coverage.
For more information about MLB All-Star Week and to purchase tickets, please visit www.allstargame.com and follow @MLB and @AllStarGame on social media.