These are all of the finalists for the Starters Election, which begins Wednesday at 11 a.m. CT and runs through Thursday at 4 p.m. The winners will be unveiled on ESPN that night starting at 6 CT. Players who do not get elected starters are not automatically added to the team as reserves -- they will be determined through a combination of “Player Ballot” choices and selections made by the Commissioner’s Office. All-Star pitchers and reserves will be announced on Sunday, June 30, at 4:30 p.m. CT, also on ESPN.
MILWAUKEE -- On the eve of balloting that could make him an All-Star Game starter for the first time in his career, Christian Yelich paused to tip his cap to Milwaukee's newest MVP.
Yelich was watching as Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo delivered an emotionally stirring speech on Monday night after winning the NBA’s Most Valuable Player Award. It gives Milwaukee a rare duo. Yelich, the reigning National League MVP Award winner, knows as much as anyone about what Antetokounmpo was thinking as tears streamed down his face while accepting the award and about what lies ahead.
“I think it gave people an insight into what drives people who are very successful at what they do,” Yelich said. “I think people get to see the results on the field or the court or whatever it may be, but they don’t get to see that person’s thought process, what drives them. What goes on when nobody’s around. What they think about.
“I think that was a little glimpse inside his world, probably, which I thought was really cool. It shouldn’t be overlooked, because there’s a lot that goes into a season like his that a lot of people don’t get to see.”
Yelich had more time to process his award, since the Baseball Writers Association of America reveals its league MVPs in November and does not present the hardware until a dinner in New York in January. Antetokounmpo had both experiences all at once on Monday night, during the NBA’s televised awards show.
“You imagine what that moment is going to be like. He probably played it over in his head a few times, what it would feel like,” Yelich said. “But until you’re actually up there and it’s happening, and it’s real life, and you’re looking out there at everybody and you have that award, I feel like it doesn’t fully hit you until then. You’re like, ‘Wow, this really happened.’
“His journey is pretty incredible, from where he started to what his status is in the game and the world now. So I’m sure all of that probably hit him up there. Just speaking from being in a similar positon, you envision the moment, but you don’t fully appreciate it or understand how it’s going to hit you until you’re in the middle of it. I think it was pretty cool that it was raw, emotional. Exactly how it should have been.”
Brewers manager Craig Counsell offered a similarly glowing review. He watched all two hours of the awards with his family and said they all jumped up and cheered when Antetokounmpo won.
“He just gave an incredible speech,” Counsell said. “It was beautiful. It really was. I respect him on the court, but I respect him so much for delivering that in such an emotional time to go up on that stage and just nail it, right? He just nailed it.”
Now comes the next act.
After winning his first MVP Award, will Antetokounmpo be under pressure to repeat?
“Honestly, the pressure that he puts on himself is tenfold what anybody from the outside can ever put on him,” said Yelich, who often bristled about the notion of “regression” in the run-up to the 2019 season. “You hold yourself to a higher standard than anybody could possibly imagine, and you understand how much work goes into your craft, what you do. How many hours you spend trying to perform. You shouldn’t look at it as trying to live up to a season that you’ve had in the past.
“You can’t look at the [last year] -- it doesn’t mean anything once the new year starts. It means absolutely nothing. You have that award in your back pocket, but it doesn’t mean anything is guaranteed to you going forward. I imagine that his drive and hunger will remain the same. He’s probably in the same boat we were, where we didn’t exactly accomplish our goal as a team, and that drives you from the inside as well.”
That seems to be the case for Yelich, who led MLB with 29 home runs entering Tuesday’s series opener against the Mariners. He’s one of nine NL outfielders who are finalists to start the All-Star Game, and Mike Moustakas and Yasmani Grandal are finalists at second base and catcher, respectively.
The Brewers will be active on social media Wednesday as a 28-hour voting period begins, and the team’s mascots will be out around Milwaukee raising awareness about the new process, which allows fans to cast one vote per email address. Fans will also be encouraged to vote during Wednesday’s game against Seattle.