D-backs manager Torey Lovullo and Rangers manager Bruce Bochy have more important things on their mind right now than how they will arrange their starting lineups for the 2024 All-Star Game.

Those two men are leading clubs that are under .500 and pushing to end the season's first half on a high note after a few months that have featured more valleys than peaks. But while Lovullo and Bochy concentrate on their own teams, we've enlisted a couple of MLB writers to step into their shoes and predict how the two managers will draw it up for the July 16 game at Globe Life Field in Texas.

No starting pitchers are included in these lineups -- we've already written about possible pairings there.

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All stats updated through Friday's games

NATIONAL LEAGUE

1. Shohei Ohtani, DH
2. Trea Turner, SS
3. Bryce Harper, 1B
4. Teoscar Hernández, RF
5. Christian Yelich, LF
6. William Contreras, C
7. Alec Bohm, 3B
8. Ketel Marte, 2B
9. Jurickson Profar, CF

Fernando Tatis Jr. was voted in as an NL starter, but a stress reaction in his right leg is expected to keep him sidelined into August. This lineup has replaced him with Hernández, whose 19 homers rank fifth in the Senior Circuit. He bats cleanup behind Ohtani, Turner and Harper. Or, in other words: The player who is the presumptive MVP favorite, a shortstop enjoying a possibly historic season for the Phillies, and the league's leading vote-getter during Phase 1 of All-Star voting. They deserve to be at the head of this lineup. There is one player who could shake things up, but we'll get to that in a bit.

Behind Hernández, we have another pair of teammates who, like Turner and Harper, are used to batting back-to-back. But the order here has been flipped, with the veteran Yelich in front of the young Contreras. Yelich is enjoying a resurgent year; his 155 wRC+ ranks eighth in the NL (min. 250 plate appearances), and it's his best since he led the league with a 174 wRC+ during his 2019 MVP campaign.

Bohm will start in his first All-Star Game one night after participating in the Home Run Derby. Profar is another first-time All-Star in his 11th season, and few players over the past 90 years have had to wait longer to start in their first Midsummer Classic.

Two questions arise as we look toward the bottom of this lineup: Where will Marte bat? And who is playing center field? Marte is the real wild card when trying to project this lineup because Lovullo could decide to reward one of his own players with a high spot in the order. Plus, Marte is one of only five qualified National Leaguers with a .350 on-base percentage and a .500 slugging percentage, joining Ohtani, Harper, Marcell Ozuna and Freddie Freeman. It wouldn't be surprising to see Lovullo turn in a lineup card with Turner and Marte setting the table for the big boppers.

With Tatis out, there isn't an obvious center fielder. However, Profar has spent most of career moving around the diamond, and he did play 20 games in center with San Diego in 2020. That's more appearances than Hernández and Yelich have made at that position over the past five seasons combined. Granted, Profar hasn't manned center field since, but he can handle it for a few innings on one night. -- Brian Murphy

AMERICAN LEAGUE

1. Jose Altuve, 2B
2. Juan Soto, RF
3. Aaron Judge, CF
4. Yordan Alvarez, DH
5. Gunnar Henderson, SS
6. José Ramírez, 3B
7. Vladimir Guerrero Jr., 1B
8. Adley Rutschman, C
9. Steven Kwan, LF

Kwan is leading the Majors with a .365 batting average, but we give the nod here to the veteran Altuve, who is an All-Star for the ninth time and has been hot of late -- since June 19, he's hitting .381. He was hit on his left hand by a pitch on Friday, but he's expected to be back in the Astros' lineup soon.

In the No. 2 and No. 3 spots are teammates who are used to hitting back-to-back in those slots with the Yankees and are two of the most feared sluggers in the game -- Soto and Judge. Soto, as he tends to do, is leading the Majors in walks and on-base percentage while belting 21 homers and driving in 63 runs. Judge has been absolutely incredible since the start of May. Following a slow opening month of the season, he's hit 26 of his MLB-leading 32 homers since May 3.

The cleanup spot in the AL presents a tough choice between Alvarez and Henderson. Alvarez is the more established star and one of the elite hitters in the game. But Henderson, coming off a Rookie of the Year campaign last year, has taken his game to an entirely different level -- in just over half the time it took him to complete the 2023 season with 28 homers, Henderson has already smashed 27 this year and is putting together an MVP-caliber season for the Orioles.

But like with Altuve over Kwan, we'll go with experience and track record here, slotting Alvarez into the fourth spot. The big slugger has been red-hot over the past five weeks or so, posting a 1.169 OPS with 10 homers since May 28 to help Houston finally right the ship after a poor start to the season.

When you have a lineup in which Ramírez is batting sixth, you're looking at one stacked batting order. But that's exactly what we have with this year's AL All-Star starters. J-Ram is doing J-Ram things at the plate once again -- the Guardians third baseman has hit 23 homers and his 76 RBIs trail only Judge's 83.

Guerrero, meanwhile, has turned things around following a sluggish start offensively. Since May 8, he has slugged nine homers with an OPS north of .900. He's followed by Rutschman, who like his teammate, Henderson, has upped his home run frequency significantly -- he's got 16 already this season after hitting 20 in 2023.

Finally, Kwan is the AL's second leadoff man in the ninth spot. And what a magnificent season the first-time All-Star is having. He's not only leading baseball in batting average, but he's also hit a career-best nine homers already this season. -- Manny Randhawa