MLB Press Release:
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 2017 AL and NL All-Star rosters were unveiled earlier this evening during the "2017 Esurance MLB All-Star Game 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 Gary Sánchezof the New York Yankees; first baseman Yonder Alonso of the Oakland Athletics; second baseman Starlin Castro of the Yankees; shortstop Francisco Lindor of the Cleveland Indians; third baseman Miguel Sanó of the Minnesota Twins; outfielders Mookie Betts of the Boston Red Sox, Avisaíl García of the Chicago White Sox and Michael Brantley of the Indians; 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 Chris Sale of the Red Sox; Dallas Keuchel of the Houston Astros; Ervin Santana of the Twins; Jason Vargas of the Kansas City Royals; and Luis Severino of the Yankees. The relievers who are All-Stars via the Player Ballot are Craig Kimbrel of the Red Sox; Andrew Miller of the Indians; and Dellin Betancesof the Yankees.
MLB had five selections to fill out the remainder of the AL roster. The four pitchers chosen are Yu Darvish of the Texas Rangers; Michael Fulmer of the Detroit Tigers; Corey Kluber of the Indians; and Lance McCullers Jr. of the Astros. The one position player who is among MLB selections is second baseman Jonathan Schoop of the Baltimore Orioles.
The 2017 Esurance MLB All-Star Game Final Vote will determine the 32nd AL roster spot. The candidates are Rangers shortstop Elvis Andrus; Red Sox shortstop Xander Bogaerts; Yankees shortstop Didi Gregorius; Rays first baseman Logan Morrison; and Royals third baseman Mike Moustakas.
National League position players who are invited to the 88th Midsummer Classic as a result of Player Balloting are catcher Yadier Molina of the St. Louis Cardinals; first baseman Paul Goldschmidt of the Arizona Diamondbacks; second baseman DJ LeMahieu of the Colorado Rockies; shortstop Corey Seager of the Los Angeles Dodgers; third baseman Jake Lamb of the D-backs; and outfielders Cody Bellingerof the Dodgers, Giancarlo Stanton of the host Miami Marlins and Michael Conforto of the New York Mets.
NL pitchers who have made the 2017 All-Star Game presented by Mastercard as a result of the Player Ballot include starters Clayton Kershaw of the Dodgers; Max Scherzer of the Washington Nationals; Robbie Ray and Zack Greinke of the D-backs; and Carlos Martínez of the Cardinals. The relievers who are All-Stars via the Player Ballot are Kenley Jansen of the Dodgers; Greg Holland of the Rockies; and Wade Davis of the Chicago Cubs.
MLB had seven selections to fill out the remainder of the NL roster. The four pitchers selected include reliever Brad Hand of the San Diego Padres; reliever Corey Knebel of the Milwaukee Brewers; reliever Pat Neshek of the Philadelphia Phillies; and starter Stephen Strasburg of the Nationals. The three position players selected are infielder Josh Harrison of the Pittsburgh Pirates; outfielder Ender Inciarte of the Atlanta Braves; and first baseman Joey Votto of the Cincinnati Reds.
The 2017 Esurance MLB All-Star Game Final Vote will determine the 32nd NL roster spot, a competition that will feature first baseman Justin Bour of the Marlins; third baseman Kris Bryant of the Chicago Cubs; third baseman Anthony Rendon of the Nationals; first baseman Mark Reynolds of the Rockies; and third baseman Justin Turner of the Dodgers.
The Astros, who entered play today with the best record in the Majors (54-27, .667), will send five players to the Midsummer Classic for the first time since 1994, when five Astros were also selected. In addition, the Indians, Yankees and Nationals will also send five players to Miami. It is the most for Cleveland since 2004 (also five); the most for the Yankees since 2011 (eight); and the second consecutive season that the Nationals send five players to the All-Star Game.
The Rockies will be represented by four players in Miami, the most in franchise history. Previously, Colorado had three All-Stars on seven occasions (1996, 1998, 2000, 2001, 2003, 2013 and 2015). The Diamondbacks also have four players selected, the most since they sent six players to the 2002 Midsummer Classic.
For the third consecutive season, the Dodgers have a rookie named to the NL All-Star team as first baseman/outfielder Cody Bellinger joins Bill Grabarkewitz (1970), Steve Sax (1982), Hall of Famer Mike Piazza (1993), Joc Pederson (2015) and Corey Seager (2016) as Dodgers rookie position players to be selected an All-Star.
Bellinger is one of the 23 All-Stars (15 AL, 8 NL) making their first trip to the Midsummer Classic, and he is also one of the 30 players (17 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 (15 AL, 6 NL), including players from the Dominican Republic (9), Venezuela (4), Puerto Rico (3), Curaҫao (2), Canada (1), Cuba (1) and Japan (1). Baltimore Orioles second baseman Jonathan Schoop is just the fourth player from Curaҫao to be selected to the Midsummer Classic, joining fellow 2017 All-Star Kenley Jansen (also 2016), Andruw Jones (2000, 2002-03, 2005-06) and Jair Jurrjens (2011).
Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw is an All-Star for the seventh consecutive season, while Angels outfielder Mike Trout and Red Sox pitcher Chris Sale were each named to the Midsummer Classic for a sixth consecutive time. They are followed by Arizona's Paul Goldschmidt (five straight), Washington's Max Scherzer (five straight), Kansas City's Salvador Perez (five straight), Houston's Jose Altuve (four straight) and Dellin Betances of the Yankees (four straight).
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