Mike Trout, Christian Yelich lead MLB All-Star starters, but there are some surprises too
We didn't know what to expect when Major League Baseball decided to shake things up by overhauling the All-Star voting system.
Based on the primary results last week and the starters who were announced Thursday, the election process might be great again. Or at least closer to good than it’s been in quite some time.
The new voting process saw each position narrowed down to a select group of finalists — nine in the outfield, three at every other non-pitching position — as determined by the primary voting round. That part alone produced some big surprises — the most notable being Bryce Harper's failure to make the top nine in the NL outfield.
For a 28-hour period that began Wednesday, fans voted on a starter from the group of finalists. It seems that by trimming the fat early, it forced fans to familiarize themselves with candidates from other teams. The result of which led to a pretty fair and balanced outcome.
There are some familiar and expected faces, like Mike Trout and Christian Yelich. There are some breakout stars of 2019, like Cody Bellinger and Jorge Polanco. Then there are some guys nobody would have predicted on opening day, like Ketel Marte, and a great comeback story in 36-year-old Hunter Pence.
Here’s the full lists of players elected to start the All-Star Game on July 9 in Cleveland.
American League starters
C –Gary Sanchez, New York Yankees
1B – Carlos Santana, Cleveland Indians
2B - DJ LeMahieu, Yankees
SS – Jorge Polanco, Minnesota Twins
3B – Alex Bregman, Houston Astros
OF – Mike Trout, Los Angeles Angels
OF – George Springer, Astros
OF – Michael Brantley, Astros
DH – Hunter Pence, Texas Rangers
National League starters
C – Willson Contreras, Chicago Cubs
1B – Freddie Freeman, Atlanta Braves
2B – Ketel Marte, Arizona Diamondbacks
SS – Javier Báez, Chicago Cubs
3B – Nolan Arenado, Colorado Rockies
OF – Christian Yelich, Milwaukee Brewers
OF – Cody Bellinger, Los Angeles Dodgers
OF – Ronald Acuña Jr., Braves
There are quite a few first-timers this year — including four first-time All-Stars overall, and 11 who were voted in by fans for the first time. There are six players in their second All-Star game. The only players on the starting roster with more than four appearances are Mike Trout (with eight) and Nolan Arenado (five).
The pitchers and rest of the All-Star rosters will be announced Sunday. The game happens July 9 at Cleveland’s Progressive Field.
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