Los Angeles All-Star Game features LA players
Trout, Ohtani, Betts, Turner to start in Midsummer Classic
Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani of the Los Angeles Angels were elected Friday to start in the July 19 All-Star Game along with Mookie Betts and Trea Turner of the host Dodgers.
Toronto catcher Alejandro Kirk and Miami second baseman Jazz Chisholm Jr. were voted to start as first-time AllStars, finishing atop their positions in the second round of fan voting.
Aaron Judge of the New York Yankees and Ronald Acuña Jr. of the World Series champion Atlanta Braves were elected from the first round of balloting as the top vote-getters in their leagues.
The AL starting lineup includes Blue Jays first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Houston second baseman Jose Altuve, Chicago White Sox shortstop Tim Anderson, Boston third baseman Rafael Devers and Kirk behind the plate. Giancarlo Stanton of the Yankees joined Judge and Trout in the outfield, while Ohtani was voted in as designated hitter.
Ohtani became the first two-way AllStar last year when he was voted the AL DH, then was picked for the pitching staff and started on the mound.
Judge and Stanton will become the first Yankees teammates to start in the outfield together since Dave Winfield and Rickey Henderson in 1988.
NL starters include Chicago Cubs catcher Willson Contreras, St. Louis first baseman Paul Goldschmidt, Chisholm at second, Turner at shortstop, San Diego third baseman Manny Machado and an outfield of Betts, Acuña and San Francisco’s Joc Pederson.
Philadelphia’s Bryce Harper was elected as the National League’s first DH following the expansion of the DH rule to both leagues but will be replaced in the starting lineup after breaking his left thumb when hit by a pitch from San Diego’s Blake Snell on June 25. Harper earned his seventh All-Star selection, his
sixth as a starter.
Trout was picked for the 10th time, his ninth as a starter. Altuve and Goldschmidt earned their eighth All-Star trips and Stanton was picked for the fifth time but the first since Miami traded him to the Yankees ahead of the 2018 season.
In addition to Chisholm and Kirk, Anderson, Peterson and Turner were elected for their first All-Star starts.
Stanton beat Toronto’s George Springer 22% to 20% for the final AL outfield spot after finishing fourth, just behind Springer, in the opening round. Ohtani defeated Houston’s Yordan Alvarez 52% to 48% at DH.
Machado edged the Cardinals’ Nolan Arenado 51% to 49% at NL third base, and Turner beat out Atlanta’s Dansby Swanson 52% to 48%.
Chisholm got 59% of the NL second base vote after finishing second to the Braves’ Ozzie Albies in the first round. Devers received 60% at third base in the AL after finishing second to Cleveland’s José Ramírez in the opening round.
Goldschmidt earned a $250,000 bonus for his selection, Altuve, Harper,
Stanton and Trout get $50,000 each, and Anderson receives $25,000.
The first phase of voting ran from June 8-30 and the second phase from Tuesday until Friday.
Pitchers and reserves will be announced Sunday.
ADDED ALL-STARS
Albert Pujols and Miguel Cabrera were added to All-Star Game rosters on Friday by baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred under a provision in the sport’s new labor agreement.
The All-Star selection is the 11th for the 42-year-old Pujols and the first since 2015. Cabrera, 39, was picked for the 12th time and the first since 2016.
Pujols returned to the St. Louis Cardinals in March, agreeing to a $2.5 million, one-year contract with the team he started with. An NL MVP in 2005, 2008 and 2009, the Dominican star played for the Cardinals from 2001-11, then left for a $240 million, 10-year contract with the Los Angeles Angels. He spent most of 2021 with the Los Angeles Dodgers.
He is a .296 career hitter and fifth with 683 home runs, trailing only Barry Bonds (762), Hank Aaron (755), Babe Ruth (714) and Alex Rodriguez (696). Pujols’ 2,168 RBIs are third behind Aaron (2,297) and Ruth (2,214).
Pujols is hitting .200 with four homers and 18 RBIs in 125 at-bats this season. He said in March he intends to retire after this season.
Cabrera won the AL MVP in 2012 and 2013, and in 2012 led the AL with a .330 batting average, 44 homers and 139 RBIs to become MLB’s first Triple Crown winner since Boston’s Carl Yastrzemski in 1967.
A Venezuela native, Cabrera began his big league career with the Florida Marlins in 2003 and was traded to Detroit after the 2007 season with pitcher Dontrelle Willis for pitchers Andrew Miller, Dallas Trahern, Burke Badenhop and Frankie De La Cruz and outfielder Cameron Maybin.
Cabrera has a .310 career average with 505 homers and 1,835 RBIs. He is hitting .308 with three homers and 31 RBIs in 2022, the ninth season of a $292 million, 10-year contract.