Astros relish selection to All-Star team
‘It definitely was a dream of mine,’ says first-time choice Bregman.
Finally holding the roster of American League All-Stars he will manage on July 17 at Nationals Park, A.J. Hinch stood before the Astros prior to Sunday’s 2-1 win over the White Sox to announce the five players who will accompany him.
The 43-year-old manager read four names before turning toward his office. He took a few steps. “Oh yeah,” he said, “one more.” “And he said my name,” Alex Bregman said. “That was pretty special.”
These torrid past two months propelled the 24-year-old Bregman to his first All-Star Game alongside teammates Jose Altuve, Gerrit Cole, Justin Verlander and George Springer, it was revealed during a Sunday night selection show.
Though only Altuve was voted in as a starter, Hinch promised Bregman playing time as recompense for handling the manager’s Sunday morning clubhouse joke with such ease.
“He did turn beet red in the clubhouse,” Springer interjected. “But he deserves it.”
The American League Player of the Month has a team-leading .903 OPS and .519 slugging percentage. Playing in only his second full major league season, Bregman has 17 home runs — two off his career high — and trails just Evan Gattis for the team lead. His 97 hits are the most among American League third basemen.
“Every year during the offseason you have goals in mind, and this is one of them,” Bregman said during
a news conference alongside Hinch and the club’s other All-Stars. “I think you kind of dream of doing stuff like this as a kid, and it definitely was a dream of mine, and I wanted to accomplish it at this level.”
Altuve will make his sixth appearance and start his fourth consecutive All-Star Game at second base. He joins Hall of Famer Craig Biggio as the only players in franchise history to start in four straight Midsummer Classics.
The 5-6 second baseman was Major League Baseball’s leading vote-getter, too — the first Astro to accomplish that feat.
“It’s really good to get the opportunity to be in another All-Star Game,” Altuve said Sunday. “As a player, it never gets too old. This one is kind of special because you have a couple more guys in there, and I’m really proud about every single guy here in this clubhouse.”
Five of his teammates — Bregman, Carlos Correa, Yuli Gurriel, Gattis and Brian McCann — finished in second place at their respective positions. Springer finished fourth among outfielders, but he and Bregman were elected by player ballot.
“I’m humbled by i t , ” Springer said. “You don’t get here without the help of a lot of people. For my teammates to drive me in or pick me up is something special to me. I’m going to enjoy this again by a quality group of guys, especially getting a chance to represent the organization.”
Though pitchers were not selected by fan vote, Cole and Verlander were shoo-ins. Cole needs just 10 strikeouts to break the Astros’ franchise record for punchouts before an All-Star break. His 12.1 K/9 is second in the American League, and he’s one of only six AL qualified starting pitchers with a WHIP under one.
“It’s a tremendous honor,” said Cole, the club’s prized offseason acquisition. “This organization and my teammates have done as good a job as you could ask of trying to get me acclimated, get me comfortable. I’m fortunate to have performed the way I’ve performed. But we have one goal as a team, and that’s to win the World Series again. Just to be able to contribute and do my job and balance out the rotation is what I’m trying to do.”
Verlander is slated to pitch the final regular-season game before the break, leaving him sidelined for All-Star Game contributions. Indians pitcher Trevor Bauer will replace him.
Still, he’ll travel to Washington, D.C. — about an hour from his hometown of Manakin Sabot, Va. — and embrace the role of “cheering on the American League and getting ready for my next start.”
“I still don’t think we’re as represented as we should be,” said Verlander, noting the omission of 11-game winner Charlie Morton and Collin McHugh, who threw a scoreless inning on Sunday to lower his ERA to 0.86. Both are viable candidates to fill in as replacements should other pitchers be scratched.
“We have some guys doing some pretty tremendous things,” Verlander said. “But the group we have going, it speaks volumes to how good they are and how good this team is. I couldn’t be more excited for those guys, especially Breg going to his first one.”