Youth served: Surprise selections, young players fill All-star lineups
NEW YORK — Cody Bellinger and Christian Yelich were elected starters for one of the youngest All-star Game lineups ever, leading the millennial-heavy National League for the Midsummer Classic in Cleveland.
Major League Baseball revealed the results from fan balloting for its All-star starters Thursday. The Allstar Game is July 9.
The Dodgers’ Bellinger, Brewers’ Yelich and Braves’ Ronald Acuna
Jr. are set to play outfield for the NL, leading a lineup averaging
25.8 years old. Depending on who is chosen as the club’s designated hitter, the starting position players could be younger than the 1967 NL and 2017 American League clubs, which averaged 26.0 years old.
Angels star Mike Trout was the leading vote getter in the final round. He’ll be joined on the AL squad by three Astros (Alex Bregman, George Springer and Michael Brantley) and two Yankees (Gary Sanchez and D.J. Lemahieu).
The lineups are full of unlikely names.
Lemahieu didn’t crack New York’s Opening Day lineup. Rangers DH Hunter Pence could find only a minor league contract as a free agent last offseason. Diamondbacks second baseman Ketel Marte and Twins shortstop Jorge Polanco hardly garnered previous All-star attention. Now they’re All-star starters.
The NL’S elder statesmen will be Atlanta first baseman Freddie Freeman, 29, and Colorado third baseman Nolan Arenado, 28, who gained his fifth All-star berth.
Indians first baseman Carlos Santana, 33, was elected to start in his home park in his first All-star selection. He’ll be joined in the lineup by Brantley, a former teammate who edged Yankees slugger Aaron Judge by 0.9 percent for the final outfield spot.
The Cubs’ Willson Contreras and Javier Baez will start for the second straight year. Baez was elected at shortstop a year after starting at second. Only three other All-stars have started in consecutive years at different positions.
Trout is set to be the sixth AL player to start six times before turning 28. The others are Joe Dimaggio, Mickey Mantle, Ivan Rodriguez, Rod Carew and Ken Griffey Jr. It’s Trout’s eighth straight selection overall.
Yelich was second in voting behind Trout. He homered in last year’s All-star Game and then staged a second-half tear that ended in him winning NL MVP. In 2019, he’s leading the majors with 29 homers while hitting .332 with a 1.149 OPS.