Three Phillies, Judge, Soto, Ohtani among MLB All-Star starters

The Philadelphia Phillies are sending three infielders to the MLB All-Star Game later this month, as Bryce Harper, Trea Turner and Alec Bohm were among the starters named for the Midsummer Classic on Wednesday evening.

Turner won over Los Angeles Dodgers star Mookie Betts in a close vote – although Betts would miss the game due to a broken left hand. Meanwhile, Bohm will make his first All-Star start after winning 70% of the final voting over San Diego Padres third baseman Manny Machado.

Harper, the National League’s leading vote-getter, is currently dealing with a left hamstring injury, but is expected to play in the game.

“Obviously this is something you dream about as a kid, it’s something that shouldn’t be taken lightly,” Boehm said. “But I think it would be great to be able to look to my left and see the guy I play with out there every night, and look across the field and throw the ball to the guy I throw the ball to every night , so I think it’s great to have that moment with some of the people who showed you the way.”

The All-Star starters were announced after Phase 2 voting closed on Wednesday afternoon. It featured the top two vote-getters in each position from Stage 1, while the runners-up were relegated to potential reserve duty. All-Star reserves and pitchers will be announced Sunday at 5:30 p.m. ET on ESPN.

Phillies manager Rob Thomson said, “Hopefully (second baseman Bryson) Stotts will do that, too.” “It happened last year in Atlanta where all four of their infielders made it.”

The New York Yankees, Houston Astros, Cleveland Browns, Baltimore Orioles, Milwaukee Brewers and Padres each have two starters representing their respective teams.

For the American League, the Yankees’ Aaron Judge and Juan Soto will start together in the outfield with the Guardians’ Steven Cowan, making his first All-Star appearance and first as a Cleveland outfielder since Juan Gonzalez in 2001 .

The Toronto Blue Jays’ Vladimir Guerrero Jr. will start at first base, the Astros’ Jose Altuve at second, the Orioles’ Gunnar Henderson at shortstop and the Guardians’ Jose Ramirez at third. This is Altuve’s ninth selection, while Henderson becomes the third-youngest AL shortstop to win fan voting, behind Carlos Correa, who was 22 in 2017, and Alex Rodriguez, who debuted at age 21 in 1997. went.

O’s Adley Rutschman, who won the voting behind the plate, said Henderson’s selection “is a testament to the work he’s done.”

“The dedication, and the guy, is absolutely impressive as a human being and as a baseball player,” Rutschman said. “It’s been fun to watch him grow and develop into the player he is now. He definitely deserved it.”

Baltimore missed out on designating a third player the starter, with Ryan O’Hearn losing to the Astros’ Yordan Alvarez by 52% to 48% in the final voting at designated hitter.

For the NL, joining Harper, Turner and Boehm in the infield will be Arizona Diamondbacks second baseman Ketel Marte, while the Brewers’ Christian Yelich will be slated to start with Padres teammates Jurickson Profar and Fernando Tatis Jr. in the outfield. was chosen.

Profar and Tatis are the first Padres outfielders to win the election since Tony Gwynn in 1999. He was also involved in a close Phase 2 race, as he narrowly beat out Dodgers outfielder Teoscar Hernandez and Phillies outfielder Brandon Marsh for the starting job.

However, Tatis has not played since June 21 due to a stress reaction in his right thigh bone, and he could be sidelined after the All-Star break.

Brewers catcher William Contreras would start behind the plate and become the first Milwaukee catcher to win the selection since Ted Simmons in 1983.

Meanwhile, Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani has been cleared as a designated hitter. This is Ohtani’s fourth consecutive start at DH and he becomes the first player to accomplish this feat.

Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.