2024 MLB All-Star Game: Everything you need to know
Just yesterday, Major League Baseball announced that pitchers and reserves have been named to both the American League and the National League All-Star Teams. The 2024 AL and NL All-Star rosters were unveiled earlier last night during the “2024 MLB All-Star Selection Show presented by BuildSubmarines.com” on ESPN.
The 94th Midsummer Classic will take place at Globe Life Field (pictured above) in Arlington, Texas, on Tuesday, July 16. Game time is 8 p.m.
In addition to the starters who were elected by the fans, pitchers and reserve players were named to the All-Star Game roster by the Player Ballot – a vote of the players, managers and coaches – and by Major League Baseball. In making its selections as the last step in the process, MLB has ensured that each of the 30 Major League Clubs will be represented at the All-Star Game.
American League position players who are invited to the 2024 All-Star Game presented by Mastercard as a result of Player Balloting are catcher Salvador Perez and shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. of the Kansas City Royals; first baseman Josh Naylor and designated hitter David Fry of the Cleveland Guardians; second baseman Marcus Semien of the host Texas Rangers; third baseman Rafael Devers of the Boston Red Sox; and outfielders Jarren Duran of the Red Sox, Riley Greene of the Detroit Tigers and Kyle Tucker of the Houston Astros.
AL pitchers who have made the Midsummer Classic as a result of the Player Ballot include starters Corbin Burnes of the Baltimore Orioles; Garrett Crochet of the Chicago White Sox; Tanner Houck of the Red Sox; Seth Lugo of the Royals; and Tarik Skubal of the Tigers. The relievers who are All-Stars via the Player Ballot are Emmanuel Clase of the Guardians; Mason Miller of the Oakland Athletics; and Kirby Yates of the Rangers.
Major League Baseball had an additional six selections to fill out the remainder of the AL roster, with four of the six picks being used to represent the Clubs that did not have an All-Star after the fan and player balloting processes. The four pitchers chosen include Tyler Anderson of the Los Angeles Angels; Logan Gilbert of the Seattle Mariners; Clay Holmes of the New York Yankees; and Cole Ragans of the Royals. The two position players among MLB selections are Carlos Correa of the Minnesota Twins and Isaac Paredes of the Tampa Bay Rays.
National League position players who are invited to the 94th Midsummer Classic as a result of Player Balloting are catcher Will Smith, first baseman Freddie Freeman and shortstop Mookie Betts of the Los Angeles Dodgers; second baseman Luis Arraez of the San Diego Padres; third baseman Ryan McMahon of the Colorado Rockies; outfielders Teoscar Hernández of the Dodgers, rookie Jackson Merrill of the Padres and Bryan Reynolds of the Pittsburgh Pirates; and designated hitter Marcell Ozuna of the Atlanta Braves. Since Betts will be inactive for the All-Star Game, Elly De La Cruz of the Cincinnati Reds is headed to Arlington as the next shortstop on the Player Ballot.
NL pitchers who have made the 2024 All-Star Game presented by Mastercard as a result of the Player Ballot include starters Tyler Glasnow of the Dodgers; Reynaldo López and Chris Sale of the Braves; and Ranger Suárez and Zack Wheeler of the Philadelphia Phillies. The relievers who are All-Stars via the Player Ballot are Jeff Hoffman and Matt Strahm of the Phillies; and Robert Suarez of the Padres.
MLB had six selections to fill out the remainder of the NL roster, each of which had to come from the six teams yet to have an All-Star elected by the fans or players. The four pitchers selected include Ryan Helsley of the St. Louis Cardinals; Shota Imanaga of the Chicago Cubs; Tanner Scott of the Miami Marlins; and Logan Webb of the San Francisco Giants. The two position players selected are CJ Abrams of the Washington Nationals and Pete Alonso of the New York Mets. Additionally, rookie pitcher Paul Skenes of the Pirates and outfielder Heliot Ramos of the Giants were selected in place of All-Stars Zack Wheeler and Fernando Tatis Jr., who will be inactive players in the All-Star Game.
The Phillies, who entered play today with a Major League-best record of 58-31, will send a Major League-high seven players to Arlington, followed by the Dodgers, who will send six players, and the Guardians, who will send an AL-best five players along with the Padres. The seven players from Philadelphia mark a new franchise record, eclipsing the previous high of five All-Stars accomplished six times (last in 2011).
With six All-Stars, the Dodgers have at least five players headed to the Midsummer Classic for the fifth consecutive time; San Diego’s five All-Stars are tied for the second-most in team history behind six All-Stars in 1985 (also sent five in 1992, 1998 and 2021); Cleveland has at least five All-Stars for the 15th time in team history, and the first since sending six players in 2018; and the Royals have at least four All-Stars for the sixth time in history, and the first time since also having four in 2016.
There are 24 internationally-born players on the All-Star rosters (35.8%), including 14 on the NL roster and nine on the AL roster. The list features players from the Dominican Republic (9), Venezuela (6), Japan (2), Puerto Rico (2), Canada (1), Cuba (1), Curaçao (1) and Mexico (1). Additionally, 30 of the current 67 All-Stars (44.8%) come from diverse backgrounds.
San Diego’s Merrill, who at 21 years old is the youngest All-Star, is among four Major League rookies on the All-Star rosters, along with Imanaga of the Cubs, Miller of the Athletics and Skenes of the Pirates. Merrill is the first rookie in San Diego history to earn an All-Star nod, while Imanaga is the first rookie pitcher to make the Midsummer Classic for the Cubs, and the fourth rookie for Chicago overall, joining Kosuke Fukudome (2008), Geovany Soto (2008) and Kris Bryant (2015). Miller is the seventh Oakland rookie to make the All-Star team and the first since pitcher Ryan Cook in 2012. Skenes is the first rookie hurler in Pittsburgh history, and the second Pirates rookie overall, to make an All-Star team, joining Jason Kendall (1996). The quartet of rookies are part of a group of 32 All-Stars (17 NL, 15 AL) making their first trip to the Midsummer Classic.
Baltimore’s Gunnar Henderson is the youngest player on the AL squad, and the fourth-youngest All-Star overall behind Merrill and 22-year-olds De La Cruz of the Reds and Skenes. The Midsummer Classic rosters feature 19 players age 26-or-younger, including 12 such players on the AL side and seven on the NL squad. Yates, who claimed his second career All-Star selection (also 2019), of the host Rangers is the oldest player on the All-Star rosters at 37 years old, while Atlanta’s Sale is the oldest NL selection at 35 years of age.
Houston’s Jose Altuve and Kansas City’s Perez are the senior-most All-Stars with nine career selections each, followed by Betts, Freeman, Bryce Harper and Sale (all with eight career selections). Betts was named to the Midsummer Classic for an eighth consecutive time, and he is followed by his teammates Freeman (sixth straight) and Ohtani (fourth straight), Burnes (fourth straight), Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (fourth straight), Aaron Judge (fourth straight), José Ramírez (fourth straight), Juan Soto (fourth straight), Alonso (third straight), Yordan Alvarez (third straight), Arraez (third straight), Clase (third straight) and Kyle Tucker (third straight).
Fans will once again have the opportunity to participate in the official voting for the Ted Williams All-Star Game Most Valuable Player Award presented by Chevrolet. During the Midsummer Classic, fans can vote exclusively at MLB.com and the 30 Club sites – online or via their mobile devices – with the 2024 All-Star Game MLB.com MVP Vote presented by Chevrolet, and their collective voice will represent 20 percent of the official vote determining this year’s recipient of the Arch Ward Trophy.
MLB All-Star Week includes the MLB All-Star Game presented by Mastercard (July 16th), Gatorade All-Star Workout Day featuring the T-Mobile Home Run Derby (July 15th), All-Star Saturday featuring the All-Star Futures Game and the All-Star Celebrity Softball Game presented by Corona (July 13th), the MLB Draft presented by Nike (July 14th-16th), the HBCU Swingman Classic presented by T-Mobile (July 12th), and Capital One All-Star Village (July 13th-16th).
The 94th Midsummer Classic will be televised nationally by FOX Sports; in Canada by Rogers Sportsnet and RDS; and worldwide by partners in more than 200 countries. FOX Deportes will provide Spanish language coverage in the United States. ESPN Radio will provide exclusive national radio coverage of the All-Star Game, while Univision will provide Spanish language coverage on radio. MLB Network and MLB.com will also provide comprehensive All-Star Week coverage.
For more information about MLB All-Star Week, including ticket information and updates, please visit allstargame.com and follow @MLB and @AllStarGame on social media.
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(Source: MLB)
(Cover photo, Image credit: Twitter)
Posted by Richard Webster, Ace News Today
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