There were the young All-Stars, the first-time All-Stars and the old All-Stars, but no name resonated more brightly Sunday during the selections was Los Angeles Dodgers All-Star Clayton Kershaw.
Just four days after entering the record books with his 3,000th strikeout, Kershaw is now going to the All-Star Game for the 11th time of his illustrious career, chosen by commissioner Rob Manfred as his “Legend Pick’ in recognition of the Dodgers veteran.
Kershaw, the oldest All-Star at 37 years old, becomes the first All-Star chosen by Manfred since 2022 when he chose Albert Pujols and Miguel Cabrera, who were in the final year of their careers. Kershaw has not announced whether this will be his final season, but after three Cy Youngs, two World Series championships and becoming the 20th pitcher to achieve 3,000 strikeouts, his Hall of Fame resume is already complete.
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Kershaw is one of five Dodgers who will be at the All-Star Game, joining Shohei Ohtani, Freddie Freeman, Will Smith and Yoshinobu Yamamoto, the most by any team. The first-place Detroit Tigers (Tarik Skubal, Gleyber Torres, Riley Greene and Javier Baez) and the Seattle Mariners (Cal Raleigh, Bryan Woo, Julio Rodriguez and Andres Muñoz) have the second-most representatives with four All-Stars apiece.
There are 19 first-time All Stars, including 21 players who are 26 years old are younger, with 22-year-old James Wood of the Washington Nationals being the youngest. Athletics shortstop Jacob Wilson, 23, is the youngest AL player, and joins his father, Jack, as the first father-son duo to be selected as All-Star shortstops, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. Shane Smith is not only the first Chicago White Sox rookie pitcher to make the All-Star team, but also becomes only the second player to be a Rule 5 Draft pick and make the All-Star team the following season, joining Miami Marlins infielder Dan Uggla in 2006.
Texas Rangers starter Jacob deGrom, the two-time Cy Young award winner and a candidate to win his third, is returning to the All-Star Game for the first time since 2021. He’s 9-2 with a 2.13 ERA and his 101⅓ innings pitches are the most he’s accumulated since 2021.
There, of course, are plenty of players who were snubbed, well at least initially considering there are about a dozen players added before the July 15 All-Star Game with injuries and pitching limits. St. Louis Cardinals ace Sonny Gray, Astros starter Framber Valdez, Toronto Blue Jays outfielder George Springer, Chicago Cubs outfielder Seiya Suzuki, Mets outfielder Juan Soto, Phillies shortstop Trea Turner, Phillies starter Ranger Suarez, Twins starter Joe Ryan, Phillies starter Cristopher Sanchez and Rays third baseman Junior Caminero were among the most glaring omissions.
San Francisco Giants DH Rafael Devers may have gotten robbed of an All-Star selection simply by being traded last month from the Boston Red Sox. Devers entered the day hitting .262 with 17 homers, 67 RBIs and an .866 OPS, but his numbers paled in comparison to Shohei Ohtani (30 homers, 56 RBIs, 1.002 OPS) and Kyle Schwarber (27 homers, 62 RBIs, .922 OPS), who were the top two picks on the players’ ballot.
The players ballot, which also included managers and coaches, once again provided intrigue. They voted for Houston Astros shortstop Jeremy Peña to be the starter, which went to Wilson in the fan balloting. They also voted for Jonathan Aranda of the Tampa Bay Rays to be the starting first baseman instead of Vladimir Guerrero Jr. of the Blue Jays.
While Freeman is the NL’s starting first baseman, the players wanted New York Mets first baseman Pete Alonso, who easily won their vote. Atlanta’s Ronald Acuna Jr. received the most fan votes, despite not making his season debut until May 23, but finished only fifth in the player balloting. Minnesota Twins center fielder Byron Buxton wasn’t chosen by the fans, but he received the second-most votes from AL outfielders by the players, behind only Yankees MVP Aaron Judge.
In the NL, the players voted Padres setup reliever Jason Adam to the All-Star team, but not teammate Robert Suarez, the Padres closer, who is tied for the MLB lead with 24 saves. San Francisco Giants reliever Randy Rodriguez received the most votes among NL relievers, followed by Edwin Diaz of the Mets. In the AL, Boston Red Sox closer Aroldis Chapman received the most votes ahead of Josh Hader of the Houston Astros, who has been perfect in 25 save situations.
The AL All-Stars selected by the players:
Catcher Alejandro Kirk, Toronto Blue Jays.
First baseman Jonathan Aranda, Tampa Bay Rays.
Second baseman: Brandon Lowe, Rays
Shortstop: Jeremy Pena, Houston Astros.
Third baseman: Alex Bregman, Boston Red Sox.
Outfielders: Byron Buxton, Minnesota Twins; Steven Kwan, Cleveland Guardians; Julio Rodriguez Seattle Mariners; DH Brent Rooker.
Starting Pitchers: Tarik Skubal, Detroit Tigers; Garrett Crochet, Boston Red Sox; Max Fried, New York Yankees; Hunter Brown, Houston Astros; Jacob deGrom, Texas Rangers.
Relief Pitchers: Aroldis Chapman, Red Sox; Josh Hader, Astros; Andres Munoz, Seattle Mariners.
The NL All-Star chosen by the players:
Catcher: Hunter Goodman, Colorado Rockies.
First baseman: Pete Alonso, Mets.
Second baseman: Brendan Donovan, St. Louis Cardinals.
Shortstop: Elly De La Cruz, Cincinnati Reds.
Third baseman: Eugenio Suarez, Arizona Diamondbacks.
Outfielders: James Wood, Nationals; Corbin Carroll, Diamondbacks; Fernando Tatis, Padres.
DH: Kyle Schwarber, Phillies.
Starting pitchers: Paul Skenes, Pittsburgh Pirates; Zack Wheeler, Phillies; Chris Sale, Atlanta; Logan Webb, San Francisco Giants; MacKenzie Gore, Nationals.
Relief pitchers: Randy Rodriguez, Giants; Edwin Diaz, Mets; Jason Adam, Padres.
MLB made six selections in each league to fill out their roster, and to assure that every club was represented. In the AL, Yankees infielder Jazz Chisholm and Witt, of the Royals were chosen, along with pitchers Kris Bubic of the Royals, Yusei Kikuchi of the Los Angeles Angels, Woo and Smith.
In the NL, MLB chose 34-year-old Cubs starter Matthew Boyd for his first All-Star Game, also with starters Freddy Peralta of the Milwaukee Brewers, Robbie Ray of the Giants and Yamamoto. It also selected first baseman Matt Olson of Atlanta and Kyle Stowers of the Miami Marlins.
While Tarik Skubal should easily be the choice to start the All-Star Game for the AL, it will be a fascinating decision for NL manager Dave Roberts of the Dodgers to choose between Zach Wheeler of the Phillies and Skenes of the Pirates. Wheeler threw a one-hit complete game Sunday, retiring 27 of the 28 batters he faced with 12 strikeouts while Skenes leads the NL in ERA (2.03) and opponent’s batting average (.182).
Skenes told reporters he’d love to start again after having the honor in last year’s All-Star Game as a rookie, but most of all, would love to sit down and chat with Skubal, who is 10-2 with a 2.02 ERA this season, with 148 strikeouts in 116 innings
“It would be cool, he said. “More than anything, I want to get him off to the side and ask him how he does what he does, basically. I’ve talked with him a little bit, but to see him do it again, at an even higher level than he did last year arguably, it’s pretty dang cool.”
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