Los Angeles Dodgers outfield Cody Bellinger, 23, is among the young standouts elected to start for the NL at the MLB All-Star Game on July 9 in Cleveland.NEW YORK – Ronald Acuna Jr., Cody Bellinger and Christian Yelich have been elected starters for one of the youngest Major League Baseball All-Star Game lineups ever, leading the especially youthful National League at the Midsummer Classic on July 9 in Cleveland.
The results from fan balloting for the starters were announced Thursday night.
The Atlanta Braves’ 21-year-old Acuna, the Los Angeles Dodgers’ Bellinger, 23, and the Milwaukee Brewers’ Yelich, 27, are set to start in the outfield for the NL, leading a lineup averaging just 25.8 years old. Depending on who is chosen as the team’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.
“I’ve never seen this much young talent in the game. There’s a lot of fun players to watch,” said Dodgers manager Dave Roberts, who will lead the NL. Roberts also highlighted “the personalities from some of these young players” as a plus.
The league adopted a new balloting structure this season, which operated exclusively through Google. Fans voted up until June 21 to determine finalists for All-Star starters, though not the pitchers. The top three vote recipients at each position except in the outfield – there it was the top nine – in each league then entered a second phase of voting, which ran Wednesday and Thursday. Vote totals were reset prior to the final round.
Fans elected the nine starting players for the AL and eight for the NL, with the extra AL player the designated hitter. The rest of the 32-man rosters for each league, including the DH for the National League, will be determined by player balloting and selections from the commissioner’s office. Those All-Stars will be announced Sunday.
Los Angeles Angels star Mike Trout was the leading vote recipient in the final round. He’ll be joined on the AL squad by three Houston Astros – Michael Brantley, Alex Bregman and George Springer – and two New York Yankees – Gary Sanchez and D.J. LeMahieu.
The lineups are full of unlikely names. LeMahieu didn’t crack New York’s opening day lineup. Texas Rangers designated hitter Hunter Pence could only find a minor league contract as a free agent last offseason. Arizona Diamondbacks second baseman Ketel Marte and Twins shortstop Jorge Polanco hardly garnered All-Star attention in previous years.
Now they’re All-Star starters.
“It was quite a wild journey from this year to last year,” Pence said. “And to even be speaking about this now, is a miracle. It’s a blessing, and I’m very grateful.”
The elder statesmen in the NL lineup will be 29-year-old Freddie Freeman from Atlanta and 28-year-old Nolan Arenado of Colorado. This is Freeman’s fourth time as an All-Star and second straight year as a starter. For his teammate Acuna, the 2018 NL rookie of the year, this is his first All-Star selection.
“It shows how good these young guys are,” said Arenado, making his fifth All-Star appearance. “Some of these young players are unbelievable players. We’re fortunate to be in this time, when you get to see how good they are.”
Indians first baseman Carlos Santana was elected to start in his home park in the 33-year-old’s first All-Star selection. He’ll be joined in the lineup by Brantley, a former teammate who left the Indians in free agency last offseason for a $32 million, two-year deal with Houston. Brantley edged Yankees slugger Aaron Judge by 0.9% for the AL’s final outfield spot.
The Cubs’ Javier Baez and Willson Contreras will each start for the NL 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.
Yelich was second in voting behind Trout. He homered in last year’s All-Star Game, then staged a second-half tear that ended in him winning NL MVP. He’s been just as good in 2019, leading the majors with 29 homers while hitting .332 with a 1.149 on-base plus slugging percentage.
“In spring, there were a lot of questions if I could do it again,” Yelich said. “Was it a fluke? Am I a good player? That stuff kind of lights a fire in me.
“I didn’t know how the year was going to go, but I wasn’t going to look back on last year and think anything was guaranteed. Just because you’re an MVP the previous year, you’re not going to just walk through the next year and everything was going to be fine.”
Trout is set to be the sixth AL player to start six times before turning 28. The others are Rod Carew, Joe DiMaggio, Ken Griffey Jr., Mickey Mantle and Ivan Rodriguez. It’s Trout’s eighth straight selection overall.
“I just enjoy going to them,” he said. “Every year it seems like I am slowing it down and embracing the experience. The first couple I was running around and it went so fast.”