The All*Star Game Is Back

Why, oh why, do people insist on voting for players they know are injured for the All*Star Game?!  Mike Trout's been out since mid-May and will be out until mid-July, which not only means he'll miss the All*Star Game, it means he was injured during the entire voting period!  Yet people voted for him anyway!  Use your "he's the best player in the game" excuse all you want.  Voting for him was just stupid and a wasted vote!

Among the players who actually will be taking the field as starters next Tuesday in Denver will be first-timers Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Shohei Ohtani and Fernando Tatis Jr.  It's a little hard to believe that none of them have been All*Stars before...until you consider the fact that they all would've been All*Stars last year had the All*Star Game not been cancelled.

There were also some surprising-on-the-surface selections.  Until you look at the stats and see the selections of Adam Frazier, Nick Castellanos and Jesse Winker actually are warranted!  And how about three Blue Jays getting the nod?  Guerrero was a no-doubter, but Marcus Semien and Teoscar Hernandez, too. 

Three Blue Jays and zero Houston Astros.  Despite having the most players in the final round of voting, no Astros will be starting.  When I saw that, I thought it was possible some fans had actually put the sign-stealing behind them, but I'm glad to see that isn't the case.  I'd imagine the Astros will be booed as loudly as the players from the other NL West teams during player introductions.

While it's probably not a stretch to say the Astros will be loudly booed, I'm curious to see what type of reaction Nolan Arenado gets.  He pretty clearly wanted out of Colorado, but he was the beloved Face of the Rockies for a long time.  Will he be welcomed back the way he deserves, as a franchise icon?  I hope so!

Frankly, I can't wait for this year's All*Star Game, and not just to see this new generation of stars make the first of what should be many appearances.  The fact that the game's likely to be a homer frenzy like Denver's previous All*Star Game in 1998 will make it fun, too, but that's not the reason either.  Mainly I'm just glad to see our annual summer celebrations return.  There was definitely something missing last year with no All*Star Game (for the first time since World War II).

But who'll be there?  We know the starters, but that's it.  Here's who I think fills out the rest of the teams (including replacements for Trout and others who were likely selected but are currently injured)...

AMERICAN LEAGUE
C: *-Salvador Perez, Royals; Gary Sanchez, Yankees
1B: *-Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Blue Jays; Yuli Gurriel, Astros
2B: *-Marcus Semien, Blue Jays; Jonathan Schoop, Tigers; Jose Altuve, Astros
SS: *-Xander Bogaerts, Red Sox; Bo Bichette, Blue Jays
3B: *-Rafael Devers, Red Sox; Jose Ramirez, Indians
OF: x-Mike Trout, Angels; *-Aaron Judge, Yankees; *-Teoscar Hernandez, Blue Jays; Cedric Mullins, Orioles; Michael Brantley, Astros; Mitch Haniger, Mariners; Alex Verdugo, Red Sox (injury replacement)
DH: *-Shohei Ohtani, Angels; J.D. Martinez, Red Sox; Nelson Cruz, Twins
SP: Dylan Cease, White Sox; x-Shane Bieber, Indians; x-Aaron Civale, Indians; Zack Greinke, Astros; Jose Berrios, Twins; Gerrit Cole, Yankees; Chris Bassitt, Athletics; Kyle Gibson, Rangers; Lance Lynn, White Sox (injury replacement)
RP: Matt Barnes, Red Sox; Liam Hendriks, White Sox; Ryan Pressly, Astros; Diego Castillo, Rays; Kendall Graveman, Mariners (injury replacement)

I'm not entirely sure how they'll pick Trout's replacement in the starting lineup.  If they go by who was next in the fan vote, it'd be Michael Brantley.  If they go by the highest finisher in the player vote, we don't exactly know who that is, but Cedric Mullins would stand a pretty good shot.  He's also the only center fielder I've got on the AL roster (although Judge and Hernandez have both played center this season), so that would work in two respects.

Your guess is as good as mine as to who'll be the starting pitcher (it won't be Ohtani if that's what you're thinking).  It might come down to who's the most rested.  And, with both Indians injured, I actually think it could be Gerrit Cole.  Or it could be Cole's former Astros teammate Zack Greinke, who's starting Saturday, which would put the All*Star Game on his throw day.

NATIONAL LEAGUE
C: *-Buster Posey, Giants; Willson Contreras, Cubs
1B: *-Freddie Freeman, Braves; Max Muncy, Dodgers; Paul Goldschmidt, Cardinals
2B: *-Adam Frazier, Pirates; Ozzie Albies, Braves
SS: *-Fernando Tatis Jr., Padres; Brandon Crawford, Giants; Trea Turner, Nationals
3B: *-Nolan Arenado, Cardinals; Eduardo Escobar, Diamondbacks; Justin Turner, Dodgers
OF: *-Ronald Acuna Jr., Braves; *-Nick Castellanos, Reds; *-Jesse Winker, Reds; Raimel Tapia, Rockies; Andrew McCutchen, Phillies; Bryan Reynolds, Pirates; x-Kyle Schwarber, Nationals; Juan Soto, Nationals (injury replacement)
SP: Walker Buehler, Dodgers; Clayton Kershaw, Dodgers; Trevor Rogers, Marlins; Freddy Peralta, Brewers; Jacob deGrom, Mets; Yu Darvish, Padres; Kevin Gausman, Giants; Jack Flaherty, Cardinals; Max Scherzer, Nationals
RP: Craig Kimbrel, Cubs; Kenley Jansen, Dodgers; Josh Hader, Brewers

The National League starting pitcher should be easy.  Jacob deGrom hasn't just been the best pitcher in all of baseball...he's arguably been the NL MVP!  So, of course, the stars didn't align for him to make the All*Star start.  He's scheduled to pitch Sunday, which knocks him out of not just starting, but probably pitching entirely.

So, if not deGrom, who should get the start then?  How about somebody from a team that's been one of the most pleasant surprises of the first half?  Kevin Gausman of the Giants.  He's 8-2, and if not for deGrom's ridiculous sub-1.00 ERA, we'd be talking about Gausman's almost-as-crazy 1.68.  Not sure how San Francisco's rotation lines up, but if Gausman can start, he'd be the choice.

As for the NL DH, that should've-been-easy choice has also had to change.  Kyle Schwarber would've been an obvious call, but he's out with a "significant" hamstring injury.  Ordinarily I'd then suggest a Rockie so that the home team is represented in the starting lineup, but Raimel Tapia definitely WON'T be starting at DH.  Instead, I'll say Max Muncy and get the defending champs represented (there should be plenty of Dodgers starting in 2022).

With that in mind, here's the way I'd set up the lineups for next Tuesday night, when the All*Star Game returns:

AL: Semien-2B, Ohtani-DH, Judge-RF, Guerrero-1B, Brantley-LF, Bogaerts-SS, Devers-3B, Perez-C, Hernandez-CF, Greinke-P
NL: Acuna-CF, Freeman-1B, Tatis-SS, Arenado-3B, Muncy-DH, Posey-C, Castellanos-RF, Winker-LF, Frazier-2B, Gausman-P