Goldschmidt and Corbin named to 2013 All-Star Game roster
Pitchers and reserves have been named to the National League and American League All-Star Teams, as announced today by Major League Baseball, the Major League Baseball Players Association and All-Star Game managers Bruce Bochy of the National League and Jim Leyland of the American League. The 2013 American League and National League All-Star rosters were unveiled earlier this evening on FOX during the 2013 All-Star Game Selection Show Presented by Taco Bell.
In addition to the starters who were elected by the fans, pitchers and reserve players were named to the All-Star Game rosters by the Player Ballot – a vote of the players, managers and coaches – and by the All-Star Game managers in conjunction with MLB. In making their selections, the managers have ensured that each of the 30 Major League Clubs will be represented in the All-Star Game.
National League position players who are invited to the 84th Midsummer Classic as a result of Player Balloting are catcher Buster Posey of the San Francisco Giants; first baseman Paul Goldschmidt of the Arizona Diamondbacks; second baseman Matt Carpenter of the St. Louis Cardinals; shortstop Jean Segura of the Milwaukee Brewers; third baseman Pedro Alvarez of the Pittsburgh Pirates; and outfielders Michael Cuddyer of the Colorado Rockies, Domonic Brown of the Philadelphia Phillies and Andrew McCutchen of the Pirates.
N.L. pitchers who have made the All-Star Game as a result of the Player Ballot include starters Matt Harvey of the host New York Mets; Clayton Kershaw of the Los Angeles Dodgers; Patrick Corbin of the Diamondbacks; Adam Wainwright of the Cardinals; and Jordan Zimmermann of the Washington Nationals. The relievers who are All-Stars via the Player Ballot are Jason Grilli of the Pirates; Craig Kimbrel of the Atlanta Braves; and Aroldis Chapman of the Cincinnati Reds.
Bochy had nine selections to fill out the remainder of the N.L. roster. The five pitchers chosen by the manager, in conjunction with MLB, are Madison Bumgarner of the Giants; Jose Fernandez of the Miami Marlins; Cliff Lee of the Phillies; Jeff Locke of the Pirates; and Travis Wood of the Chicago Cubs. The four position players who are among Bochy’s selections are Everth Cabrera of the San Diego Padres; Allen Craig of the Cardinals; Carlos Gomez of the Brewers; and Marco Scutaro of the Giants.
The 2013 All-Star Game MLB.com Final Vote sponsored by freecreditscore.com will determine the 34th N.L. roster spot. The competitors are Nationals shortstop Ian Desmond (N1); Braves first baseman Freddie Freeman (N2); first baseman Adrian Gonzalez (N3) and outfielder Yasiel Puig (N5) of the Dodgers; and outfielder Hunter Pence (N4) of the Giants.
The Pirates, who have the best record in the Majors (53-32), will send four players to the Midsummer Classic for the first time since 1981, when their All-Stars included outfielders Mike Easler and Dave Parker, and infielders Phil Garner and Bill Madlock. The Cardinals lead the N.L. with five All-Star selections, marking the third time in four years that the Redbirds have had at least five All-Stars (five in 2010; six in 2012).
Dodgers outfielder Yasiel Puig recorded the highest number of write-in votes during 2013 All-Star balloting, garnering 842,915 votes. It marked the most write-in votes for a player since Pittsburgh’s Freddy Sanchez totaled 856,685 in 2006.
Marlins rookie hurler Jose Fernandez, at the age of 20, becomes the youngest Cuban-born player to earn an All-Star nod. The Santa Clara, Cuba native, who ranks ninth in the N.L. with a 2.72 ERA, was selected by the Marlins with the 14th overall pick in the 2011 Draft.
Padres infielder Everth Cabrera, a native of Nicaragua, becomes the first Nicaraguan-born position player and the third All-Star overall from Nicaragua, joining Dennis Martinez (1990-92, 1995) and Vicente Padilla (2002).
American League position players who are invited to the 84th All-Star Game as a result of Player Balloting are catcher Salvador Perez of the Kansas City Royals; first baseman Prince Fielder of the Detroit Tigers; second baseman Dustin Pedroia of the Boston Red Sox; shortstop Jhonny Peralta of the Tigers; third baseman Manny Machado of the Baltimore Orioles; outfielders Nelson Cruz of the Texas Rangers, Torii Hunter of the Tigers and Alex Gordon of the Royals; and designated hitter Edwin Encarnacion of the Toronto Blue Jays.
A.L. pitchers who have made the 2013 All-Star Game as a result of the Player Ballot include starters Max Scherzer of the Tigers; Seattle Mariners teammates Felix Hernandez and Hisashi Iwakuma; Clay Buchholz of the Red Sox; and Yu Darvish of the Rangers. Since Buchholz is currently on the disabled list and will be unable to participate in the All-Star Game, his replacement is Bartolo Colon of the Oakland Athletics, per Leyland’s choice. Buchholz will be recognized as an All-Star and has been invited to New York with full All-Star honors. The relievers who are All-Stars via the Player Ballot are Mariano Rivera of the New York Yankees; Jesse Crain of the Chicago White Sox; and Joe Nathan of the Rangers. Since Crain is currently on the disabled list and will be unable to participate in the All-Star Game, his replacement is Glen Perkins of the Minnesota Twins, per Leyland’s choice. Crain will be recognized as an All-Star and has been invited to New York with full All-Star honors.
Leyland’s seven selections, in conjunction with MLB, included four pitchers: starter Justin Masterson of the Cleveland Indians; starter Chris Sale of the White Sox; starter Justin Verlander of the Tigers; and reliever Brett Cecil of the Blue Jays. The three position players who are among Leyland’s selections are catcher Jason Castro of the Houston Astros; infielder Jason Kipnis of the Indians; and utilityman Ben Zobrist of the Tampa Bay Rays.
The 2013 All-Star Game MLB.com Final Vote sponsored by freecreditscore.com will determine the 34th A.L. roster spot, a competition that will feature pitchers Joaquin Benoit (A1) of the Tigers; Steve Delabar (A2) of the Blue Jays; David Robertson (A3) of the Yankees; Tanner Scheppers (A4) of the Rangers; and Koji Uehara (A5) of the Red Sox.
Rivera, in his final Major League season, receives his 13th career All-Star nod. Among pitchers, the 43-year-old’s 13 selections rank second all-time behind Hall of Famer Warren Spahn, who was named to 17 Midsummer Classics.
The Tigers lead the Majors with six All-Stars, led by first-time All-Star Max Scherzer, who is the first pitcher in the Majors to start a season 13-0 since Roger Clemens in 1986. Overall, Scherzer is just the fourth pitcher in Major League history to start a season at least 13-0, joining Ron Guidry (13-0 in 1978), Clemens (14-0 in 1986) and Dave McNally (15-0 in 1969). Detroit’s six Midsummer Classic selections mark the Club’s most since 1985, when they also had six All-Stars.
Among the 68 players named to the All-Star squads, 30 will be making their Midsummer Classic debuts, matching 1988 for the third-most all-time behind 2011 (35) and 2010 (33).
Managers’ plans are in place to replace any starting pitchers who elect not to participate in the All-Star Game after pitching on Sunday, July 14th. Any pitcher replaced on the active All-Star roster will be recognized as an All-Star and invited to New York with full All-Star honors.
Fans can now begin to vote to select the final player for each League’s 34-man roster via the 2013 All-Star Game MLB.com Final Vote Sponsored by freecreditscore.com. Fans can cast their votes from a list of five players from each League over a five-day period and the winners will be announced after the voting concludes on Thursday, July 11th. Now in its 12th season with more than 350 million votes cast, fans again will be able to make their Final Vote selections on MLB.com, Club sites and their mobile phones.
In addition to the web, fans can use their mobile phones to cast votes via the mobile web at MLB.com/vote or via text message. To receive the All-Star Game MLB.com Final Vote Sponsored by freecreditscore.com mobile ballot, text the word "VOTE" to 89269. To vote for a specific player, fans can text the choice to 89269. EXAMPLE: Text "A3" to vote for AL Player 3 or "N3" to vote for NL Player 3. Standard message and data rates may apply. Mobile voting in Canada also is available and fans should text their choices to 101010.
For the second consecutive year, the All-Star Game MLB.com Final Vote will include a social balloting element as Twitter support from the 10 candidates’ fans over the last six hours of balloting will count toward their final vote totals. From 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. (EDT) on Thursday, July 11, any tweet that includes a designated player hashtag (noted above) will be tabulated as part of the official vote total used to determine the American League and National League winners. Fans will be able to follow @MLB on the popular social networking service for the latest standings updates over the course of the entire five-day voting period.
The final phase of All-Star Game voting again will have fans participating in the official voting for the Ted Williams All-Star Game Most Valuable Player Award presented by Chevrolet. During the Midsummer Classic, fans will vote exclusively online at MLB.com and the 30 Club sites via the 2013 All-Star Game MLB.com MVP Vote, and their collective voice will represent 20 percent of the official vote determining this year’s recipient of the Arch Ward Trophy.
The 2013 All-Star Game will be played at Citi Field on Tuesday, July 16th. The 84th All-Star Game will be televised nationally by FOX Sports; in Canada by Rogers Sportsnet and RDS; and worldwide by partners in more than 200 countries via MLB International’s independent feed. Pregame ceremonies will begin at 7:30 p.m. (EDT). ESPN Radio and ESPN Radio Deportes will provide exclusive national radio coverage of the All-Star Game. MLB Network, MLB.com and Sirius XM also will provide comprehensive All-Star Week coverage. For more information, please visit allstargame.com or mets.com/asg.