The Rangers' Adolis García and the Orioles' Austin Hays will start the All-Star Game in the outfield for the American League, MLB announced on Friday.
García and Hays were named as the replacements for Aaron Judge and Mike Trout, who were voted in as starters but will miss the game due to injury.
The AL outfield for the Midsummer Classic on Tuesday at T-Mobile Park in Seattle will now be García, Hays and the Rays' Randy Arozarena, the third fan-elected starter.
"Just really excited to be able to wear this team’s name on my chest out there to start the All-Star Game,” Hays said.
García and Hays were named starters over the other outfielders on the AL roster -- Luis Robert Jr., Kyle Tucker and Julio Rodríguez (Yordan Alvarez is also an All-Star but injured as well) -- because of a rule that if a fan-elected starter is unable to play in the All-Star Game, they're replaced in the starting lineup by the player who received the next-most votes on the MLB player ballot at their position.
García received 226 votes in the player balloting, and Hays received 132 votes. Alvarez received 328 votes and would have been in line to start if he were not injured.
It will be the first career All-Star starts for both García and Hays.
García, who is also participating in the T-Mobile Home Run Derby on Monday, is appearing in his second All-Star Game after making the AL team in 2021. The 30-year-old right fielder is batting .262 with 22 home runs, a Major League-leading 71 RBIs and a career-best .846 OP7 for the first-place Rangers.
Hays is an All-Star for the first time in 2023. The 28-year-old is having a career year for the Orioles, batting .312 -- second among qualified AL hitters to fellow All-Star Bo Bichette -- with eight homers, 34 RBIs and an .843 OPS.
When asked what excited him most about his first All-Star Game selection, Hays said, "I think just getting to be around all the other guys that are on other teams that I never really get to share a clubhouse with. You always see them on the other side and you greet each other, acknowledge each other, but you never actually get to share a clubhouse. So, I think actually getting to do that for the first time will be a lot of fun for me.”
Add in the first-time All-Star Arozarena, and the entire AL outfield will be making their debuts as All-Star starters. Compare that to Trout and Judge, who have started 10 All-Star Games between them (six for Trout, four for Judge).