Hinch’s AL lineup will be:
Player, Club Bats Pos. Statistics
Mookie Betts, BOS R RF .359, 23 HR, 51 RBI, 25 2B, 79 R, .691 SLG
Jose Altuve, HOU R 2B .332, 9 HR, 44 RBI, 23 2B, 63 R, 14 SB
Mike Trout, LAA R CF .310, 25 HR, 50 RBI, 71 R, .454 OBP, .606 SLG
J.D. Martinez, BOS R DH .328, 29 HR, 80 RBI, 23 2B, 72 R, .644 SLG
José Ramírez, CLE S 3B .302, 29 HR, 70 RBI, 26 2B, 68 R, .628 SLG
Aaron Judge, NYY R LF .276, 25 HR, 60 RBI, 19 2B, 66 R, .544 SLG
Manny Machado, BAL R SS .315, 24 HR, 65 RBI, 21 2B, 48 R, .575 SLG
José Abreu, CWS R 1B .311, 13 HR, 52 RBI, 27 2B, 44 R, .441 SLG
Salvador Perez, KC R C .221, 13 HR, 41 RBI, 11 2B, 27 R, .394 SLG
Hinch has selected left-hander Chris Sale of the Boston Red Sox as the AL’s starting pitcher. This marks the third consecutive All-Star start for Sale, a seven-time All-Star in his nine-year Major League career. The 29-year-old started the 2016 Midsummer Classic in San Diego as a member of the Chicago White Sox, tossing 1.0 inning and allowing one hit and one run with one strikeout. Last year in Miami, the Florida native fanned two batters while allowing three hits over 2.0 scoreless frames. Sale is just the third pitcher in history to make three consecutive starts on the mound, joining Hall of Famers Lefty Gomez of the New York Yankees (1933-35) and Robin Roberts of the Philadelphia Phillies (1953-55). In 20 starts this season, Sale is 10-4 with a 2.23 ERA (129.0 IP, 85 H, 31 BB, 188 SO). His 188 strikeouts are tied for 12th-most in history prior to the All-Star break, and mark the most since Hall of Famer Randy Johnson had 202 for the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2001. In addition, Sale made his 200th career start in his last start on July 11th. According to Elias, his 1,628 career strikeouts in those games passed Hall of Famer Pedro Martinez (1,600) for the most strikeouts in a pitcher’s first 200 starts.
Roberts’ NL lineup will be:
Player, Club Bats Pos. Statistics
Javier Báez, CHI R 2B .292, 19 HR, 72 RBI, 18 SB, 25 2B, .566 SLG
Nolan Arenado, COL R 3B .312, 23 HR, 68 RBI, 21 2B, 63 R, .586 SLG
Paul Goldschmidt, ARI R DH .281, 21 HR, 52 RBI, 61 R, 19 2B, .534 SLG
Freddie Freeman, ATL L 1B .315, 16 HR, 61 RBI, 25 2B, .405 OBP, .533 SLG
Matt Kemp, LAD R LF .310, 15 HR, 60 RBI, 42 R, 18 2B, .522 SLG
Bryce Harper, WSH L CF .214, 23 HR, 54 RBI, 57 R, .365 OBP, .468 SLG
Nick Markakis, ATL L RF .323, 10 HR, 61 RBI, 29 2B, 55 R, .389 OBP
Brandon Crawford, SF L SS .292, 10 HR, 39 RBI, 22 2B, 42 R, .363 OBP
Willson Contreras, CHI R C .279, 7 HR, 34 RBI, 33 R, 19 2B, .449 SLG
Roberts has chosen Washington Nationals right-hander Max Scherzer as the NL’s starting pitcher. This marks the second consecutive Midsummer Classic start for Scherzer, and the third overall for the six-time All-Star. As a member of the Detroit Tigers, Scherzer started the 2013 All-Star Game at Citi Field in New York for the AL, tossing 1.0 inning with a strikeout. Last year in Miami, the two-time Cy Young Award winner pitched a scoreless frame with one hit and two strikeouts. The 33-year-old will be the 17th different pitcher to make consecutive All-Star starts, and the first NL hurler since Johnson (2000-01). The Missouri native is already one of five pitchers to start the All-Star Game in each league, along with Vida Blue (AL – 1971, 1975; NL – 1978); Roger Clemens (AL – 1986, 2001; NL – 2004); Roy Halladay (AL – 2009; NL – 2011); and Hall of Famer Randy Johnson (AL – 1995, 1997; NL – 2000, 2001). Scherzer will also become the 12th pitcher to start the Midsummer Classic in his home ballpark, and the first since Matt Harvey of the New York Mets at Citi Field in 2013. In 20 starts on the season, Scherzer is 12-5 with a 2.41 ERA (134.2 IP, 87 H, 34 BB, 182 SO). His 182 strikeouts are the most in the NL prior to the All-Star break since Arizona’s Curt Schilling had 186 in 2002.
With the starts by Sale and Scherzer, tomorrow night will mark just the second time in history that the Midsummer Classic features the same starting pitchers in consecutive seasons. The other occurrence was in 1939 and 1940, when Hall of Famer Red Ruffing of the Yankees squared off against Cincinnati’s Paul Derringer.
The 89th Midsummer Classic will be televised nationally by FOX Sports; in Canada by Rogers Sportsnet and RDS; and worldwide by partners in more than 185 countries. FOX Deportes will provide Spanish language coverage in the United States, while 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 about MLB All-Star Week, please visit AllStarGame.com and follow @AllStarGame on social media.