Shohei Ohtani’s Unprecedented Season Leads to First Career All-Star Selection;
Top Phase 2 Vote-Getter Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and NL Phase 2 Leader
Fernando Tatis Jr. Also Among Nine First-Time All-Stars;
Freddie Freeman, Adam Frazier, Nolan Arenado, Teoscar Hernández
Earn Starts Over Phase 1 Leaders;
Eleven Major League Clubs Represented Among Starting Position Players;
Remainder of Rosters to be Announced Sunday on ESPN at 5:30 p.m. (ET)
Two-way star Shohei Ohtani of the Los Angeles Angels, 22-year-olds Vladimir Guerrero Jr. of the Toronto Blue Jays and Fernando Tatis Jr. of the San Diego Padres, and 23-year-old Ronald Acuña Jr. of the Atlanta Braves will be among the starters in the 2021 Major League Baseball All-Star Game presented by Mastercard, to be played on Tuesday, July 13th at Coors Field in Colorado. The 2021 American League and National League All-Star starters were unveiled earlier this evening on ESPN during the “2021 Google MLB All-Star Starters Reveal” following the conclusion of phase 2 voting this afternoon.
The second phase of voting featured the top three vote-getters at each position (and the top nine outfielders) in each League based on vote totals from Phase 1, which ran from June 3rd-24th. During Phase 2, which began on Monday afternoon at 12:00 p.m. (ET), fans had a four-day window to submit their votes for the starting position players at the 2021 Midsummer Classic.
Ohtani, who leads the Majors with 28 home runs on the season, will make his Midsummer Classic debut and will become the first Angels designated hitter to win a fan-elected start after topping J.D. Martinez of the Boston Red Sox and Yordan Álvarez of the Houston Astros. With 28 homers and 83 strikeouts on the mound, Ohtani is in unprecedented territory following Babe Ruth’s 1918 and 1919 seasons in which he hit 11 and 12 home runs, and had 43 and 30 strikeouts on the mound, respectively. In addition, Ohtani has joined Ruth (June 13, 1921) as the only players in Major League history to make a start on the mound while leading the Majors in home runs. Guerrero, who was the leading vote-getter across the Majors during the first and second phases of voting, is also an All-Star for the first time in his young career after defeating Yuli Gurriel of the Astros and reigning AL Most Valuable Player José Abreu of the Chicago White Sox. Guerrero becomes the fourth Blue Jays first baseman to win a fan election, joining John Olerud (1993), Carlos Delgado (2003) and Justin Smoak (2017).
Rounding out the AL starting infield is second baseman Marcus Semien of the Blue Jays, shortstop Xander Bogaerts of the Red Sox and third baseman Rafael Devers of the Red Sox. Semien, a first-time All-Star, beat out Jose Altuve of the Astros and DJ LeMahieu of the New York Yankees to join his teammate Guerrero on the right side of the infield. The duo becomes the first pair of AL teammates to earn fan elections at first and second base since Kevin Youkilis and Dustin Pedroia of the Red Sox in 2008. Bogaerts earns his third All-Star selection (also 2016, 2019) and second fan-elected start (also 2016) after outpacing Bo Bichette of the Blue Jays and Carlos Correa of the Astros. Devers, who will make his All-Star debut after topping Alex Bregman of the Astros and Yoán Moncada of the White Sox, is the first Red Sox third baseman to win a fan election since Shea Hillenbrand in 2002. The Red Sox duo are the first AL teammates to receive fan elections on the left side of the infield since Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez of the Yankees in 2011. Additionally, this marks just the third time that a pair of teammates will start on both sides of the AL infield, joining Youkilis/Pedroia and Jeter/Rodriguez (2008), and Boston’s David Ortiz/Mark Loretta and Jeter/Rodriguez (2006).
In the AL outfield, Mike Trout of the Angels led the way and is joined by Aaron Judge of the Yankees and Teoscar Hernández of the Blue Jays among the starters. In the closest Phase 2 race, Hernández surpassed Minnesota Twins outfielder Byron Buxton in the final hours and held on by less than 5,000 votes to claim the third AL outfield spot. Trout’s election marks his ninth consecutive All-Star selection and eighth straight fan-elected starting assignment. With eight fan elections, Trout extended his Angels franchise record, and joined Hall of Famers Rod Carew (15), George Brett (11), Ken Griffey Jr. (11), Wade Boggs (10), Ozzie Smith (10), Johnny Bench (9), Mike Piazza (9), Iván Rodríguez (9), Gary Carter (8) and Ryne Sandberg (8), as well as Manny Ramirez (8) and Alex Rodriguez (8) as the only players in history to earn at least eight consecutive fan elections. Additionally, Trout joined Brett (11), Griffey (10), Smith (10), Bench (9), Carew (9), I. Rodríguez (9) and Sandberg (8) as the only players to do it with one team. Judge, an All-Star for the third time in his career after earning a third fan election (also 2017-18), becomes the fourth Yankees outfielder to win at least three fan elections, joining Hall of Famers Dave Winfield (7), Rickey Henderson (4) and Reggie Jackson (4), as well as Bobby Murcer (3). Hernández is an All-Star for the first time in his career, and is the first Blue Jays outfielder to receive a fan-elected starting assignment since José Bautista (2011-14). The only other Blue Jays outfielders to accomplish the feat were George Bell (1987) and Joe Carter (1993-94). Following Hernández, the remaining AL outfield candidates were Buxton, Michael Brantley of the Astros, Cedric Mullins of the Baltimore Orioles, Randal Grichuk of the Blue Jays, rookie Adolis García of the Texas Rangers and Alex Verdugo of the Red Sox.
Behind the plate, Kansas City Royals catcher Salvador Perez becomes an All-Star for the seventh time in his career (also 2013-18) and wins a fan election for the fourth time (also 2015-17). Perez, who defeated Martín Maldonado of the Astros and Yasmani Grandal of the White Sox, is one of just two Royals players in franchise history to earn at least four fan elections alongside Hall of Famer George Brett (11). In addition, Perez is just the fourth AL catcher in history with at least four fan-elected starting assignments, joining Hall of Famers Iván Rodríguez (12) and Carlton Fisk (7), as well as Joe Mauer (4).
In the NL, Acuña earns his second career All-Star selection and second consecutive starting assignment, becoming the fourth Braves outfielder to receive at least two straight fan-elected starts, joining Hall of Famer Hank Aaron (3, 1970-72); Dale Murphy (5, 1982-86); and David Justice (2, 1993-94). He is joined in the NL starting outfield by Cincinnati Reds teammates Nick Castellanos and Jesse Winker, who each make their first Midsummer Classic. The Reds duo is the first set of NL outfield teammates to earn fan elections since Alfonso Soriano and Kosuke Fukudome of the Chicago Cubs in 2008. The only other NL outfield tandems to accomplish the feat were Aaron and Rico Carty of the Braves (1970); Hall of Famers Roberto Clemente and Willie Stargell of the Pittsburgh Pirates (1972); Hall of Famers Andre Dawson and Tim Raines of the Montreal Expos (1982-83); and Barry Bonds and Andy Van Slyke of the Pirates (1992-93). Following Winker, the remaining NL outfield candidates were Mookie Betts and Chris Taylor of the Los Angeles Dodgers, Joc Pederson of the Cubs, Mike Yastrzemski of the San Francisco Giants, Bryce Harper of the Philadelphia Phillies and Juan Soto of the Washington Nationals.
Tatis, who outpaced Javier Báez of the Cubs and Brandon Crawford of the Giants, becomes an All-Star for the first time in his career, and is the first Padres shortstop to earn a fan election since fan balloting was returned to the fans in 1970. Overall, he is just the fifth San Diego infielder to garner a fan-elected starting assignment, joining first baseman Steve Garvey (1984-85), third baseman Graig Nettles (1985), first baseman Fred McGriff (1992) and third baseman Ken Caminiti (1997). Accompanying Tatis on the left side of the NL infield is third baseman Nolan Arenado of the St. Louis Cardinals, who finished ahead of Justin Turner of the Dodgers and Phase 1 leader Kris Bryant of the Cubs. Arenado is an All-Star for the sixth consecutive time, including his fourth straight fan election. He joins Hall of Famer Mike Schmidt (6, 1979-84) and Scott Rolen (4, 2002-05) as the only NL third basemen with at least four consecutive fan-elected starting assignments. Additionally, Arenado becomes the third Cardinals third baseman to garner a fan election, joining Joe Torre (1971-72) and Rolen (2003-05).
On the right side of the NL infield is first baseman Freddie Freeman of the Braves and second baseman Adam Frazier of the Pirates. Freeman, the reigning NL Most Valuable Player, is an All-Star for the fifth time (also 2013-14, 2018-19) and has received a fan election for the third consecutive Midsummer Classic after defeating Phase 1 leader Max Muncy of the Dodgers and Anthony Rizzo of the Cubs. Freeman joins Garvey (7, 1974-80); Will Clark (4, 1988-91); Mark McGwire (3, 1998-2000); and Todd Helton (3, 2001-03) as the only NL first basemen to earn three straight fan elections. Additionally, he joins Hall of Famer Aaron (5), Murphy (5) and Hall of Famer Chipper Jones (4) as the only players in Braves history to collect at least three fan elections overall. Frazier, who topped Phase 1 leader Ozzie Albies of the Braves and Gavin Lux of the Dodgers, registers his first career All-Star selection. The 29-year-old, who entered play today tied for second in the Majors with 100 hits on the season, becomes the first Pirates player to earn a fan election since outfielder Andrew McCutchen (2014), and is just the second Pirates infielder to accomplish the feat overall, joining Bobby Bonilla (1988).
Rounding out the NL starters is catcher Buster Posey of the Giants, who beat out Yadier Molina of the Cardinals and Willson Contreras of the Cubs to pick up his seventh All-Star selection (also 2012-13, 2015-18) and fifth fan election (also 2012, 2015-17). With five fan elections, Posey joins Bonds (12) as the only players in Giants history to reach the total. Additionally, Posey joins Hall of Famers Bench (10), Carter (8) and Piazza (11) as the only NL backstops with at least five fan elections.
Overall, 11 Major League Clubs are represented among the 17 fan-elected starters, including six in the NL and five in the AL. Nine of the 17 starters are making their first career appearance on an All-Star roster, and the AL and NL starters combine for eight internationally-born players, spanning five countries and territories outside the 50 United States. The Blue Jays lead the way with three All-Star starters, followed by the Red Sox, Braves and Reds (two each).
The pitchers and reserves for both squads – totaling 24 for the NL and 23 for the AL – will be determined through a combination of “Player Ballot” choices and selections made by the Commissioner’s Office. The balance of the All-Star rosters will be announced at 5:30 p.m. (ET) on Sunday, July 4th during the 2021 Google MLB All-Star Selection Show on ESPN.
Fans will once again have the opportunity to participate in the official voting for the Ted Williams All-Star Game Most Valuable Player Award presented by Chevrolet. During the Midsummer Classic, fans can vote exclusively at MLB.com and the 30 Club sites – online or via their mobile devices – with the 2021 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.
MLB All-Star Week includes the MLB All-Star Game presented by Mastercard (July 13th), Gatorade All-Star Workout Day featuring the T-Mobile Home Run Derby (July 12th), All-Star Sunday featuring the SiriusXM All-Star Futures Game and All-Star Celebrity Softball Game (July 11th), the MLB Draft (July 11th-13th) and PLAY BALL PARK at the Colorado Convention Center (July 9th-13th), plus a lineup of additional events taking place around the city. The 91st Midsummer Classic will be televised nationally by FOX Sports; in Canada by Rogers Sportsnet and RDS; and worldwide by 70 partners in 15 languages across 223 countries and territories. 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 SiriusXM also will provide comprehensive All-Star Week coverage. For more information about MLB All-Star Week, including ticket information and updates, please visit www.allstargame.com and follow @MLB and @AllStarGame on social media.
