2024 MLB All-Star rosters show high school recruits' divergent paths to major league success

Several players selected for the game were late bloomers who weren't highly recruited in high school

Adley Rutschman starred at Sherwood High School in Oregon before becoming an MLB All-Star. / Dan Brood

MLB released its All-Star Game rosters and reserves Sunday, and SBLive Sports is taking a look back at how the best players in MLB in 2024 got here.

Several all-stars grew up playing baseball in other countries, but we're paying special attention to the high school baseball players who made it from preps to the pros.

Here's a look at all the 2024 All-Stars with some tidbits about their high school careers and path to MLB. Only the country is listed for those who didn't play high school baseball in the United States.

MLB ALL-STAR GAME STARTERS

American League

C: Adley Rutschman (BAL), Sherwood HS (Oregon)

Rutschman battled injuries late in his high school career but still earned Oregon Gatorade Player of the Year honors starring as a pitcher and catcher. The right-handed thrower also kicked a 63-yard field goal for the football team with his left foot. He played football and baseball at Oregon State before becoming the No. 1 pick in the 2019 MLB Draft.

1B: Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (TOR)

Dominican Republic

2B: Jose Altuve (HOU)

Venezuela

3B: José Ramírez (CLE)

Dominican Republic

SS: Gunnar Henderson (BAL), Morgan Academy (Alabama)

Henderson hit .559 with 11 homers, 17 doubles, nine triples, 32 stolen bases and 75 RBIs before choosing MLB over Auburn in 2019.

OF: Aaron Judge (NYY), Linden (California)

Judge pitched and played first base for the baseball team, center for the basketball team and wide receiver for the football team in high school. He was more heavily recruited as a football player but chose to play baseball for Fresno State before becoming a first-round pick in the 2013 MLB Draft.

OF: Steven Kwan (CLE), Fremont Washington (California)

A teammate of Rutschman’s in college, Kwan hit .462 in his senior year of high school in 2015 and went undrafted. He was a fifth-round pick in the 2018 draft out of Oregon State. 

OF: Juan Soto (NYY)

Dominican Republic

DH: Yordan Alvarez (HOU)

Cuba

National League

C: William Contreras (MIL)

Venezuela

1B: Bryce Harper (PHI), Las Vegas HS (Nevada)

Sports Illustrated deemed Harper the “Chosen One” while he was a junior in high school in 2009, when he was named Baseball America’s high school player of the year. He was the No. 1 overall pick in the talent-stacked 2010 MLB Draft.

 2B: Ketel Marte (AZ)

Dominican Republic

3B: Alec Bohm (PHI), Roncalli Catholic (Nebraska)

Bohm hit .526 as a junior and .533 as a senior at Roncalli Catholic but went undrafted out of high school in 2015. After three years at Wichita State he became the No. 3 overall pick in 2018.

SS: Trea Turner (PHI), Park Vista HS (Florida)

Turner hit .478 with nine doubles, five triples and 25 steals as a high school senior. He went in the 20th round of the 2011 draft out of high school but chose NC State instead and developed into a first-round pick in the 2014 MLB Draft.

OF: Jurickson Profar (SD)

Curacao

OF: Fernando Tatis Jr. (SD)

Dominican Republic

OF: Christian Yelich (MIL), Westlake HS (California)

Yelich had the same number of home runs as strikeouts (9) as a senior in high school, hitting .451. He chose Miami over the MLB Draft and went on to become a first-round pick in 2010.

DH: Shohei Ohtani (LAD)

Japan

PITCHERS

American League

Tyler Anderson (LAA), Spring Valley HS (Nevada)

Anderson went in the 50th round of the 2008 MLB Draft out of high school but chose to play for the Oregon Ducks, where he developed into a first-round pick in 2010.

Corbin Burnes (BAL), Bakersfield Centennial (California)

Burnes went 9-4 with a 2.23 ERA as a senior in high school in 2013 and wasn’t highly recruited. He played college at Saint Mary’s in Northern California and became a fourth-round pick in the 2016 draft. 

Emmanuel Clase (CLE)

Dominican Republic

Garrett Crochet (CWS), Ocean Springs (Mississippi)

Crochet didn’t start getting heavily recruited until his senior year of high school, when he held a 1.48 ERA with 76 strikeouts. He got picked in the 34th round of the 2017 MLB Draft but chose to play at Tennessee, where he developed into the No. 11 overall pick in the 2020 draft and made it to the majors the same year.

Logan Gilbert (SEA), Wekiva HS (Florida)

Gilbert chose Stetson over Florida, Wake Forest and Georgetown after going undrafted out of high school in 2015. After three years of college he became one of the top prospects in the 2018 MLB Draft, where he went No. 14 overall to the Mariners.

 Clay Holmes (NYY), Slocomb HS (Alabama)

Holmes struck out 210 in 144.3 innings in his final two years of high school baseball, and he didn’t get picked until the ninth round of the 2011 draft because he was viewed as a strong Auburn commit. But the Pirates gave him a $1.2 million signing bonus to persuade him to go pro.

Tanner Houck (BOS), Collinsville HS (Illinois)

Houck struck out 113 batters in 65 innings as a senior in high school, holding a 1.72 ERA. He went in the 12th round of the 2014 MLB Draft but chose Missouri instead, where he developed into the 24th overall pick in the 2017 draft.

Seth Lugo (KC), Parkway HS (Louisiana)

Lugo starred in baseball, soccer, football and track but wasn’t highly recruited out of high school. He played baseball for Centenary College in Shreveport and went to the Mets in the 34th round of the 2011 MLB Draft.

Mason Miller (OAK), Bethel Park (Pennsylvania)

Miller was homeschooled but played high school baseball at Bethel Park, where he wasn’t on any major college’s recruiting radar. His velocity went way up after he started being treated for Type I Diabetes while at D-III Waynesburg, and now he’s one of the hardest throwers in MLB.

Cole Ragans (KC), North Florida Christian HS (Florida)

Ragans went 9–0 with a 0.90 ERA and 104 strikeouts in 70 innings as a senior in high school, earning a scholarship offer from Florida State. He chose MLB instead after going No. 30 overall to the Rangers in the 2016 draft.

Tarik Skubal (DET), Kingman Academy (Arizona)

One of the early Cy Young Award favorites this season had just one college scholarship offer out of high school, where he led Kingman Academy to the state championship in 2012 and 2013. Detroit took him in the ninth round of the 2018 MLB Draft after Tommy John surgery prolonged his college career at Seattle University.

Kirby Yates (TEX), Kauai (Hawaii)

Yates went to the Boston Red Sox in the 26th round of the 2005 draft but chose to attend Yavapai College in Arizona. He went undrafted in 2009 but has gone on to a 10-year big-league career with two All-Star appearances.

National League

Tyler Glasnow (LAD), Hart (California)

Glasnow struck out 99 hitters in 67 innings in his senior year at Hart and committed to the Portland Pilots. He chose MLB instead after the Pirates picked him in the fifth round of the 2011 draft.

Ryan Helsley (STL), Sequoyah (Oklahoma)

Helsley played baseball, football, basketball and ran track in high school, but he was lightly recruited and went undrafted in 2013. The Cardinals took him in the fifth round of the 2015 draft out of Northeastern State.

Jeff Hoffman (PHI), Shaker HS (New York)

Hoffman went 7-0 his senior high school season but drew little college attention because his fastball was only in the low 80s. His velocity went up 10 mph in the offseason and he went to East Carolina, where he developed into the No. 9 overall pick in the 2014 MLB Draft.

Shota Imanaga (CHC)

Japan

Reynaldo López  (ATL)

Dominican Republic

Chris Sale (ATL), Lakeland HS (Florida)

Sale was a classic “highly projectable” pitcher in high school, standing 6-foot-5, 170 pounds. Those projections started filling out in college at Florida Gulf Coast University, where he starred before becoming the 10th overall pick in the 2010 MLB Draft. He made it to the majors that same year.

Tanner Scott (MIA), Howland HS (Ohio)

Scott went from a 140-pound freshman to a rarely used junior to a senior star at Howland who had worked his fastball up to 90 mph. He went to a couple of small schools (Notre Dame and Howard colleges) before earning a partial scholarship to Texas Tech, but in 2014 he chose the draft instead and went to the Orioles in the sixth round. 

Paul Skenes (PIT), El Toro (California)

He’s the hottest pitching prospect in MLB, but in high school in 2020, Perfect Game viewed him more as a first baseman. He was a two-way star at Air Force before becoming the most dominant pitcher in college baseball at LSU, and finally the No. 1 overall draft pick in the 2023 draft.

Matt Strahm (PHI), West Fargo (North Dakota)

Strahm considered himself the third-best pitcher on his high school team, and now he’s the third North Dakota high school graduate to be an MLB All-Star (Roger Maris and Darin Erstad are the others). He was a 21st round pick out of Neosho County Community College (Kansas) in 2012.

Ranger Suárez (PHI)

Venezuela

Robert Suarez (SD)

Venezuela

Logan Webb (SF), Rocklin HS (California)

Webb held a 0.49 ERA and struck out 73 batters in 57.2 innings in his senior year at Rocklin in 2014, when the Giants selected him in the fourth round of the MLB Draft and signed him.

 Zack Wheeler (PHI), East Paulding (Georgia)

Wheeler was a high school superstar, setting an East Paulding record with 149 strikeouts in 76 innings, posting a 9–0 record and 0.54 ERA to earn Gatorade Georgia Player of the Year honors as a senior in 2009. The Giants took him No. 6 overall in the 2009 draft.

RESERVES

Catchers

American League

Salvador Perez (KC)

Venezuela

National League

Will Smith (LAD), Kentucky Country Day School (Kentucky)

Smith hit .528 with 11 home runs and 36 RBIs, plus went 7–1 on the mound with a 0.87 ERA his senior year of high school, but he went undrafted in 2013. He played for Louisville and developed into a first-round draft pick in 2016.

Infielders

American League

Carlos Correa (MIN)

Puerto Rico

Rafael Devers (BOS)

Dominican Republic

Josh Naylor (CLE)

Canada

Isaac Paredes (TB)

Mexico

Marcus Semien (TEX), St. Mary’s College HS (California)

Semien hit .471 as a junior and .371 as a senior in high school, getting drafted in the 34th round of the 2008 MLB Draft. He chose to stay close to home and attend Cal, where he rose to become a sixth-round pick in 2011 by the White Sox, the same team that drafted him out of high school. 

Bobby Witt Jr. (KC), Colleyville Heritage HS (Texas)

Witt hit .515 with 15 home runs, 54 RBIs and 17 stolen bases as a senior in 2019, earning honors as Gatorade National Baseball Player of the Year. He chose MLB over Oklahoma when the Royals took him No. 2 overall in the 2019 draft.

National League

CJ Abrams (WSH), Blessed Trinity (Georgia)

Abrams earned honors as Georgia Gatorade Baseball Player of the Year in 2019 after hitting .431 as a senior in high school. He committed to Alabama but went straight to MLB instead after San Diego took him No. 6 overall in 2019.

Pete Alonso (NYM), Plant HS (Florida)

Alonso started his high school career as a three-sport athlete (football, lacrosse) but decided to focus on baseball, where he played third base. He hit .387 with seven home runs as a senior in 2013 and went undrafted, starring for the Florida Gators after high school and becoming a second-round pick in 2016.

Luis Arraez (SD)

Venezuela

Mookie Betts (LAD), John Overton HS (Tennessee)

Betts starred in baseball, basketball and bowling while in high school. He hit .548 with 24 steals as a junior and committed to Tennessee, but he ended up choosing MLB instead when the Red Sox drafted him in the fifth round in 2011.

Elly De La Cruz (CIN)

Dominican Republic

Freddie Freeman  (LAD), El Modena HS (California)

Freeman was a pitcher and third baseman in high school, hitting .417 while going 6-1 on the mound as a senior in 2007. He signed with Cal State Fullerton, but he chose Atlanta instead after the Braves took him in the second round of the 2007 MLB Draft.

Ryan McMahon (COL), Mater Dei (California)

McMahon played quarterback on his stacked high school football team, but baseball was his top sport in high school. He went straight to MLB out of high school instead of attending USC after the Rockies took him in the second round of the 2013 draft. 

Outfielders

American League

Jarren Duran (BOS), Cypress (California)

Duran led Cypress to a CIF-SS Division 2 championship his sophomore year and was a triples machine in high school. He played in college at Long Beach State and went to the Red Sox in the seventh round of the 2018 draft.

Riley Greene (DET), Hagerty (Florida)

Greene hit .417 as a senior in high school and entered the 2019 draft as a top prospect probably going to MLB rather than the Florida Gators. He chose MLB after going No. 5 overall to Detroit.

Kyle Tucker (HOU), Plant (Florida)

Tucker was named Florida Gatorade Player of the Year in 2015 as a high school senior and went straight to MLB after being taken No. 5 overall by the Astros.

National League

Teoscar Hernández (LAD)

Dominican Republic

Jackson Merrill (SD), Severna Park (Maryland)

Merrill hit .500 with 13 home runs and 39 RBIs as a high school senior and bulked up in college playing for Kentucky. He went No. 27 overall in the 2021 MLB Draft to the Padres.

Heliot Ramos (SF)

Puerto Rico

Bryan Reynolds (PIT), Brentwood HS (Tennessee)

Reynolds earned All-State honors as a senior but went undrafted out of high school in 2013. He starred at Vanderbilt and became a second-round pick by the Giants in 2016.

Designated hitters

American League

David Fry (CLE), Grapevine HS (Texas)

Fry led Grapevine to two district championships but was lightly recruited out of high school. He blossomed at Northwestern State and became a seventh-round pick in the 2018 draft. Fry made his major league debut last year at age 27.

National League

Marcell Ozuna (ATL)

Dominican Republic

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-- Mike Swanson | swanson@scorebooklive.com | @sblivesports