Six Astros Named to All-Star Game, Most for Any Team

The full All-Star Game rosters were announced Sunday night.

NEW YORK — Justin Verlander, Gerrit Cole and four of their Houston Astros teammates will lead the American League squad at the All-Star Game in Cleveland on July 9.

Major League Baseball unveiled full rosters for the midsummer showcase Sunday, and the Astros top all big league clubs with six players. No other AL club has more than three.

Alex Bregman, George Springer and Michael Brantley will be in the starting lineup for the AL, and Verlander, Cole and Ryan Pressly are on the pitching staff. It will be the first trip to Cleveland for those Astros since Game 3 of last year’s AL Division Series, when Houston won 11-3 to complete a sweep.

The Dodgers, Brewers and Rockies lead the NL with four players each. The Los Angeles contingent includes Cody Bellinger, Clayton Kershaw, Hyun-Jin Ryu and Walker Buehler — plenty of familiar faces for manager Dave Roberts.

Milwaukee will be represented by Christian Yelich, Mike Moustakas, Yasmani Grandal and Josh Hader. It’s the second appearance for Hader, who came under fire when racist and homophobic tweets resurfaced on his account during last year’s game. Hader apologized for the tweets, which he sent as a teenager.

Braves teammates Ronald Acuña Jr. and Mike Soroka will be this year’s youngest players at 21. The Braves said it’s the first time two players under 22 from the same team made the All-Star team.

And the NL team includes just three hitters in their 30s: Moustakas and Grandal are 30, and Charlie Blackmon will turn 33 on Monday. Depending on who serves as DH, the NL could have the youngest starting lineup in All-Star Game history.

The Yankees have the AL’s best record but boast just three All-Stars: Gary Sánchez, DJ LeMahieu and Aroldis Chapman. Gleyber Torres and Luke Voit were also contenders, while Aaron Judge — injured for much of the season — narrowly missed out on a spot via fan balloting.

“To me, I thought we were going to have around six or seven All-Stars from this team,” Chapman said through a translator in London.

Fans of the reigning champion Red Sox won’t be pleased that shortstop Xander Bogaerts and third baseman Rafael Devers were left out. Bogaerts has accrued 3.7 wins above replacement, per Fangraphs — trailing only the Angels’ Mike Trout among AL players — and Devers entered Sunday batting .324. Boston ace Chris Sale was also omitted despite ranking second in the league in strikeouts. The Red Sox’s only representatives as of now are Mookie Betts and J.D. Martinez.

Padres sluggers Hunter Renfroe and Franmil Reyes entered Sunday among the major league leaders with 24 homers each, but neither made the cut. Nor did Cubs first baseman Anthony Rizzo, Phillies first baseman Rhys Hoskins, Twins outfielder Max Kepler or Yankees DH Edwin Encarnacion. On the pitching side, Cubs left-hander Cole Hamels, Rangers right-hander Lance Lynn and Twins righty Jose Berrios also had strong credentials.

Verlander earned his eighth All-Star nod, tied with Kershaw and Trout for most among this year’s participants.

The host Indians have three players on the AL squad: Carlos Santana, Francisco Lindor and Brad Hand. Santana, a 33-year-old first-time All-Star, will also swing in the Home Run Derby.

MLB has revealed five of the eight derby participants — Santana, Toronto’s Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Milwaukee’s Christian Yelich, the New York Mets’ Pete Alonso and Pittsburgh’s Josh Bell. Guerrero will be 20 years, 114 days old for the July 8 showcase, making him the youngest ever in the derby — 116 days younger than Ken Griffey Jr. in 1990. The rest of the field will be announced Wednesday. Rangers slugger Joey Gallo said Sunday he has not been asked to be in the derby, though he will be on the AL All-Star squad.

The rosters feature 31 first-time selections, including Anthony Rendon who said he may not attend to rest instead. Since the start of 2015, the Nationals third baseman is fifth in baseball in WAR at 20.4.

Rendon’s former teammate, Phillies slugger Bryce Harper, hasn’t been invited. Harper set pro sports jersey sale records after signing a $330 million, 13-year deal with Philadelphia this spring, but subpar slugging this season will likely end his streak of All-Star appearances at four.

The starting position players were elected by fans and announced Thursday. The rest of the rosters were filled out by player balloting and the Commissioner’s Office.

The complete all-star rosters can be found below:

AMERICAN LEAGUE

Starters:

C. Gary Sánchez, Yankees

1B. Carlos Santana, Indians

2B. DJ LeMahieu, Yankees

3B. Alex Bregman, Astros

SS. Jorge Polanco, Twins

OF. Michael Brantley, Astros

OF. Mike Trout, Angels

OF. George Springer, Astros

DH. Hunter Pence, Rangers

Reserves:

C. James McCann, White Sox

1B. José Abreu, White Sox

1B. Daniel Vogelbach, Mariners

2B. Tommy La Stella, Angels

3B. Matt Chapman, Athletics

SS. Francisco Lindor, Indians

OF. Mookie Betts, Red Sox

OF. Joey Gallo, Rangers

OF. Austin Meadows, Rays

OF. Whit Merrifield, Royals

DH. J.D. Martinez, Red Sox

Pitchers: 

LHP. Aroldis Chapman, Yankees

RHP. Gerrit Cole, Astros

RHP. Lucas Giolito, White Sox

RHP. Shane Greene, Tigers

LHP. Brad Hand, Indians

LHP. John Means, Orioles

LHP. Mike Minor, Rangers

RHP. Charlie Morton, Rays

RHP. Jake Odorizzi, Twins

RHP. Ryan Pressly, Astros

RHP. Marcus Stroman, Blue Jays

RHP. Justin Verlander, Astros

NATIONAL LEAGUE

Starters:

C. Willson Contreras, Cubs

1B. Freddie Freeman, Braves

2B. Ketel Marte, Diamondbacks

3B. Nolan Arenado, Rockies

SS. Javier Báez, SS

OF. Ronald Acuña Jr., Braves

OF. Christian Yelich, Brewers

OF. Cody Bellinger, Dodgers

Reserves:

C. Yasmani Grandal, Brewers

C. J.T. Realmuto, Phillies

1B. Josh Bell, Pirates

1B. Pete Alonso, Mets

2B. Mike Moustakas, Brewers

3B. Anthony Rendon, Nationals

3B. Kris Bryant, Cubs

SS. Paul DeJong, Cardinals

SS. Trevor Story, Rockies

OF. Charlie Blackmon, Rockies

OF. David Dahl, Rockies

OF. Jeff McNeil, Mets

Pitchers:

RHP. Sandy Alcántra, Marlins

RHP. Walker Buehler, Dodgers

RHP. Luis Castillo, Reds

RHP. Jacob deGrom, Mets

RHP. Zack Greinke, Diamondbacks

LHP. Josh Hader, Brewers

LHP. Clayton Kershaw, Dodgers

LHP. Hyun-Jin Ryu, Dodgers

RHP. Max Scherzer, Nationals

LHP. Will Smith, Giants

RHP. Mike Soroka, Braves

RHP. Kirby Yates, Padres