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MLB Notebook: All-Star Game Roster Announced
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Photo credit: © Gary A. Vasquez - USA Today
Brett Holden
Jul 8, 2024, 20:00 EDTUpdated: Jul 8, 2024, 22:27 EDT
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The 2024 All-Star Game rosters have been announced surrounded by fresh faces, historic youngsters, and of course, controversy.
There are 32 first-time All-Stars making their ASG debuts in Texas on June 16th, including last year’s first-overall pick, Paul Skenes.
The Pittsburgh rookie becomes the first player in MLB history to make the All-Star team the season after getting drafted. Skenes is undefeated in his MLB career, going 5-0 in 10 starts and striking out 78 batters in his first 59.1 innings as a pro.
Since his MLB debut on May 11th, Skenes is tied for second in the National League for strikeouts with 78 and sits alone in second in the NL in ERA with 2.12.
But the flame-throwing rookie isn’t the only young star on their way to Texas for their first All-Star Game; 2023 AL Rookie of the Year, Gunnar Henderson, will make his All-Star debut including a commitment to the Home Run Derby. Henderson sits second in the American League in homers with 27, behind only Aaron Judge.
Bobby Witt Jr. will also make his ASG debut. After signing his massive deal in the offseason, the Royals shortstop has continued his dominance. Bobby has the second-best batting average in the entire MLB, second to another ASG debutant, Steven Kwan, ninth in OPS, and fifth in stolen bases.
Speaking of stolen bases, the league leader in swiping bags, Elly De La Cruz will be heading to Texas to represent the Reds this month. Elly has 45 stolen bases this year, 16 more than second place. Plus, not to mention his already 15 long balls this season, adding a little power to that speed.
Red Sox youngster, Jarren Duran, is in the middle of his second full season in the Major Leagues and has run away with the opportunity this year. Duran sits second on Boston amongst qualified hitters in batting average, OBP, slugging, and OPS. When asked about who he was most looking forward to hanging out with at the game he said “I’ve never stood next to Judge, so I kinda wanna see what it’s about… I might just try and sneak up behind him and see the size difference.”
Another young flame-thrower from Oakland will be making his way to the All-Star Game for the first time in Mason Miller. Miller has been a Lamborghini parked outside a trap house in Oakland. All of Miller’s numbers are insanely impressive considering his workplace environment. He leads all relievers in strikeouts, first in baseball in xERA, first in the league in xwOBA, and tied for second in hard-hit balls. The man’s baseball savant page is so red it looks like a Christmas display.
The other interesting first-time All-Star is shortstop-turned-outfielder, Jackson Merrill. With the utter middle-infielder factory San Diego has become, Jackson Merril was forced to make a move to the outfield to compete for a Major League spot this season. Not only has he made a smooth transition into the position, he has excelled. Merrill sits in the 93rd percentile in arm strength in the league, 81st percentile in arm value, and 80th percentile in range, all at a brand new position. He has also been able to do it with the bat, sitting in the 95th percentile in expected batting average with a .299, 92nd percentile in expected slugging with a .508, and 84th percentile in xwOBA with a .357.

The other first-time All-Stars include:

Steven Kwan (CLE)
Josh Naylor (CLE)
Isaac Parades (TBR)
Riley Greene (DET)
David Fry (CLE)
Garrett Crochet (CWS)
Logan Gilbert (SEA)
Tanner Houck (BOS)
Seth Lugo (KCR)
Tarik Skubal (DET)
Cole Ragens (KCR)
Alec Bohm (PHI)
Jurickson Profar (SDP)
CJ Abrams (WAS)
Ryan McMahon (COL)
Heliot Ramos (SFG)
Ranger Suárez (PHI)
Tyler Glasnow (LAD)
Shota Imanaga (CHC)
Reynaldo Lopez (ATL)
Logan Webb (SFG)
Tanner Scott (MIA)
Robert Suarez (SDP)
Matt Strahm (PHI)
Jeff Hoffman (PHI)
Now you may have noticed a lot of Phillies on that list. That is because the Philadelphia Phillies will have seven representatives at this year’s All-Star Game. Out of those seven, four are first-time participants, the others are: nine-time All-Star Bryce Harper, three-time All-Star Trea Turner, and two-time All-Star Zack Wheeler.
The Toronto Blue Jays will only send one representative this year to Texas Vladimir Guerrero Jr., but he shouldn’t feel that lonely as three former Jays will join him this year.
One of Vladdy’s closest friends, Teoscar Hernandez will be there representing the Los Angeles Dodgers after becoming a massive part of the Blue Crew’s lineup in the absence of Max Muncy. Hernandez sits second on the Dodgers in home runs this season behind an “almost” Blue Jay, Shohei Ohtani, who also sits second in all of baseball with 28.
Former Blue Jays second baseman, Marcus Semien, will be making his fourth All-Star appearance, one of which coming as a Blue Jay. Semien has been the cash guy in Texas this season, leading the Rangers in RBIs with 47, second in walks with 33, and second in extra-base hits with 29.
The final former Jay that will be heading to the All-Star game is a guy who never pitched an inning with the Jays, Kirby Yates. Yates signed with the team back in 2021 to a two-year deal, but he never suited up for the team after requiring season-ending Tommy John surgery before the season started and left for the Braves after electing for free agency the following offseason. This is severely unfortunate considering Yates has the second-best ERA amongst relievers with a 0.86 and first in batting average with a .123.
Of course with events like these, there will always be snubs including the guy who has the second-most stolen bases in Brice Turang, but to me, there are four real snubs that irk me the most.
The first is a pair of Baltimore Orioles, Jordan Westburg and Colton Cowser. Now, I understand the Cowser snub; Cowser had a hot start out the gate, swinging a .303 average through his first month in the Major Leagues, but has since kinda fizzled out, swinging a sub .190 over the past three months. But Jordan Westburg should be in this game. In most offensive statistical categories for the Orioles, the three guys at the top are Gunnar Henderson, Adley Rutschman, and Jordan Westburg as Westburg has been a massive contributor to the most exciting young team in all of baseball. Not to mention his percentile rankings situated in the 85th percentile or higher in batting run value, xwOBA, xBA, xSLG, average exit velo, hard-hit percentage, and launch angle sweet-spot percentage, the dude has been a beast. He should be one of the first calls in case of an emergency replacement.
Another massive snub is the guy who threw the only no-hitter so far this year, Ronel Blanco. Blanco did not register his first loss of the season until his tenth start. Heading into that game, Blanco boasted a 1.99 ERA with 51 strikeouts in 54.1 innings. Blanco has a sub-3.00 ERA in his first full season in the MLB with a 2.53, fifth best in all of baseball and second best batting average against with a .174. Ronel Blanco needs to be in the All-Star Game this year.
Finally, another pitcher who has overtly exceeded expectations this season, Luis Gil. Gil made the Yankees rotation out of Spring Training after the surprise injury to Gerrit Cole kept him out of the Opening Day roster, and he has taken it and run with it. Gil is tied for eighth in the American League in strikeouts with 111, and the only guy with a better batting average against than Ronel Blanco is Luis Gil. He has been thrown into the fire in New York and he has walked out the stronger pitcher because of it, and will likely win the AL Rookie of the Year, and could even get some AL MVP votes as well. How is this guy not in the All-Star Game?
Finally, the Home Run Derby. Only five players have committed to participating in the Derby so far this year, including O’s sophomore Gunnar Henderson, two-time Derby champ Pete Alonso, Phillies third baseman Alec Bohm, Royals young star Bobby Witt Jr., and a guy who hit 40 homers last season for the Braves, Marcell Ozuna. NL home run leader Shohei Ohtani says he will not participate in this year’s Derby, despite a ton of whispers that he was debating it. However, Ohtani cites his recovery from Tommy John surgery will prevent him from participating.
The 2024 MLB All-Star game festivities kick off on Friday, July 12th with the HBCU Swingman Classic. The game includes some of baseball’s top div-1 college players from Historically Black Colleges & Universities across America in a National Showcase. Then on Saturday the Futures Game and the Celebrity Softball Game. Sunday will mark the start of the MLB Draft as it will be held at the same time as the ASG for the fourth time in its existence. Monday will see the Home Run Derby, and Tuesday is the Big Show!

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