Former Hudson Hornet and Giants first baseman Brandon Belt can still make the National League All-Star team and East Texas you can help!
Advertisement
Melancon (0-1, 1.35 ERA) is tied for third in the National League with 24 saves in 33 1/3 innings pitched entering Tuesday’s game against the Cardinals.
The Cubs are: Anthony Rizzo (first base), Ben Zobrist (second base), Addison Russell (shortstop), Kris Bryant (third base), and Dexter Fowler (outfield), as well as pitchers Jake Arrieta and Jon Lester. Of those seven, the entire Cubs infield will start the game.
Center fielder Dexter Fowler will join his Chicago teammates, making the Cubs the first team since the Cincinnati Reds’ Big Red Machine in 1976 to have five starters in the lineup. At 22-years-old, he is the youngest player in franchise history elected to start the game and second youngest All-Star overall, trailing only shortstop Starlin Castro who was named as a 21-year-old reserve in 2011.
As undeserving as Russell is of the All-Star Game start or even a nomination, it’s not completely outrageous. But objectivity could be required, with the customary five players per league appearing on this final ballot, technically referred to as the Esurance MLB All-Star Game Final Vote.
The tightest race was for second base in the NL.
Having an entire infield starting is a pretty cool thing.
Rizzo led NL players with 3.2 million votes, and Zobrist finished 88 votes ahead of the Nationals’ Daniel Murphy.
Boston Red Sox’s Jackie Bradley Jr., who played for the Salem Red Sox in 2012, will start in next week’s MLB All-Star Game. Perez led all players with almost 4.97 million votes.
Kershaw would have been the favorite to start for Mets manager Terry Collins, who probably turns to his own guy, Noah Syndergaard. By the time the year is over with, if Russell can continue to improve, we may all forget about his less than favorable first half. Other NL pitchers include Washington’s Stephen Strasburg, the Giants’ Madison Bumgarner, the Marlins’ Jose Fernandez and Atlanta’s Julio Teheran.
Advertisement
But he looked forward to returning to the city where he starred in college at the University of San Diego. Wil Myers was the only Padres player picked.
