The Big Dumper is All-Star Game bound. Seattle Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh was revealed on Wednesday alongside the rest of the starters for this year’s MLB All-Star Game.
The 28-year-old Raleigh is in the midst of a breakout season in which he leads baseball in home runs and RBI. His reward is his first trip to the All-Star Game in his fifth MLB season, and he’ll also be the first Mariners starter since Nelson Cruz in 2015.
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Raleigh was one of 16 All-Star starters revealed on Wednesday for the American League and National League rosters. Starters were determined via a two-phase voting system that MLB implemented for the first time.
Los Angeles Dodgers designated hitter Shohei Ohtani and New York Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge were previously announced as starters as the leading vote-getters in Phase 1 of voting that ended on June 26. Judge led all players with 4,012,983 votes, while Ohtani led NL players with 3,967,668 votes.
Tuesday’s results are based upon Phase 2 of voting, which took place from June 30 through July 2 and determined the rest of the starting position players for each team after finalists were previously announced. Finalists were determined via Phase 1 voting. Votes from Phase 1 did not carry over into Phase 2.
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First-time All-Stars are italicized.
American League All-Star starters
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1B: Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Toronto Blue Jays (over Paul Goldschmidt)
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2B: Gleyber Torres, Detroit Tigers (over Jackson Holliday)
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SS: Jacob Wilson, Athletics (over Bobby Witt Jr.)
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3B: José Ramírez, Cleveland Guardians (over Alex Bregman)
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OF: Aaron Judge, New York Yankees
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OF: Riley Greene, Detroit Tigers (over Steven Kwan)
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OF: Javier Báez, Detroit Tigers (over Mike Trout)
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C: Cal Raleigh, Seattle Mariners (over Alejandro Kirk)
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DH: Ryan O’Hearn, Baltimore Orioles (over Ben Rice)
National League All-Star starters
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1B: Freddie Freeman, Los Angeles Dodgers (over Pete Alonso)
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2B: Ketel Marte, Arizona Diamondbacks (over Tommy Edman)
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SS: Francisco Lindor, New York Mets (over Mookie Betts)
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3B: Manny Machado, San Diego Padres (over Max Muncy)
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OF: Ronald Acuña Jr., Atlanta Braves (over Juan Soto)
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OF: Pete Crow-Armstrong, Chicago Cubs (over Andy Pages)
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OF: Kyle Tucker, Chicago Cubs (over Teoscar Hernández)
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C: Will Smith, Los Angeles Dodgers (over Carson Kelly)
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DH: Shohei Ohtani, Los Angeles Dodgers
The Dodgers and Detroit Tigers lead each of their respective leagues in starters, which isn’t much of a surprise considering they’re tied for the best record in MLB at 54-32 entering Wednesday. Will Smith and Freddie Freeman joined Ohtani in the lineup, while Gleyber Torres, Riley Greene and Javier Báez made it for the Tigers.
There’s a decent chance those trios have some company when the rest of the rosters are announced, especially with Cy Young candidates Tarik Skubal and Yoshinobu Yamamoto especially likely to be in the fold.
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The Dodgers actually had a shot at claiming eight of the nine NL spots, but only two of their seven players in Phase 2 of the voting emerged victorious.
The lone rookie to make the cut was Jacob Wilson, the Athletics shortstop who was playing at Grand Canyon University only two years ago and is now looking like one of the most exciting young players in the majors. He won the closest one-on-one race of the field, edging out Kansas City Royals star Bobby Witt Jr. 52% to 48%.
All-Star Pitchers and reserves will be announced on July 6 via a combined vote of players and the MLB commissioner’s office. As always, at least one player from each team will be represented.
The All-Star Game will take place at Truist Park in Atlanta on July 15 (8 p.m. ET on FOX). The Home Run Derby will take place on July 14 (8 p.m. ET on ESPN).
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