As of Tuesday, Bryce Harper and Aaron Judge were the only players with guaranteed starting spots in the All-Star Game as the top overall vote-getters in each league after the first phase of balloting.
Unfortunately, Harper is currently out with a hamstring strain. Fortunately, the Phillies slugger could be back in time for the game. Unfortunately (again), that might not be the case for some of the National League’s other top talents.
Mookie Betts (fractured hand) and Fernando Tatís Jr. (stress reaction in leg) are both deserving of spots on the team, but neither is likely to be available for the game as they work their way back from their respective injuries. That saps some of the star power on the NL side, which is already missing some of the biggest names in the sport (Ronald Acuña Jr., Spencer Strider, Clayton Kershaw, etc.) due to injuries.
Still, there will inevitably be more deserving All-Star players than spots available on both teams.
With Phase 2 of balloting ending and starters being revealed Wednesday, this feels like a good time to make our own choices for every roster spot in the 2024 All-Star Game, which will take place July 16 at Globe Life Field in Arlington (8 p.m. ET on FOX and the FOX Sports app).
Over the past couple of weeks, we identified the closest position battles and early picks for which players deserve to win out in the NL and AL. Now, though, we have more information at hand, and some of those selections have changed.
My final All-Star picks below are irrespective of the results of the fan vote and work within the framework of the rules: 20 position players and 12 pitchers (including at least three relievers) on each team, with every major-league club represented (which created a challenge). Starters are in bold.
Note: I’ve only included players who are likely to be healthy for the game, so Betts and Tatis — though they would have made my roster had they been expected to play — are not included.
AMERICAN LEAGUE
Catchers
Adley Rutschman, Baltimore Orioles
Salvador Pérez, Kansas City Royals
Logan O’Hoppe, Los Angeles Angels
Infielders
1B Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Toronto Blue Jays
1B Josh Naylor, Cleveland Guardians
2B José Altuve, Houston Astros
SS Gunnar Henderson, Baltimore Orioles
SS Bobby Witt Jr., Kansas City Royals
SS Carlos Correa, Minnesota Twins
3B José Ramírez, Cleveland Guardians
3B Jordan Westburg, Baltimore Orioles
3B Rafael Devers, Boston Red Sox
3B Isaac Paredes, Tampa Bay Rays
Outfielders
Aaron Judge, New York Yankees
Juan Soto, New York Yankees
Steven Kwan, Cleveland Guardians
*Kyle Tucker, Houston Astros
Jarren Duran, Boston Red Sox
Riley Greene, Detroit Tigers
DH
Yordan Álvarez, Houston Astros
*Injury replacement if Tucker injured
SS Corey Seager, Texas Rangers
(If Seager is injured: UTIL Josh Smith, Texas Rangers)
Also Strongly Considered
UTIL Willi Castro, Minnesota Twins
UTIL Luis Rengifo, Los Angeles Angels
1B Ryan Mountcastle, Baltimore Orioles
C Connor Wong, Boston Red Sox
DH David Fry, Cleveland Guardians
DH Brent Rooker, Oakland Athletics
OF Anthony Santander, Baltimore Orioles
OF JJ Bleday, Oakland Athletics
2B Isiah Kiner-Falefa, Toronto Blue Jays
2B Marcus Semien, Texas Rangers
SS Anthony Volpe, New York Yankees
Analysis: Is it gaming the system to only include one second baseman and have four third basemen? So be it. Altuve is doing his thing, but behind him is a hodgepodge of light hitters at the position, and I couldn’t justify taking one of them when others can just fill in at the spot. Considering Henderson and Witt are both so deserving of a starting spot, maybe you could move Witt over to second and get them both on the field for a few innings? I don’t think anyone would have a problem with that.
Westburg is also more than capable of handling the role. I’m all about giving the hometown crowd something to cheer for, but I couldn’t find a way to get Seager or Smith on there, so they would be my first calls for injury replacements (even if it’s for an outfielder, as referenced above). I wanted to find a way to get Castro on there, but Paredes needed to make the team as the lone Rays representative.
Pitchers
SP Seth Lugo, Kansas City Royals
SP Corbin Burnes, Baltimore Orioles
SP Tarik Skubal, Detroit Tigers
SP Logan Gilbert, Seattle Mariners
SP Garrett Crochet, Chicago White Sox
SP Tanner Houck, Boston Red Sox
SP Cole Ragans, Kansas City Royals
SP Luis Gil, New York Yankees
SP Ronel Blanco, Houston Astros
RP Emmanuel Clase, Cleveland Guardians
RP Mason Miller, Oakland Athletics
RP Kirby Yates, Texas Rangers
Also Strongly Considered
SP Jack Flaherty, Detroit Tigers
SP Reese Olson, Detroit Tigers
SP Joe Ryan, Minnesota Twins
SP Tyler Anderson, Los Angeles Angels
SP Brady Singer, Kansas City Royals
RP Kenley Jansen, Boston Red Sox
RP Craig Kimbrel, Baltimore Orioles
RP Clay Holmes, New York Yankees
RP Andres Muñoz, Seattle Mariners
RP Hunter Gaddis, Cleveland Guardians
RP Cade Smith, Cleveland Guardians
Analysis: Burnes and Skubal would also be perfectly acceptable answers to start the game, but I went with the starter who leads the AL in ERA, bWAR and wins (although, admittedly, I don’t really care about that last stat). The Tigers had a plethora of All-Star hopefuls, and leaving off Flaherty and Olson was especially difficult. There were too many spectacular starting pitchers to get more than three relievers on there. Miller and Yates were locks, and Yates gets the final spot as a vital piece for the hometown club. Jansen, Kimbrel or Muñoz would also be perfectly acceptable All-Star choices, and the Guardians’ plethora of high-leverage options beyond Clase at least deserve some recognition here.
NATIONAL LEAGUE
Catchers
William Contreras, Milwaukee Brewers
Will Smith, Los Angeles Dodgers
Patrick Bailey, San Francisco Giants
Infielders
*1B Bryce Harper, Philadelphia Phillies
1B Freddie Freeman, Los Angeles Dodgers
2B Ketel Marte, Arizona Diamondbacks
2B Brice Turang, Milwaukee Brewers
SS Elly De La Cruz, Cincinnati Reds (SS)
SS CJ Abrams, Washington Nationals
SS Francisco Lindor, New York Mets
3B Alec Bohm, Philadelphia Phillies
3B Ryan McMahon, Colorado Rockies
Outfielders
Jurickson Profar, San Diego Padres
Christian Yelich, Milwaukee Brewers
Teoscar Hernández, Los Angeles Dodgers
Brandon Nimmo, New York Mets
Bryan Reynolds, Pittsburgh Pirates
Jackson Merrill, San Diego Padres
DH
Shohei Ohtani, Los Angeles Dodgers
Marcell Ozuna, Atlanta Braves
*Injury Replacement if Harper injured
1B Christian Walker, Arizona Diamondbacks
Also Strongly Considered
3B Joey Ortiz, Milwaukee Brewers
3B Matt Chapman, San Francisco Giants
1B Michael Busch, Chicago Cubs
1B Pete Alonso, New York Mets
SS Willy Adames, Milwaukee Brewers
SS Masyn Winn, St. Louis Cardinals
SS Ezequiel Tovar, Colorado Rockies
OF Heliot Ramos, San Francisco Giants
OF Jesse Winker, Washington Nationals
DH Kyle Schwarber, Philadelphia Phillies
UTIL Jake Cronenworth, San Diego Padres
Analysis: The last few spots of the NL position players were the most excruciating to whittle down of any on this list. I desperately wanted to find a way to get Ortiz on here, but he has cooled considerably in June (likely due to the neck issue that has caused him to miss time), and despite the value he offers, he doesn’t have the counting stats of others on this list. McMahon or Tovar had to make it as a Rockies representative, and I took the third baseman considering the plethora of NL shortstop options. Adames and Wynn also have strong cases at short, though they haven’t produced offensively to the level of others here.
Profar is an incredible story this year, but the NL outfield collectively pales in comparison to its AL counterparts. With that, it makes the decisions even tougher. Behind Profar, there’s a smorgasbord of options offering about the same value. Ramos certainly has an argument, but he gets dinged since he lags so far behind the others in playing time. Merrill has come on strong enough that he probably deserves a spot on the roster, which is extraordinary for the 21-year-old former shortstop who’s manning center for the first time.
Pitchers
SP Reynaldo López, Atlanta Braves
SP Chris Sale, Atlanta Braves
SP Tyler Glasnow, Los Angeles Dodgers
SP Paul Skenes, Pittsburgh Pirates
SP Ranger Suárez, Philadelphia Phillies
SP Zack Wheeler, Philadelphia Phillies
SP Cristopher Sánchez, Philadelphia Phillies
SP Sonny Gray, St. Louis Cardinals
SP Shōta Imanaga, Chicago Cubs
RP Robert Suárez, San Diego Padres
RP Ryan Helsley, St. Louis Cardinals
RP Tanner Scott, Miami Marlins
Also Strongly Considered
SP Max Fried, Atlanta Braves
SP Logan Webb, San Francisco Giants
SP Gavin Stone, Los Angeles Dodgers
SP Mackenzie Gore, Washington Nationals
SP Jake Irvin, Washington Nationals
SP Dylan Cease, San Diego Padres
SP Mitch Keller, Pittsburgh Pirates
RP Bryan Hudson, Milwaukee Brewers
RP Matt Strahm, Philadelphia Phillies
RP Jeff Hoffman, Philadelphia Phillies
RP Kyle Finnegan, Washington Nationals
RP Evan Phillips, Los Angeles Dodgers
RP Trevor Megill, Milwaukee Brewers
Analysis: There were, unsurprisingly, far more omissions than I felt comfortable with here, which is to be expected. There are always more All-Star-worthy pitchers than spots available. Since Imanaga and Scott had to make it as their team’s lone reps, my last spot was between Sánchez and Hudson. As good as the latter has been in the Milwaukee bullpen — he came out of nowhere to lead all NL relievers with a 0.82 ERA — it’s almost impossible to make the cut as a non-closer. Philadelphia gets three starting pitchers in, and Strahm and Hoffman also had a case in the non-closer reliever realm.
On the starter side, Cease is fourth in the majors in strikeouts, Webb leads the majors in innings, and Fried and Stone both have arguments, but they all fell just short. Skenes has done enough to warrant a spot, even in a short time. Get that arm to Arlington. Suárez, Sale, Glasnow or Wheeler would all be fine options to start, but López is the only qualified pitcher in the majors with an ERA under 2.00.
Lugo and López certainly don’t have the name recognition of other options on the rosters, but how cool would it be to have two guys who were recently full-time relievers earn the nod? They’ve proven worthy. On the bullpen side, Helsley vs. Finnegan could have gone either way, but 30 saves before the All-Star break is absurd.
Rowan Kavner is an MLB writer for FOX Sports. He previously covered the L.A. Dodgers, LA Clippers and Dallas Cowboys. An LSU grad, Rowan was born in California, grew up in Texas, then moved back to the West Coast in 2014. Follow him on Twitter at @RowanKavner.
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