NEWSLETTER
Jeff Samardzija was selected as an All-Star for the National League this year on the strength of his dominant first few months of the season. Well-deserved. The only problem? As of two days ago, Jeff Samardzija no longer pitched in the NL.
So, although Samardzija will get to go to Minnesota and be a part of all of the festivities, he will not be eligible to pitch in the game.
Fortunately, Samardzija won’t be the Cubs’ only representative. Starlin Castro was also selected, quite deservingly after a bounce-back year that has him among the league’s leaders at the shortstop position in pretty much every stat. That’s his third All-Star selection, which is awesome.
Anthony Rizzo was not selected for the team, which is total horseplop, but he did make the cut for the final vote thingy. That means Rizzo is up against Anthony Rendon, Casey McGehee, Justin Morneau, and Justin Upton in a fan vote for the final spot on the NL team.
Jason Hammel and Jake Arrieta had arguments for a spot, too, but it’s understandable that they weren’t selected.
The All-Star Game is Tuesday, July 15 at Target Field in Minneapolis.
Here are the rosters for now, selected by John Farrell and Mike Matheny. I say for now, because injuries, withdrawals, pitchers throwing on the Sunday before the game, etc., will all shift the rosters slightly between now and the game. Also, the final player for each roster will be selected by a fan vote.
NL Starters:
1B Paul Goldschmidt
2B Chase Utley
SS Troy Tulowitzki
3B Aramis Ramirez
C Yadier Molina
OF Andrew McCutchen
OF Carlos Gomez
OF Yasiel Puig
NL Pitchers:
Madison Bumgarner
Aroldis Chapman
Johnny Cueto
Zack Greinke
Francisco Rodriguez
Clayton Kershaw
Craig Kimbrel
Pat Neshek
Tyson Ross
Jeff Samardzija
Julio Teheran
Adam Wainwright
Tony Watson
Jordan Zimmermann
NL Reserves:
Charlie Blackmon
Matt Carpenter
Starlin Castro
Todd Frazier
Freddie Freeman
Dee Gordon
Josh Harrison
Jonathan Lucroy
Devin Mesoraco
Daniel Murphy
Hunter Pence
Giancarlo Stanton
AL Starters:
1B Miguel Cabrera
2B Robinson Cano
SS Derek Jeter
3B Josh Donaldson
C Matt Wieters (injured, so Salvador Perez takes the spot)
DH Nelson Cruz
OF Jose Bautista
OF Mike Trout
OF Adam Jones
AL Pitchers:
Dellin Betances
Mark Buehrle
Yu Darvish
Sean Doolittle
Felix Hernandez
Derek Holland
Scott Kazmir
Jon Lester
Glen Perkins
David Price
Max Scherzer
Masahiro Tanaka
AL Reserves:
Jose Abreu
Alexei Ramirez
Jose Altuve
Adrian Beltre
Michael Brantley
Yoenis Cespedes
Edwin Encarnacion
Alex Gordon
Brandon Moss
Derek Norris
Kurt Suzuki
Victor Martinez
