Los Angeles Angels center fielder Mike Trout was named to the All-Star Game for the 11th time in his career, while St. Louis Cardinals third baseman Nolan Arenado earned his eighth career nod as starters for the American and National Leagues were announced Thursday.
Other AL starters include the Tampa Bay Rays’ Yandy Diaz at first base, as well as a trio of Texas Rangers to round out the infield, including Marcus Semien at second, Corey Seager at shortstop and rookie Josh Jung at third. The Rangers’ Jonah Heim was named starting catcher.
The AL outfield includes Aaron Judge of the New York Yankees and Randy Arozarena of the Rays. Judge is expected to miss the game due to a toe injury.
Trout is having a down season by his standards but still has been impressive with an .849 OPS, 17 home runs and 42 RBIs. Semien and Seager have combined for 21 home runs and 103 RBIs for the first-place Rangers, while Arozarena has an .876 OPS with 14 home runs and 54 RBIs to earn his first All-Star honor.
Other National League starters included the Los Angeles’ Dodgers Freddie Freeman at first base, the Miami Marlins’ Luis Arraez at second, the Atlanta Braves’ Orlando Arcia at shortstop and the Braves’ Sean Murphy at catcher.
The NL designated hitter is the Dodgers’ J.D. Martinez, while his Los Angeles teammate Mookie Betts was named to the outfield, as was Arizona Diamondbacks rookie Corbin Carroll. However, Carroll injured a shoulder on Thursday and the severity isn’t known.
Freeman earned his seventh All-Star Game appearance with a .938 OPS, 14 home runs and 49 RBIs, while Arraez entered play Thursday with a major-league best .396 batting average and Carroll has burst on the scene with a .932 OPS, 17 home runs and 24 stolen bases.
According to ESPN, it is the third time two rookies were named starters for the same All-Star Game.
The complete starting lineups were announced after Phase 2 of fan voting was complete. Reserve players and pitchers will be announced Sunday in advance of the July 11 All-Star Game at Seattle.
Shohei Ohtani of the Angels and Ronald Acuna Jr. of the Braves already were named starters last week after they were the top vote getters from each league following Phase 1 of the selection process. Ohtani, who leads the majors with 29 homers, was named the designated hitter for the AL while Acuna was named to the outfield for the NL.