Nationals Park in Washington D.C. will host the 89th MLB All-Star Game
Nationals Park in Washington D.C. is the site for the 89th annual Major League Baseball All-Star Game on Tuesday. Coverage begins at 8 p.m. ET on FOX.
Through 88 previous All-Star Games spread out from the first game in 1933 until today, both the American and National Leagues are deadlocked with the same record at 43-43-2. From 1997 until 2009, the American League won 12 of 13 games – 2002 at Miller Park in Milwaukee ended in an infamous 7-7 tie; the National League broke up the AL dominance with three straight wins from 2010-12; the AL responded by winning the past five.
Defending World Series champion manager, A. J. Hinch of the Houston Astros, will be tasked to handle a strong, somewhat deep AL roster against NL manager, Dave Roberts of the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Here are the starting lineups and pitchers for the 2018 MLB All-Star Game:
AL & NL Starting Lineups:
These lineups are STACKED.
Which squad has the edge?
So, just how dominant is the American League lineup?
Four AL starters: Mike Trout, Mookie Betts, Jose Ramirez and Aaron Judge, are currently ranked in the top 10 in WAR this season, with Trout (6.8), Betts (6.6) and Ramirez (6.3) only being separated by the narrowest of margins. In any other year, Manny Machado, currently active in ongoing trade rumors, would have been a bigger story. Not this year.
This doesn’t even factor in defending AL MVP Jose Altuve, batting second, who has a .332/.394/.470 slash line and is on pace to lead the AL in hits again this season for the FIFTH straight season. The AL lineup’s weak link is at nine, where Salvador Perez is having a marginal year at the plate (221/.258/.394), but provides a veteran voice to stabilize the first few innings of the game for the AL pitching staff.
The National League lineup boasts a few surprises.
Matt Kemp and Nick Markakis probably went into this season with non-All-Star type of aspirations, but each find themselves starting on Tuesday, a shocker for most. For Markakis, his selection, let alone starting spot, warrants some major history:
Nick Markakis has played the most games and recorded the most hits prior to first becoming an all-star – that’s cool. A well deserved moment for one of #Birdland’s favorites!
Javier Baez and Brandon Crawford are each having good seasons, earning their first starting nods. The NL lineup’s controversial selection is actually Bryce Harper, who entered the All-Star break sporting a bad .214 batting average, despite a fairly respectable .365 OBP, 23 home runs and 54 RBI. Most felt Harper did not deserve to start the game, but he will, and he will bat six for the NL.
AL Starting Pitcher:
Chris Sale is the first pitcher to start the #AllStarGame for three straight seasons since Robin Roberts (1953-55).
Chris Sale
In addition to Chris Sale and Max Scherzer (more on that shortly) becoming the first set of pitchers to start consecutive All-Star Games, Sale also becomes the first pitcher since Robin Roberts to start three consecutive All-Star Games (1953-55).
Sale was chosen over elite contenders such as Cy Young Award winners Justin Verlander and Corey Kluber, and Luis Severino, formidable, dominant peers who are each having unbelievable seasons in their own right. Sale is 10-4 in 20 starts this season with a 2.33 ERA, 188 strikeouts and .899 WHIP.
NL Starting Pitcher:
Chris Sale and Max Scherzer will start the MLB All-Star Game for the second year in a row.
It’s the second time in All-Star Game history that the same pitchers started consecutive years, joining Red Ruffing and Paul Derringer in 1939-40.
Max Scherzer
Scherzer is tasked with starting the game in his home park, attempting to replicate some magic on the heels of what his teammate Harper did in the Home Run Derby last night.
Scherzer is 12-5 with a 2.41 ERA, 182 strikeouts and .899 WHIP in 20 starts this season. Scherzer, who has won consecutive NL Cy Young Awards and is currently one of the front-runners for a third straight, which would put him in an elite category, will have a daunting task of getting through the powerful AL lineup on the first go-around.