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As another June rolls around, it’s time again to focus on which participants will be chosen to play in the 2024 MLB All-Star Game.
The New York Yankees are having a dynamite start to their 2024 campaign — tied for the best record with the Phillies at 44-19 as of June 5 — so it’s only natural they’ll be well-represented.
While Yankees mega-boppers and AL MVP frontrunners Aaron Judge and Juan Soto are already considered “locks” for the All-Star lineup, a handful of Yankees could find themselves on the fence with voters.
3 Yankees Who’ll Need Some Luck to Be Selected
Shortstop Anthony Volpe
Former 2019 first-round pick Anthony Volpe is putting together an impressive sophomore season with the Bronx Bombers. Although Volpe underwhelmed with his bat as a rookie, he’s slashing .283/.350/.437 from the leadoff spot in 2024.
Coupled with his strong defensive presence, Volpe has already exceeded his 2023 fWAR total of 2.0 by nearly a full run with his 2.9 current figure. The highly-touted New York native is rocking a 132 wRC+ which is nearly 50 points better than his 2023 number.
At this time, as SB Nation’s Pinstripe Alley wrote, “the circumstances are not in Volpe’s favor.”
“Of the seven players who have accrued more fWAR than him, two of them are American League shortstops: Bobby Witt Jr. and Gunnar Henderson.
Furthermore, two of the players behind him, Carlos Correa and Corey Seager, play for teams who have fewer options for the All-Star team than the Yankees do — and Seager, of course, plays for the game’s host, which could be the tiebreaker.”
Despite everything Volpe is doing right—such as his current 31-game on-base streak—as Pinstripe Alley unfortunately notes, “Since teams often only select three shortstops, everything is shaping up for Volpe to be one of the biggest snubs of this year’s Midsummer Classic.
Catcher Jose Trevino
Jose Trevino had a memorable All-Star nod back in 2022 as he transitioned from Yankees backup catcher to a Gold Glove backstop who hit enough to get the selection.
In 2024, Trevino ranks ninth in fWAR (1.1) among catchers but leads the Major Leagues in catching framing runs with five.
While this may be true, the catcher position is “stacked” in the AL this year. Kansas City Royals backstop Salvador Pérez “is likely headed to his ninth All-Star Game,” said Pinstripe Alley.
Among a host of other catchers vying for the other two AL spots are Ryan Jeffers, Adley Rutschmann, and Danny Jansen. In the end, the fact that the Yankees will be represented quite well overall “will work against Trevino,” says Pinstripe Alley.
Outfielder Alex Verdugo
Highlighted in the Pinstripe Alley piece, “Alex Verdugo has stabilized a left field that has been a chaotic mess for the Yankees ever since Brett Gardner’s final season.”
Even though Verdugo has already matched his 2023 total of 1.3 fWAR, his current wRC+ of 111 is on the lighter side of his immediate competition.
Still, even though (as Pinstripe Alley stated) Verdugo “likely sits on the outside looking in,” a “strong month of June, combined with continued defensive excellence, could send Verdugo to the All-Star Game for the first time in his career.”
2024 MLB All-Star Game Details & How Voting Works
The 94th edition of baseball’s Midsummer Classic will be played on July 16, 2024 at Globe Life Field, home of defending World Series champion Texas Rangers.
It marks the first time a World Series champion has hosted the following year’s All-Star Game since the Yankees did so in 1939 after winning the 1938 pinnacle series.
Since the 40,300-seat facility has a retractable roof, the weather will not be an issue for this year’s exhibition festivities.
With voting officially underway, here’s how it will unfold.
According to a June 5 CBS Sports article, “The first phase of voting takes place from June 5 to June 27.”
During this phase, voters can cast up to five ballots per day. On a side note, “pitchers are excluded, each league has a designated hitter and the three outfield positions are generic (as opposed to picking a specific left fielder, center fielder, and right fielder),” per CBS Sports.
“MLB will provide voting updates multiple times before whittling the field down to two finalists at each position (six outfielders) and resetting the vote totals to zero before a final run determines the starter at each position for the All-Star Game.
Consequently, the top vote-getter from each league after phrase one will automatically receive an All-Star starting spot.
Phase two of fan voting will run from June 30 to July 3, and winners will be announced that night.