First-timers, comeback players highlight All-Star rosters
The All-Star Game starting lineups provided further proof of baseball's continuing regeneration, as fans picked 10 players who will be starting for the first time, the highest number in 10 years.
Monday's announcement of the reserves expanded on that theme, with rookies Kris Bryant and Joc Pederson among 35 players who are 27 or younger, but it also demonstrated there's plenty of room for older players in a sport that rewards experience and know-how over sheer athleticism.
Pittsburgh Pirates right-hander A.J. Burnett, who at 38 is playing the final season of a 17-year career, got his first All-Star nod on the basis of a 7-3 record and a 2.05 ERA that ranks third in the league. He's part of a group of venerable 30-somethings invited, including three first basemen who had missed the Midsummer Classic in recent seasons.
Albert Pujols, absent from the game the last four years as his production declined, returns at 35 as the American League's top home run hitter with 25. He will replace the injured Miguel Cabrera in the starting lineup.
The New York Yankees' Mark Teixeira, who overcame wrist woes with the help of a revamped diet and leads the American League with 59 RBI, earned his first invite since 2009. And fellow first baseman Adrian Gonzalez, 33, is back as well after a four-year hiatus, one of three Los Angeles Dodgers on the squad, although three-time Cy Young Award winner Clayton Kershaw surprisingly isn't one of them.
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The biggest surprise on either side was probably the inclusion of utilityman Brock Holt as the Boston Red Sox's lone representative.
The pitchers and reserves were chosen by what's known as the Player Ballot – comprising a vote of players, managers and coaches, as well as the managers of the defending league champions. Manager Ned Yost of the Kansas City Royals, whose fans came under criticism for ballot-stuffing in sending four starters to the game, praised Holt's versatility and said he tried to take a practical approach to his selections.
"The most important thing I wanted to do was make sure I made these choices with my head and not my heart,'' said Yost, who will be accompanied by a game-high six Royals to Cincinnati's Great American Ball Park for the July 14 showcase.
Yost said he gave some consideration to choosing Alex Rodriguez, who leads the first-place New York Yankees in on-base plus slugging percentage a year after being suspended for a season for violating baseball's drug policy, but the DH spot he would occupy was filled instead by Nelson Cruz (fan vote) and Prince Fielder (players vote).
The same way the AL had to replace one of its top sluggers in Cabrera, out with a calf injury, the National League needed to fill the void of the majors' top home run hitter in Giancarlo Stanton, who is sidelined with a broken hamate. Pirates outfielder Andrew McCutchen, the 2013 NL MVP, will start for Stanton.
One of this year's most compelling stories came in the selection of Oakland Athletics catcher Stephen Vogt, a longtime minor-leaguer who was chosen on merit, not to fulfill the requirement that every team be represented.
Vogt, 30, leads all AL catchers in batting average (.290), RBI (53) and on-base plus slugging percentage (.882), and his 13 home runs are tied for the top spot. In his first year as a full-time starter after playing in parts of the previous three seasons, Vogt said he finally feel like he belongs, and the All-Star Game nod validates that belief.
"Just to be recognized at the major league level by your peers and by everybody out there that, yeah, you are an All-Star, holy cow!'' Vogt said. "You put that into perspective and it's been quite the ride. I'm truly honored.''
PHOTOS: 2015 National League All-Star starters
