2022 MLB All-Star Game starters: Shohei Ohtani, Mookie Betts headline announcements
With the 2022 MLB All-Star Game scheduled to take place at Dodger Stadium in less than two weeks, the league finished up its fan voting on Friday. The results, as always, were interesting.
Each position had two finalists from a previous round of voting up for a starting lineup spot in Los Angeles, with four players up for two spots in the outfield (Aaron Judge and Ronald Acuña Jr. had already received spots).
The Toronto Blue Jays, New York Yankees, Los Angeles Angels and Los Angeles Dodgers all had multiple players elected. Here's who made the cut:
American League All-Star starters
1B: Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Toronto Blue Jays
2B: Jose Altuve, Houston Astros
SS: Tim Anderson, Chicago White Sox
3B: Rafael Devers, Boston Red Sox
OF: Aaron Judge, New York Yankees
OF: Mike Trout, Los Angeles Angels
OF: Giancarlo Stanton, New York Yankees
C: Alejandro Kirk, Toronto Blue Jays
DH: Shohei Ohtani, Los Angeles Angels
National League All-Star starters
1B: Paul Goldschmidt, St. Louis Cardinals
2B: Jazz Chisholm Jr., Miami Marlins
SS: Trea Turner, Los Angeles Dodgers
3B: Manny Machado, San Diego Padres
OF: Ronald Acuña Jr., Atlanta Braves
OF: Mookie Betts, Los Angeles Dodgers
OF: Joc Pederson, San Francisco Giants
C: Willson Contreras, Chicago Cubs
DH: Bryce Harper, Philadelphia Phillies (injured)
Who was already in the MLB All-Star Game?
The All-Star Game starter announcements are typically the first time players are confirmed to be on the roster, but MLB did things a bit differently this year.
Judge and Acuña, by virtue of being the top vote-getters in Phase 1 of voting (more on that later), were already selected to the game. It is Judge's fourth career selection and Acuña's third.
A new quirk was also introduced into MLB's collective bargaining agreement last season allowing commissioner Rob Manfred to add one player to each roster to recognize accomplished veterans who probably weren't making the game under normal circumstances.
This year, that was Albert Pujols and Miguel Cabrera, who are both nearing the end of their careers. Pujols plans to retire after this season, in which he returned to the St. Louis Cardinals, while Cabrera has said he intends to retire once his contract is up after the 2023 season.
How did MLB All-Star voting work this year?
MLB All-Star fan voting has always been prone to some truly odd outcomes. The league tried changing things this year, with the introduction of multi-phase voting.
Phase 1 began on June 8 and ended on June 30. It looked like past elections, in which fans could pick any starter from the 30 teams for each position (and three for the outfield). That led to Judge and Acuña getting early nods.
Phase 2 began on July 5, and featured two finalists for each position, except outfield, which had four players for two spots. Voting closed on Friday, and the results are above.
When are the rest of the All-Star players announced?
The All-Star pitchers and reserves for both rosters, 23 total players from each league, will be selected via a player vote and selections from the commissioner's office.
Full All-Star rosters will be announced at 5:30 p.m. ET on Sunday on ESPN.
MLB All-Star Game time, channel
The 2022 MLB All-Star Game is scheduled to take place on July 19 at 7:30 p.m. ET at Dodger Stadium. It will be televised on Fox.
The Home Run Derby will take place the preceding night on July 18 at 8 p.m. ET on ESPN, and there is also the Future Game, featuring several top prospects, on July 16 at 7 p.m. ET.
