Third baseman Rafael Devers and shortstop Xander Bogaerts of the Red Sox were named on the starting American League roster for Major League Baseball’s 2021 All-Star Game July 13 in Denver.
Devers earned his first appearance in the Midsummer Classic, and Bogaerts his third.
Devers received 61 percent of the vote over Alex Bregman of the Houston Astros (22 percent) and Yoan Moncada (15 percent) of the Chicago White Sox.
Bogaerts won the closest race with 42 percent over Toronto’s Bo Bichette (37 percent) and Astros shortstop Carlos Correa. (21 percent) to earn his second start in his third career All-Star Game appearance.
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Red Sox designated hitter J.D. Martinez faced stiff opposition from two-way phenom Shohei Ohtani of the Los Angeles Angels, who drew the starting nod after garnering 67 percent of the vote. Martinez garnered 20 percent.
⭐️Your 2021 All-Starters!⭐️ pic.twitter.com/BJozLAdfRa
— All-Star Game (@AllStarGame) July 2, 2021
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. joined his father as an All-Star and Fernando Tatis Jr. accomplished a feat his dad never achieved.
Toronto’s first baseman and San Diego’s shortstop were among nine first-time All-Stars elected.
Blue Jays second baseman Marcus Semien and outfielder Teoscar Hernández also were first-time All-Stars chosen in fan voting, joined by Ohtani, and Devers. The NL All-Star debutantes include Cincinnati outfielders Nick Castellanos and Jesse Winker, and Pittsburgh second baseman Adam Frazier.
Injured Angels outfielder Mike Trout was elected to start for the eighth straight time, his ninth overall selection, and Kansas City catcher Salvador Pérez was voted in for the fourth time and seventh overall.
St. Louis third baseman Nolan Arenado was voted to his fourth straight start and sixth appearance, in his first season after he was traded by Colorado. He’ll be making his second visit to Coors Field after playing there this weekend with the Cardinals.
New York Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge was selected for the third time.
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San Francisco catcher Buster Posey is set for his fifth start and seventh appearance, his first since 2018. Posey sat out the 2020 season because of health concerns for his family after he and his wife adopted prematurely born twins.
Atlanta first baseman Freddie Freeman was elected to his third start and fifth appearance, and Braves outfielder Ronald Acuña Jr. to his second start.
The All-Star Game returns this year following the cancellation of last year’s showcasebecause of the coronavirus pandemic, which caused the start of the season to be delayed until late July. This year’s game was moved from Atlanta to Denver by Major League Baseball in response to election law changes enacted by Georgia. Critics have condemned the changes as being too restrictive.
Ohtani, Mets slugger Pete Alonso, Orioles fan-favorite Trey Mancini and Rockies shortstop Trevor Story have been confirmed for this year’s All-Star Home Run Derby. Alonso won the previous event in 2019 at Cleveland.
Phase one of voting ran from June 3-24 and phase two from Monday to Thursday this week.
Hernández beat Minnesota outfielder Byron Buxton by less than 5,000 votes for the final AL outfield spot in the closest race.