Jared Cohen
On Saturday, the players that will represent the the National and American Leagues in the MLB All-Star Game in Queens, New York was announced. Two Arizona Diamondbacks will be on the list and that is first baseman Paul Goldschmidt and starting pitcher Patrick Corbin. The Diamondbacks along with the Braves and Pirates who all happen to be in first place in their perspective National League divisions, all do not have starters in the game.
Through July 5th, Goldschmidt batted .304 with 21 home runs and a National League leading 71 RBI and a slugging percentage of .553.
“Obviously it’s a good honor, a cool honor,” Goldschmidt said. “It should be a fun experience. I am also excited for Corbin and all the other guys that made it as well.”
In the same time frame, Patrick Corbin in his first full season in the big leagues is 9-1 with a 2.49 ERA, 89 strikeouts and a 1.o1 WHIP. He has been the ace of the Diamondbacks staff and the most reliable starter in the rotation all season.
Many thought that the great play over the last month by Yasiel Puig could impact Diamondback outfielder Gerardo Parra from receiving an opportunity for his first All-Star game. Well it is in fact the case as the last roster spot on the National League roster will be voted on between Yasiel Puig, Freddie Freeman, Adrian Gonzalez, Ian Desmond and Hunter Pense. Parra has been among the National Leagues best with an average of .297, 49 runs scored and 26 RBI. For the American League the last spot is between Joaquin Benoit, Steve Delabar, David Robertson, Tanner Scheppers and Koji Uehara.
The National League starters include: Yadier Molina, Joey Votto, Brandon Phillips, Troy Tulowitzki, David Wright, Carlos Beltran, Carlos Gonzalez and Bryce Harper.
National League Pitchers along with Corbin include: Clayton Kershaw, Matt Harvey, Adam Wainwright, Jason Grilli, Jordan Zimmerman, Craig Kimbrel, Aroldis Chapman, Travis Wood, Jose Fernandez, Cliff Lee, Madison Bumgarner and Jeff Locke.
National League reserves along with Goldschmidt include: Andrew McCutchen, Michal Cuddyer, Buster Posey, Pedro Alvarez, Dominic Brown, Everth Cacrera, Matt Carpernter, Allen Craig, Carlos Gomez, Jean Segura and Marco Scutaro.
The American League Starters include: Joe Mauer, Chris Davis, Robinson Cano, J.J. Hardy, Miguel Cabrera, Adam Jones, Mike Trout, Jose Bautista and David Ortiz.
The reserves include: Prince Fielder, Torii Hunter, Jhonny Peralta, Dustin Pedroia, Nelson Cruz, Ben Zobrist, Jason Castro, Edwin Encarnacion, Alex Gordon, Jason Kipnes, Manny Machado and Salvador Perez.
And the pitchers in the American League include: Max Scherzer, Felix Hernandez, Clay Buchholz, Yu Darvish, Hisashi Iwakuma, Mariano Rivera, Jesse Crain, Joe Nathan, Bartolo Colon, Glen Perkins, Brett Cecil, Justin Verlander, Justin Materson and Chris Sale.
The MLB All-Star game is on July 16th.
