The American League and National League rosters for the 2014 Major League Baseball All-Star game, set to be held up at Target Field in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on July 15th (you can watch it on FOX at 8:00 Eastern) were released on Sunday evening.
As always, the baseball world is hard at work discussing the rosters, debating over which players were snubbed from the teams of 34, which players didn’t necessarily (in their eyes) deserve to make the cut, and (most importantly) which team they think will win. But that comes with each and every year.
Before I give my take on the matter, here are the official All-Star rosters:
American League
Starters
C: Salvador Perez
1B: Miguel Cabrera
2B: Robinson Cano
SS: Derek Jeter
3B: Josh Donaldson
OF: Jose Bautista, Mike Trout, Adam Jones
DH: Nelson Cruz
Pitchers
RHP: Dellin Betances
LHP: Mark Buehrle
RHP: Yu Darvish
LHP: Sean Doolittle
RHP: Felix Hernandez
RHP: Greg Holland
LHP: Scott Kazmir
LHP: Jon Lester
LHP: Glen Perkins
LHP: David Price
RHP: Max Scherzer
RHP: Masahiro Tanaka
Reserves
C: Derek Norris, Salvador Perez, Kurt Suzuki
1B: Jose Abreu, Brandon Moss
2B: Jose Altuve
SS: Alexei Ramirez
3B: Adrian Beltre
OF: Michael Brantley, Yoenis Cespedes, Alex Gordon
DH: Edwin Encarnacion, Victor Martinez
National League
Starters
C: Yadier Molina
1B: Paul Goldschmidt
2B: Chase Utley
SS: Troy Tulowitzki
3B: Aramis Ramirez
OF: Andrew McCutchen, Carlos Gomez, Yasiel Puig
Pitchers
LHP: Madison Bumgarner
LHP: Aroldis Chapman
RHP: Johnny Cueto
RHP: Zack Greinke
LHP: Clayton Kershaw
RHP: Craig Kimbrel
RHP: Pat Neshek
RHP: Francisco Rodriguez
RHP: Tyson Ross
RHP: Jeff Samardzija
RHP: Julio Teheran
RHP: Adam Wainwright
LHP: Tony Watson
RHP: Jordan Zimmermann
Reserves
C: Jonathan Lucroy, Devin Mesoraco
1B: Freddie Freeman
2B: Dee Gordon, Daniel Murphy
SS: Starlin Castro
3B: Matt Carpenter, Todd Frazier
OF: Charlie Blackmon, Josh Harrison, Hunter Pence, Giancarlo Stanton
While both rosters have their share of superstar players, as well as young first time standouts, I have to go with the National League as far as a prediction of who will win the mid-summer classic. Overall, I feel their starting lineup, as well as pitching staff and reserve players, is a touch stronger than that of the American League, and that should inevitable gain them the victory — and, subsequently, home field advantage for the World Series.
FINAL VOTE
But the rosters aren’t completely finished just yet. There is still one spot left for each league, and the fans get to decide who gets the final spot.
For the American League, the final vote candidates are Dallas Keuchel, Corey Kluber, Rick Porcello, Garrett Richards and Chris Sale. Of the five, I voted for Chris Sale, as he’s consistently been one of the most dominating pitchers over the course of the past few seasons. For the National League side of things, the final vote candidates are Casey McGehee, Justin Morneau, Anthony Rendon, Anthony Rizzo and Justin Upton. Though a strong group, I went with Casey McGehee, as despite very little display of power, he’s been a driving force in the Marlins’ great season thus far.
(You have until Thursday, July 10th, at 4:00 p.m. to vote.)