ESPN on the possibility Gattis as an all star catcher reserve... Q: Why Gattis at catcher in the AL? A: Catcher in the American League is not a deep field. Ramos is far and away the starter, but beyond that, there's no clear-cut No. 2. Gary Sanchez and Mike Zuninohave double-digit homer totals, but they're also hitting below .200. So my AL team will improvise -- with Gattis, who's having a good year and has played 241 games at catcher in his career, the position he played the most for the Astros in 2017. -- Sarah Langs
Damn, yeah it does look like it! Of course, Astros/MLB players are notified way before media posts. I wonder who else made it... I say at least 6 Astros make it. Maybe 7.
Verlander, Cole, Morton, Altuve are givens Bregman and Gattis are very likely Yuli, McHugh, Devo all worthy but I doubt any make it
Altuve, Bregman and Verlander will go for sure. Cole and Morton are right on the fringe. Colin McHugh should go but won't. We probably end up with 4 or 5 when it's all said and done.
It may come down to who has been designated to pitch on Sunday across the league. With Verlander already designated, the Commissioner's office may give us Morton.
But it will create an extra roster slot. Replacing one Astro with another is more than likely I would think.
National League Starters C Willson Contreras, Chicago 1B Freddie Freeman, Atlanta 2B Javier Báez, Chicago 3B Nolan Arenado, Colorado SS Brandon Crawford, San Francisco LF Matt Kemp, Los Angeles CF Bryce Harper, Washington RF Nick Markakis, Atlanta Pitchers Max Scherzer, Washington Jacob deGrom, New York Jon Lester, Chicago Aaron Nola, Philadelphia Josh Hader, Milwaukee Kenley Jansen, Los Angeles Patrick Corbin, Arizona Sean Doolittle, Washington Mike Foltynewicz, Atlanta Brad Hand, San Diego Miles Mikolas, St. Louis Felipe Vasquez, Pittsburgh Reserves C Buster Posey, San Francisco C J.T. Realmuto, Miami 1B Paul Goldschmidt, Arizona 1B Joey Votto, Cincinnati 2B Ozzie Albies, Atlanta 2B Scooter Gennett, Cincinnati 3B Eugenio Suarez, Cincinnati SS Trevor Story, Colorado LF Christian Yelich, Milwaukee CF Charlie Blackmon, Colorado CF Lorenzo Cain, Milwaukee American League Starters C Wilson Ramos, Tampa Bay 1B Jose Abreu, Chicago 2B Jose Altuve, Houston 3B Jose Ramirez, Cleveland SS Manny Machado, Baltimore LF Mookie Betts, Boston CF Mike Trout, Anaheim RF Aaron Judge, New York DH J.D. Martinez, Boston Pitchers Justin Verlander, Houston Trevor Bauer, Cleveland (Verlander replacement) Corey Kluber, Cleveland Chris Sale, Boston Luis Severino, New York Gerrit Cole, Houston Edwin Diaz, Seattle Jose Berrios, Minnesota Aroldis Chapman, New York J.A. Happ, Toronto Joe Jimenez, Detroit Craig Kimbrel, Boston Blake Treinen, Oakland Reserves C Salvador Perez, Kansas City 1B Mitch Moreland, Boston 2B Gleyber Torres, New York 3B Alex Bregman, Houston SS Francisco Lindor, Cleveland LF Michael Brantley, Cleveland CF George Springer, Houston RF Mitch Haniger, Seatle DH Shin-Soo Choo, Texas DH Nelson Cruz, Seattle
Doesn't make it less of a sham. Too many players. Best players get pulled. Every team gets a player even if their best player sucks. Teams don't want best pitchers to pitch much. More popularity contest than who has played the best for a given year.
It's the only one that is remotely watchable and where the product on the field remotely resembles that of a regular game.
