HOUSTON — The Astros lead the American League West Division and their 49-33 record is second only to the Red Sox in the AL, but no ‘Stros were chosen to start the 2021 MLB All-Star Game.
In results announced Thursday night, four of the League-leading seven Astros finalists finished second, but they weren’t even close to the starters when the fans’ votes were counted.
Maybe it was because of the team’s mini slump of four straight losses, which ended Thursday night with a 7-2 win over the Indians. Or maybe fans are still mad at the Astros over the 2017 cheating scandal, who knows?
American League All-Star Game starters
Catcher
Salvador Pérez, Royals: 62 percent
Martin Maldonado, Astros: 20 percent
Yasmani Grandal, White Sox: 18 percent
First base
Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Blue Jays: 75 percent
Yuli Gurriel Astros: 15 percent
José Abreu, White Sox: 10 percent
Second base
Marcus Semien, Blue Jays: 54 percent
Jose Altuve, Astros: 32 percent
DJ LeMahieu, Yankees: 14 percent
Altuve, a five-time All-Star, gave the Astros the spark they needed last night with his second grand slam of the season.
Shortstop
Xander Bogaerts, Red Sox: 42 percent
Bo Bichette, Blue Jays: 37 percent
Carlos Correa, Astros: 21 percent
Third base
Rafael Devers, Red Sox: 61 percent
Alex Bregman, Astros: 22 percent
Yoán Moncada, White Sox: 16 percent
Bregman has been on the injured list since straining his left quad on June 16.
Outfielders
Mike Trout, Angels: 19 percent
Aaron Judge, Yankees: 13 percent
Teoscar Hernández, Blue Jays: 12 percent (5,000 votes ahead)
Byron Buxton, Twins: 12 percent
Michael Brantley, Astros: 10 percent
Brantley, a four-time All-Star whose .340 batting average leads the AL, could still make the lineup because Trout and Buxton are injured, according to MLB writer Brian McTaggert.
Designated hitter
Shohei Ohtani, Angels: 63 percent
J.D. Martinez, Red Sox: 20 percent
Yordan Alvarez, Astros: 17 percent
It’s the first time since 2014 the Astros didn’t have a player elected to start the All-Star Game, the team’s website reports.
The rest of the All-Star rosters will be announced on Sunday, July 4. Pitchers and reserves will be determined through a combination of player ballots and selections made by the Commissioner’s Office.
Rays skipper Kevin Cash will manage the AL team, while Dodgers manager Dave Roberts will lead the NL team.
The All-Star Game teams meet on Tuesday, July 13, a at Coors Field in Denver. The game was moved there from Atlanta by MLB because of controversial election law changes in Georgia.
Last year’s game was canceled because of the COVID pandemic which delayed the start of the season until late July.
