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Salvador Perez will start his fourth consecutive All-Star Game and will participate in his fifth game overall. Perez homered in last year’s contest in San Diego, driving in two. Perez is enjoying one of his best offensive seasons so far, hitting .290/.319/.529 with 16 home runs and 50 RBI going into Sunday’s game. He is third among American League catchers in WAR, according to Fangraphs. George Brett is the only player in Royals history with more All-Star appearances.
Mike Moustakas will be up for the "Final Five" vote by fans. He won the Final Vote in 2015. Moustakas is hitting .270/.306/.547 with 22 home runs. You can vote for him here, or text "A5" to 89269 or tweet #VoteMoose from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Thursday, July 6.
Your 2017 @Esurance AL #FinalVote candidates:
— MLB (@MLB) July 2, 2017
Andrus, TEX
Bogaerts, BOS
Gregorius, NYY
Morrison, TB
Moustakas, KC pic.twitter.com/4PDPAd719k
Eric Hosmer, who was leading the fan vote at first base the last few weeks, was edged out by Toronto’s Justin Smoak. Hosmer was last year’s All-Star Game MVP and was tenth in the league in batting average at .305 going into Sunday’s action with 11 home runs and 37 RBI. Hosmer is fifth among qualified AL first basemen in wRC+ at 121, and lost to Smoak by over 500,000 votes.
⭐️⭐️ And here they are - Congratulations to YOUR 2017 #ASG Starters! ⭐️⭐️ pic.twitter.com/RWlZJs3F19
— MLB Network Radio (@MLBNetworkRadio) July 2, 2017
Jason Vargas will make his first All-Star appearance at age 34. In his first full season since Tommy John surgery, Vargas has had an amazing comeback, leading the league with 12 wins with a league-low ERA of 2.22. He has the eighth-most innings pitched and the fourth-lowest home run rate. He is the first Royals starting pitcher to make the All-Star Game since Zack Greinke in 2009.
AL #ASG Reserves:
— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) July 2, 2017
C: G. Sanchez
1B: Alonso
2B: Schoop
2B: Castro
3B: Sano
SS: Lindor
OF: Betts
OF: Brantley
OF: A. Garcia
DH: Cruz
AL #ASG Pitchers:
— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) July 2, 2017
Sale
Santana
Vargas
Kluber
Fulmer
McCullers
Keuchel
Severino
Darvish
Miller
Kimbrel
Betances
Former Royals Zack Greinke, Greg Holland and Wade Davis made the National League roster.
This year’s All-Star Game will not determine home field advantage as it has in year’s past. Fans vote on the starters through an online vote. A player vote determines eight of the pitching slots and a backup hitter at each position, with the Commissioner’s office filling out the remainder of the roster, a departure from past years in which the manager filled out the roster. Rosters were trimmed this year from 34 to 32
The 2017 All-Star Game will take place Tuesday, July 11 at Marlins Park in Miami at 6:30 CT. The Home Run Derby, Celebrity Softball Game, and Futures Game will be on Monday, July 10. Royals pitcher Foster Griffin will participate in the Futures Game.