Five Astros Selected for 2018 All-Star Game
Sunday afternoon Major League Baseball announced the 2018 All-Star Game rosters for both the American League and the National League. The World Champion Houston Astros had five players selected for the Midsummer Classic.
Jose Altuve earned the most fan votes in MLB and will be the American League's starting second baseman. Third baseman Alex Bregman and outfielder George Springer were made reserves for the AL squad.
In addition to the three position players, pitchers Justin Verlander and Gerrit Cole were also selected to the AL squad. Verlander is slated to start the Astros final game before the All-Star break on July 15 and he won't pitch in the All-Star game.
"I'm very proud of these guys, and I'm also proud of the number of guys who hopefully we can squeeze in if they need any sort of replacements," said Astros manager A.J. Hinch to MLB.com. "To have this many guys on the team is great. I thanked them earlier today for what we did as a team last year to allow me and the coaching staff to go, but I can't say enough about the quality of this group that's going and some of the guys that have had All-Star-caliber first halves that didn't make it. The list could have gone even deeper."
Hinch will serve as the manager of the American League team since the Astros made the World Series last season.
The All-Star Game will be played Tuesday, July 17 at Nationals Park in Washington, D.C. and it will be televised on FOX.