​Pittsburgh right-hander Paul Skenes, Milwaukee’s Jacob Misiorowski, and Dodgers two-way star Shohei Ohtani could miss all-star mound appearances because their starts are scheduled for next weekend. Meanwhile, four Dodgers players from the World Series champion team were voted into the National League starting lineup.
In Los Angeles, Mike Trout of the Angels earned his 12th All-Star nod and his first since 2023, based on the second round of fan balloting announced Saturday by Major League Baseball. The Millville, New Jersey native was chosen by fans to start for the 11th time and hopes to rebound from a strained right hamstring he sustained on June 17. First baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr., among four All-Stars from the American League champion Blue Jays, said he will skip the July 14 game at Citizens Bank Park to rest a persistent back issue that has troubled him most of the season. “Those four days will be great,” Guerrero said through a translator, “to come back strong in the second half.” Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge, who was elected to his eighth start, will miss the game because of a broken rib that has sidelined him since May.
Skenes, the NL starter in the last two All-Star Games, is scheduled to pitch for Pittsburgh on Tuesday and Sunday. The 24-year-old right-hander is 0-6 over his last nine starts, dropping to 6-8 with a 3.62 ERA for the season. He and Misiorowski were both voted in by the players. Misiorowski, averaging 100.4 mph with his fastball and leading the majors with a 1.47 ERA, earned his first All-Star nod last year after just five big-league appearances. He is also slated to start Sunday.
Ohtani, a three-time, two-way All-Star and six-time pick overall, is unlikely to pitch in the game because of a right biceps issue that will push his last pre-break start to next weekend, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. Freddie Freeman became a 10-time All-Star when the Dodgers’ first baseman was announced Sunday, with Dodgers third baseman Max Muncy and outfielder Andy Pages joining Ohtani as winners in the second voting phase, which ran from June 29 to Thursday. They joined Ohtani, who earned the NL designated hitter spot by finishing with the most votes in the initial round announced June 25. In a tight race, Pages edged Atlanta’s Michael Harris II for the third NL outfield spot by fewer than 5,000 votes.
Four Dodgers were elected to start for the first time since Steve Garvey, Davey Lopes, Bill Russell, and Reggie Smith in 1980. World Series MVP Yoshinobu Yamamoto was selected to the NL pitching staff by MLB, one of six selections, giving the Dodgers five or more All-Stars for the seventh consecutive year. Among the 64 players chosen, 26 were first-time All-Stars, including four rookies.