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First baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr. is set to represent the Toronto Blue Jays at his fifth MLB all-star game on Tuesday, hitting fifth in the American League lineup in Atlanta, while catcher Alejandro Kirk will be a reserve player.
Detroit second baseman Gleyber Torres will lead off for the AL, followed by Tigers left-fielder Riley Greene, New York Yankees right fielder Aaron Judge, Seattle catcher Cal Raleigh, Guerrero Jr., Baltimore designated hitter Ryan O’Hearn, Tampa Bay third baseman Junior Caminero, Tigers centre-fielder Javy Baez and Athletics shortstop Jacob Wilson.
Shohei Ohtani will bat leadoff as the designated hitter for the National League at Truist Park, and the Los Angeles Dodgers star will be followed in the batting order by left fielder Ronald Acuna Jr. of the host Atlanta Braves.
Arizona second baseman Ketel Marte will hit third in the batting order announced Monday by Dodgers manager Dave Roberts, followed by Los Angeles first baseman Freddie Freeman, San Diego third baseman Manny Machado, Dodgers catcher Will Smith, Chicago Cubs right-fielder Kyle Tucker, New York Mets shortstop Francisco Lindor and Cubs centre-fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong.
Pittsburgh right-hander Paul Skenes will start his second straight all-star Game, Major League Baseball announced last week. Detroit left-hander Tarik Skubal will make his first all-star start for the AL.
“I think when you’re talking about the game, where it’s at, these two guys are guys that you can root for, are super talented, are going to be faces of this game for years to come,” Roberts said.
Ohtani led off for the AL in the 2021 All-Star Game, when the two-way sensation also was the team’s starting pitcher. He hit leadoff in 2022, then was the No. 2 hitter for the AL in 2023 and for the NL last year after leaving the Los Angeles Angels for the Dodgers.
Skenes and Skubal are 1-2 in average four-seam fastball velocity among those with 1,500 or more pitches this season, Skenes at 98.2 miles per hour and Skubal at 97.6, according to MLB Statcast.
A 23-year-old right-hander, Skenes is 4-8 despite a major league-best 2.01 earned-run average for the Pirates, who are last in the NL Central. The 2024 NL rookie of the year has 131 strikeouts and 30 walks in 131 innings.
Skubal, a 28-year-old left-hander, is the reigning AL Cy Young Award winner. He is 10-3 with a 2.23 ERA, striking out 153 and walking 16 in 121 innings.
Teams won over 50% of ball/strike challenges in spring
Major League Baseball plans to use its robot umpire technology for ball-strike challenges in Tuesday’s contest, another step toward possible regular-season use next season.
Teams won 52.2 per cent of their ball/strike challenges during the spring training test, with 617 of 1,182 challenges successful in the 288 exhibition games using the Automated Ball-Strike System. ABS was installed at 13 spring training ballparks hosting 19 teams, and an animation of the pitch was shown on video boards displaying the challenge result for spectators to see.
Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred said last month that the ABS system was likely to be considered for regular-season use by the 11-man competition committee, which includes six management representatives.
“I do think that we’re going to pursue the possibility of change in that process and we’ll see what comes out at the end of that,” he said. “The teams are really positive about ABS. I do have that unscientific system that I use: my email traffic.
“And my distinct impression is that using ABS in spring training has made people more prone to complain of balls and strike calls via email to me referencing the need for ABS.”
During the 2024 regular season, 10.9 per cent of called pitches in the strike zone were ruled balls and 6.3 per cent of called pitches outside of the strike zone were ruled strikes, according to MLB Statcast.
MLB has been experimenting with the automated ball-strike system in the minor leagues since 2019.