30 Jun Yates, Pence and La Stella Named 2019 MLB All-Stars

Posted at 00:47h in News by

Rangers’ Hunter Pence was selected to start in the 2019 MLB All-Star Game as the American League’s designated hitter. Pence was the leading vote-getter among American League designated hitter candidates as he earned the fourth All-Star selection of his 13-year major league career. Pence’s 15 home runs are his most since he hit 20 in 2014 and his .962 OPS is the highest mark of his major league career.

Padres Kirby Yates was also named an All-Star, and will be the Padres only representative in the game. He leads the majors with 30 saves, putting him just ahead of the pace of Hall of Famer Trevor Hoffman’s franchise record of 53 in 1998. His ERA of 1.15 leads the National League (minimum 32 innings pitched), and his strikeout rate of 13.85 per nine innings ranks 11th in the majors. As measured by wins above replacement, he was the most valuable reliever in baseball in the first half (via FanGraphs).

Angels’ Tommy La Stella was chosen as a reserve at second base for the American League team. La Stella is having a career year in his sixth MLB season and first with the Los Angeles Angels. At the All-Star Break, he was hitting .300 with a career-high 16 home runs and has also posted career numbers in RBIs (44), runs (49) and total bases (140).