2021 MLB All-Star starters revealed

The starters for the 2021 MLB All-Star Game were revealed on Thursday night during an ESPN broadcast.

The 2021 MLB season has officially entered the month of July on Thursday, which means the All-Star Game is that much closer to taking place. The event is scheduled to take place on Tuesday, July 13 in Denver, Colo. after moving from Atlanta, Ga. With the votes tabulated, fans eagerly awaited the results of the All-Star Game voting ballots.

ESPN revealed the starters for the American and National League teams on Thursday evening prior to the start of the San Francisco Giants-Arizona Diamondbacks game. As always, there were some surprises and others that were virtual guarantees to make the starting lineup.

Here are the starting lineups for both teams:

MLB All-Star starters

National League All-Star starters

C: Buster Posey, San Francisco Giants
1B: Freddie Freeman, Atlanta Braves
2B: Adam Frazier, Pittsburgh Pirates
SS: Fernando Tatis Jr., San Diego Padres
3B: Nolan Arenado, St. Louis Cardinals
OF: Ronald Acuña Jr., Atlanta Braves; Nick Castellanos, Cincinnati Reds; Jesse Winker, Cincinnati Reds

Frazier, the starting second baseman for the Pirates who is currently a hot name on the trading block. This season, Frazier recorded a .327 batting average, four home runs and 28 RBI. Frazier now join Bill Mazeroski as the only Pirates second basemen to start in an All-Star Game.

The Reds will be represented heavily in the outfield by both Castellanos and Winker. The interesting thing to note is that both edged out Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Mookie Betts, who received 13-percent of the votes. This is also the first time that the Reds will have two All-Star Game starting outfielders in a single year since 1956, when Frank Robinson and Gus Bell did so, per Sarah Langs of MLB.com.

American League All-Star starters

C: Salvador Perez, Kansas City Royals
1B: Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Toronto Blue Jays
2B: Marcus Semien, Toronto Blue Jays
SS: Xander Bogaerts, Boston Red Sox
3B: Rafael Devers, Boston Red Sox
OF: Aaron Judge, New York Yankees; Mike Trout, Los Angeles Angels; Teoscar Hernandez, Toronto Blue Jays
DH: Shohei Ohtani, Los Angeles Angels

As seen in the list above, the American League will be heavily represented by the Blue Jays. Guerrero led all All-Star voting by tallying 75-percent of the votes. Semien and Hernandez both clinched their first All-Star selections, and they come as starters.

Ohtani will, unsurprisingly, start as the AL’s starting designated hitter after leaving baseball diehards in awe with his majors-leading 28 home runs.

Trout did earn the most votes out of any AL outfielder candidate with 19-percent, but he is currently unable to play in the game due to a calf strain suffered back in May. Given that, his spot will likely be given to either Michael Brantley of the Houston Astros, who finished in fifth-place in the voting. Byron Buxton of the Minnesota Twins finished in fourth, but he is currently sidelined due to a boxer’s fracture of his left hand.