For the second year in a row, Gregory Soto will represent the Tigers at the All-Star Game.
Detroit's closer was named to the American League team Sunday afternoon, ironically after failing to escape an eighth-inning jam in the Tigers' 4-2 loss to the White Sox -- though the loss was Michael Fulmer's, not Soto's. And the error that sparked Chicago's rally was Robbie Grossman's.
But we digress.
The leader of one of baseball's most dominant bullpens, Soto is tied for fourth in the AL with 17 saves, one off his total from last year. He also touts a career-best 2.67 ERA and 31 strikeouts and 30 1/3 innings. Soto rarely makes things easy in the ninth, but he mostly gets the job done: he has just two blown saves.
There were other All-Star-worthy relievers for the Tigers with even better numbers than Soto's, like Fulmer (1.93 ERA), Alex Lange (1.97 ERA) and maybe even Joe Jimenez (0.959 WHIP). But Soto has electric stuff -- and electric hair -- and carries the most celebrated role in Detroit's surprisingly sturdy bullpen, thus the nod to the Midsummer Classic.
Soto will be taking the field at Dodger Stadium July 19 with teammate Miguel Cabrera, who was selected Friday by MLB commissioner Rob Manfred as the AL's legacy representative.
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