Houston (SPORTSRADIO 610) - In the first ever MLB All-Star Game Starters Election, the Astros have third baseman Alex Bregman and center fielder George Springer starting for the American League. The other Astros nominated were Jose Altuve, Robinson Chirinos, Carlos Correa and Josh Reddick. This season's Midsummer Classic is hosted by Cleveland.
Alex Bregman is the first Astros third baseman to start in the All-Star Game. After being the MVP of the game and participating in the Home Run Derby last year, he was able to garner 49.1% of the votes to become a starter. Whether or not he will participate in the derby again is unclear, though he did smile after he was asked by reporters.
"Super thankful to all the Astros fans and all the fans across the country. It's incredible. It's an honor and a dream come true. Something I dreamed about as a kid. To be able to start this year is really special," Bregman said.
Bregman is hitting .264 with 22 home runs and 52 runs batted in. Teammate and fellow starter George Springer is batting .315 with 18 homers and 44 RBIs despite missing nearly a month with a hamstring injury. George has 128 fewer plate appearances than Alex.
"It's an honor to miss a lot of time and to still get that support from the fans. It's awesome to me. I don't think they know how much that means to me, so thank you to everybody and I'll honor that for sure," Springer said.
Michael Brantley will return to the ballpark where he played the first ten years of his career as an all-star outfielder. He is slashing .316 this season with 11 bombs and 43 RBIs. Brantley also leads the American League in on-base plus slugging percentage at .872.
