For the first time since 2007, the Tigers will have three starters in the All-Star Game. And they might have four for the first time since 1966. Sounds about right for the top team in the majors.
Outfielders Riley Greene and Javy Baez and second baseman Gleyber Torres were announced Wednesday night as starters for the American League after winning fan votes at their respective positions.
Greene celebrated his second straight All-Star selection and first career start by blasting a pair of three-run bombs in the Tigers' rout of the Nationals on Wednesday. He's having the best season of his career at age 24, second to only Aaron Judge among AL outfielders in both homers (21) and OPS (.903). He's second overall in the majors with 69 RBI.
Baez, meanwhile, is crafting one of the best stories in baseball. After starting All-Star Games at both shortstop and second base during his time with the Cubs, he will be the first player in MLB history to also start one in the outfield. Baez shined in center field for part of April and most of May while the Tigers weathered injuries and is also building a strong case for AL Comeback Player of the Year, which no Tiger has ever won.
"In this game there’s a lot of ups and downs, and I’ve been down many times," Baez said last month. "And I never kept my head down. I kept working, and I’ll keep working 'till the last day. But honestly impressed with the way I’m still doing this. I feel blessed. My kids are big baseball fans, and I gotta do the best for them."
A year after hitting .184 and losing his job as the Tigers' starting shortstop before his season was cut short by hip surgery, Baez is batting .285 with a .785 OPS. He's had two multi-homer games, one that he punctuated with a walk-off bomb against the Red Sox. And he's started games for the Tigers at four different positions -- center field, shortstop, third base and second base -- most recently returning to shortstop with Parker Meadows taking over in center.
"I don’t remember anybody in my time at any of my stops who has been able to be humble enough to move positions, move in the batting order, or not play, bounce back from injury," A.J. Hinch said earlier this season. "I don't know that there’s many stories over the last couple decades that represent so much of a roller-coaster ride and the feel-good that’s coming out it."
The Tigers feel great about Torres, who will be making his first career start in his third All-Star Game. After signing a one-year, $15 million deal with Detroit this winter, Torres leads all MLB second basemen in fWAR and has paced AL second basemen at the plate for most of the season. He's batting .280 with an .818 OPS and is the only AL hitter at any position with more walks than strikeouts.
After managing against Torres frequently when Torres was an All-Star with the Yankees, Hinch is much happier now that "the other side has to deal with him," he said.
"I know he’s a focal point for the other manager to have to (make decisions), especially when we get guys around him swinging the bat well," Hinch said. "Obviously they know our strategy to pinch-hit quite a bit, they know that’s coming, so Gleyber ends up in a really big spot where you need steadiness in the order for all of this to work. And his at-bat quality has been great."
It's the first All-Star Game selection for the 28-year-old Torres since he made it in 2019 and 2018 with the Yankees in the first two seasons of his career.
"It’s going to be an honor, for sure," he said. "I really appreciate the fans and all the people who voted for me so far. It's going to be amazing to go back to the All-Star Game, be around all the best players in the game. It’s going to be fun for me and my family."
The Tigers last had three All-Star Game starters in catcher Pudge Rodriguez, second baseman Placido Polanco and first baseman Miguel Cabrera in 2007.
If Tarik Skubal, who's a lock to be elected via the Player Ballot, is then chosen as the starting pitcher for the American League by Yankees manager Aaron Boone, the Tigers could have four starters for the first time since shortstop Dick McAuliffe, center fielder Al Kaline, catcher Bill Freehan and pitcher Denny McClain in 1966.
The full list of American League starters this year:
C: Cal Raleigh, Mariners
1B: Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Blue Jays
2B: Gleyber Torres, Tigers
SS: Jacob Wilson, Athletics
3B: José Ramírez, Guardians
OF: Aaron Judge, Yankees
OF: Riley Greene, Tigers
OF: Javier Baez, Tigers
DH: Ryan O’Hearn, Orioles
The full list of National League starters:
C: Will Smith, Dodgers
1B: Freddie Freeman, Dodgers
2B: Ketel Marte, Diamondbacks
SS: Francisco Lindor, Mets
3B: Manny Machado, Padres
OF: Ronald Acuña Jr., Braves
OF: Pete Crow-Armstrong, Cubs
OF: Kyle Tucker, Cubs
DH: Shohei Ohtani, Dodgers