The All-Star votes have been counted and the teams have been announced. When everything was said and done, the Orioles had one position player among the starters: third baseman Manny Machado. It’s his third selection to an All-Star team. They ended up with five All-Stars in all.
American League home run leader Mark Trumbo missed out on the starting lineup after coming close in the voting, though given how the voting was going, that’s not surprising.
The AL starters in the outfield who edged out Trumbo were Mike Trout, Jackie Bradley Jr., and Mookie Betts. While everyone was busy worrying about Royals getting in, a red tide washed over the outfield.
In the end, it doesn’t matter too much who’s a starter and who’s not, because most everyone will get at least a bit of a chance to get into the game. The Orioles landed another few players in among the reserves.
Though he wasn’t a starter, Trumbo is in after all as a reserve. It’s the second All-Star selection of his career, the first time he’s made the team since 2012 when he was on the Angels.
Matt Wieters will also be representing the Orioles on the All-Star roster. It’s his fourth career All-Star team.
For a second consecutive season, Zach Britton will be in the bullpen of the AL team. The AL roster is loaded up with elite AL East relievers.
A bit more of a surprise is Brad Brach making the All-Star team. It’s hard for a non-closer to get enough attention to make his way onto the team. Darren O’Day pulled off this trick last season, and now Brach despite being a 7th inning guy or setup man has still been deemed great enough to be an All-Star. Brach is an All-Star for the first time in his six year MLB career.
It’s impressive for the O’s bullpen. Britton has a 0.80 ERA, with Brach having a 1.01 ERA. No one can say they don’t deserve it.
So that’s five Orioles All-Stars in all. It’s fun to have All-Stars. They all deserve it. Some others have a fringe case and perhaps they could sneak on if there are injury issues to the initially-selected squad. Hopefully all of these Orioles All-Stars can help them stay in first place for the rest of the season.