DJ Lamahieu And Gary Sanchez Are Headed To Cleveland For The All-Star Game

We know that two of the New York’s players are headed to Cleveland in second baseman DJ Lamahieu along with starting catcher Gary Sanchez but will some of their teammates join them on the American League roster for the All-Star Game.

LeMahieu and Sanchez were among the winners of the inaugural Google MLB All-Star Starters Election, announced Thursday night. LeMahieu will start at second base for the American League against the National League on July 9 at Progressive Field, while Sanchez will be behind the plate. “according to https://www.mlb.com/yankees/news/dj-lemahieu-gary-sanchez-2019-all-star-game-starters

First baseman Luke Voit, third baseman Gio Urshela, shortstop Gleyber Torres and outfielder Aaron Judge were among the runners-up, leaving their All-Star fates up in the air for now. Players who did not win the Starters Election are not automatically added as reserves, but still can make it via selection by the players, managers or league. Pitchers and reserves will be announced on Sunday at 5:30 p.m. ET on ESPN. “according to https://www.mlb.com/yankees/news/dj-lemahieu-gary-sanchez-2019-all-star-game-starters

Still, this is set up to be the first season in which the Yankees have had a pair of position players start the All-Star Game since 2012, when Robinson Cano and Derek Jeter were in the middle infield for the AL, with Curtis Granderson behind them in center field.”according to https://www.mlb.com/yankees/news/dj-lemahieu-gary-sanchez-2019-all-star-game-starters

This is the second All-Star selection but first start for Sanchez, who earned 47.1% of the vote (614,340 votes) in the final round to beat out James McCann of the White Sox (33.1%, 431,667 votes) and Robinson Chirinos of the Astros (19.8%, 257,997). Sanchez also made the AL roster in 2017 but did not do so last year, when he suffered through an injury-plagued season in which his OPS dropped below .700. But Sanchez has been resurgent this year, batting .266/.332/.607 and ranking second in the AL with 23 home runs. “according to https://www.mlb.com/yankees/news/dj-lemahieu-gary-sanchez-2019-all-star-game-starters

With Judge and Stanton sidelined for much of the season, Sanchez’s power has provided a big boost for the Yankees' lineup. And now he will look to do the same for the AL squad, as the first starting catcher to come from the Bronx since Jorge Posada in 2003. “according to https://www.mlb.com/yankees/news/dj-lemahieu-gary-sanchez-2019-all-star-game-starters

This is the second All-Star start (third selection) for LeMahieu, but his first with the Yankees, who this past offseason signed him to a two-year contract that so far is looking like a massive bargain. LeMahieu arrived from Colorado with question marks about his bat, both because of numbers that had declined since he won the National League batting title in 2016, and because hitters tend to face skepticism when they depart Coors Field. “according to https://www.mlb.com/yankees/news/dj-lemahieu-gary-sanchez-2019-all-star-game-starters

But LeMahieu has responded by posting easily the strongest road numbers of his career, contributing to an overall line of .336/.385/.522. He leads the AL batting race, while his 12 home runs are just three shy of the career high he set last year. While LeMahieu has expanded his defensive versatility by starting 21 games at third base and four at first, he will start for the AL at second after earning 38% of the vote (512,856 total votes) to surpass the Astros’ Jose Altuve (31.5%, 426,009) and the Angels’ Tommy La Stella (30.5%, 412,447). That breaks a streak of four straight starts at the position for Altuve. “according to https://www.mlb.com/yankees/news/dj-lemahieu-gary-sanchez-2019-all-star-game-starters

Of the four Yankees finalists who finished as runners-up, Judge came the closest to being voted in as a starter. Despite an oblique injury that cost him two months and has limited him to 25 games -- Judge returned to action on June 21 -- the imposing slugger nearly was selected to start the Midsummer Classic for the third year in a row. Ultimately, his 9.9% share of the vote left him less than a percentage point behind the third AL outfielder, Houston’s Michael Brantley (10.8%). “according to https://www.mlb.com/yankees/news/dj-lemahieu-gary-sanchez-2019-all-star-game-starters

At first base, Voit faced the challenge of going up against fellow finalist Carlos Santana, who garnered huge support from hometown Cleveland fans trying to get him into the lineup at Progressive Field. While Voit’s .270/.386/.491 line and 17 homers are stellar, that was too much for him to overcome, as the veteran Santana made his first career All-Star team by nearly doubling Voit’s second-place total of 350,105. “according to https://www.mlb.com/yankees/news/dj-lemahieu-gary-sanchez-2019-all-star-game-starters

When the season began, few would have expected Urshela to play a major role for the Yankees this year, much less be an All-Star finalist. He has accomplished both things, batting .303 in 64 games, but came up short in the Starters Election. Urshela’s 23.3% vote share (303,772 votes) put him third behind winner Alex Bregman (Astros, 49.1%, 639,672) and Hunter Dozier (Royals, 27.6%, 358,799).

Torres has stated a compelling All-Star case by batting .291/.354/.549 and popping 19 home runs to tie Javier Baez for the MLB lead at the position. However, Torres’ 31.2% share (410,034 votes) could not overcome the momentum enjoyed by Jorge Polanco (42%, 551,365), whose breakout season has thrust him into the AL MVP conversation and helped the Twins build a sizeable lead in the AL Central. “according to https://www.mlb.com/yankees/news/dj-lemahieu-gary-sanchez-2019-all-star-game-starters