For the 88th year of the Midsummer Classic, baseball turns its sights to Nationals Park in Washington D.C. This will be the first MLB All-Star game played at Nationals Park and the first in the nation’s capital since 1969 at RFK Stadium, the home of the then Washington Senators. Now every year there is always a lot of discussion and some of it a little dated about how the teams are put together. No system will ever be perfect. Fans don’t always get it right and managers won’t either. The fact that the players are able to vote for participants was a great choice and they know who is deserving. Regardless of who should or shouldn’t be in the game lets just accept that the best players will always be involved one way or another. Here are my all-stars keeping with the rules that every team be represented and a total of 32 players for each league.

AVG – Batting Average

ERA – Earned Run Average

HR – Home Runs

RBI – Runs Batted In

SV – Saves

BAA – Batting Average Against

WHIP – Walks/Hits Per Innings Pitched

K – Strikeouts

Stats are accurate as of July 13

* – asterisk indicates starter

American League

Pitchers

Craig Kimbrel – Boston Red Sox

29 SV, 1.86 ERA, 0.91 WHIP

Chris Sale – Boston Red Sox*

10-4, 2.23 ERA, 188 K

Trevor Bauer – Cleveland Indians

8-6, 2.23 ERA, 168 K

Corey Kluber – Cleveland Indians

12-5, 2.76 ERA, 0.91 WHIP

Collin McHugh – Houston Astros

5-0, 0.99 ERA, .147 BAA

Justin Verlander – Houston Astros

9-4, 2.05 ERA, 160 K

Gerrit Cole – Houston Astros

9-2, 2.57 ERA, 169 K

Charlie Morton – Houston Astros

11-2, 2.96 ERA, .205 BAA

Aroldis Chapman – New York Yankees

25 SV, 1.38 ERA, .129 BAA

Luis Severino – New York Yankees

14-2, 2.31 ERA, .209 BAA

Blake Treinen – Oakland Athletics

23 SV, 0.98 ERA, .180 BAA

Edwin Diaz – Seattle Mariners

36 SV, 2.25 ERA, 0.79 WHIP

Blake Snell – Tampa Bay Rays

12-5, 2.27 ERA, .189 BAA

Notable Omissions: J.A. Happ – Blue Jays, Marco Gonzales – Mariners, James Paxton – Mariners, Dellin Betances – Yankees, Jose Berrios – Twins, Tyler Skaggs – Angels, Joe Jimenez – Tigers, Joakim Soria – White Sox

Catchers

Salvador Perez – Kansas City Royals

.217 AVG, 12 HR, 39 RBI

Wilson Ramos – Tampa Bay Rays*

.297 AVG, 14 HR, 51 RBI

Notable Omissions: Evan Gattis – Astros

Infielders

SS Manny Machado – Baltimore Orioles

.313 AVG, 23 HR, 64 RBI

1B Jose Abreu – Chicago White Sox*

.255 AVG, 13 HR, 52 RBI

3B Jose Ramirez – Cleveland Indians*

.299 AVG, 28 HR, 69 RBI

SS Francisco Lindor – Cleveland Indians*

.297 AVG, 25 HR, 62 RBI

2B Jose Altuve – Houston Astros*

.335 AVG, 9 HR, 44 RBI

3B Alex Bregman – Houston Astros

.287 AVG, 20 HR, 63 RBI

SS Andrelton Simmons – Los Angeles Angels

.313 AVG, 6 HR, 41 RBI

INF Yangervis Solarte – Toronto Blue Jays

.248 AVG, 16 HR, 48 RBI

Notable Omissions: Justin Smoak – Blue Jays, C.J. Cron – Rays, Matt Duffy – Rays, Ryon Healy – Mariners, Jean Segura – Mariners, Jed Lowrie – Athletics, Didi Gregorius – Yankees, Miguel Andujar – Yankees, Gleyber Torres – Yankees, Eduardo Escobar – Twins, Albert Pujols – Angels, Mike Moustakas – Royals, Whit Merrifield – Royals, Carlos Correa – Astros, Yuli Gurriel – Astros, Mitch Moreland – Red Sox, Xander Bogaerts – Red Sox, Edwin Encarnacion – Indians

Outfielders

Mookie Betts – Boston Red Sox*

.357 AVG, 23 HR, 51 RBI

J.D. Martinez – Boston Red Sox* (as DH)

.330 AVG, 28 HR, 79 RBI

Nick Castellanos – Detroit Tigers

.306 AVG, 15 HR, 56 RBI

Mike Trout – Los Angeles Angels*

.313 AVG, 25 HR, 50 RBI

Edwin Rosario – Minnesota Twins

.303 AVG, 19 HR, 56 RBI

Aaron Judge – New York Yankees*

.277 AVG, 25 HR, 60 RBI

Mitch Haniger – Seattle Mariners

.272 AVG, 18 HR, 66 RBI

Nelson Cruz – Seattle Mariners

.266 AVG, 22 HR, 55 RBI

Shin-Soo Choo – Texas Rangers

.289 AVG, 17 HR, 42 RBI

Notable Omissions: Nomar Mazara – Rangers, Khris Davis – Athletics, Giancarlo Stanton – Yankees, Justin Upton – Angels, George Springer – Astros, Michael Brantley – Indians, Andrew Benintendi – Red Sox

National League

Pitchers

Patrick Corbin – Arizona Diamondbacks

6-3, 3.09 ERA, 146 K

Mike Foltynewicz – Atlanta Braves

7-5, 2.66 ERA, .193 BAA

Jon Lester – Chicago Cubs

11-2, 2.45 ERA, .221 BAA

Ross Stripling – Los Angeles Dodgers

8-2, 2.08 ERA, 108 K

Kenley Jansen – Los Angeles Dodgers

26 SV, 2.23 ERA, .182 BAA

Josh Hader – Milwaukee Brewers

7 SV, 1.55 ERA, 85 K

Jacob DeGrom – New York Mets

5-4, 1.68 ERA, 149 K

Aaron Nola – Philadelphia Phillies

12-2, 2.27 ERA, .200 BAA

Felipe Vazquez – Pittsburgh Pirates

21 SV, 3.15 ERA, .224 BAA

Brad Hand – San Diego Padres

24 SV, 3.05 ERA, .202 BAA

Miles Mikolas – St. Louis Cardinals

10-3, 2.65 ERA, 1.01 WHIP

Sean Doolittle – Washington Nationals

22 SV, 1.45 ERA, 0.54 WHIP

Max Scherzer – Washington Nationals*

12-5, 2.41 ERA, 182 K

Notable Omissions: Tony Watson – Giants, Kirby Yates – Padres, Seranthony Dominguez – Phillies, Jeremy Jeffress – Brewers, Kyle Barraclough – Marlins, Adam Ottavino – Rockies, Raisel Iglesias – Reds, Brandon Morrow – Cubs, Arodys Vizcaino – Braves, Zack Greinke – Diamondbacks, Archie Bradley – Diamondbacks

Catchers

J.T. Realmuto – Miami Marlins*

.312 AVG, 12 HR, 44 RBI

Willson Contreras – Chicago Cubs

.275 AVG, 7 HR, 34 RBI

Notable Omissions: Yadier Molina – Cardinals, Yasmani Grandal – Dodgers, Buster Posey – Giants

Infielders

1B Paul Goldschmidt – Arizona Diamondbacks

.284 AVG, 21 HR, 52 RBI

1B Freddie Freeman – Atlanta Braves*

.315 AVG, 16 HR, 60 RBI

2B Ozzie Albies – Atlanta Braves

.285 AVG, 20 HR, 54 RBI

2B Javier Baez – Chicago Cubs*

.291 AVG, 18 HR, 66 RBI

2B Scooter Gennett – Cincinnati Reds

.326 AVG, 16 HR, 60 RBI

3B Eugenio Suarez – Cincinnati Reds

.317 AVG, 19 HR, 69 RBI

1B Joey Votto – Cincinnati Reds

.288 AVG, 9 HR, 48 RBI

3B Nolan Arenado – Colorado Rockies*

.307 AVG, 23 HR, 66 RBI

SS Trevor Story – Colorado Rockies*

.291 AVG, 19 HR, 67 RBI

1B Jesus Aguilar – Milwaukee Brewers* (as DH)

.302 AVG, 24 HR, 68 RBI

SS Brandon Crawford – San Francisco Giants

.292 AVG, 10 HR, 39 RBI

Notable Omissions: Trea Turner – Nationals, Anthony Rendon – Nationals, Jose Martinez – Cardinals, Brandon Belt – Giants, Cesar Hernandez – Phillies, Asdrubal Cabrera – Mets, Starlin Castro – Marlins, Cody Bellinger – Dodgers, Max Muncy – Dodgers, Jose Peraza – Reds, Ben Zobrist – Cubs

Outfielders

Nick Markakis – Atlanta Braves*

.324 AVG, 10 HR, 60 RBI

Matt Kemp – Los Angeles Dodgers*

.316 AVG, 15 HR, 60 RBI

Lorenzo Cain – Milwaukee Brewers

.294 AVG, 8 HR, 27 RBI

Christian Yelich – Milwaukee Brewers

.285 AVG, 11 HR, 42 RBI

Odubel Herrera – Philadelphia Phillies

.276 AVG, 16 HR, 52 RBI

Bryce Harper – Washington Nationals*

.214 AVG, 23 HR, 53 RBI

Notable Omissions: Starling Marte – Pirates, Corey Dickerson – Pirates, Rhys Hoskins – Phillies, Charlie Blackmon – Rockies, Jesse Winker – Reds, Kyle Schwarber – Cubs, Albert Almora Jr. – Cubs, David Peralta – Diamondbacks