For the 96th year of the Midsummer Classic, baseball goes to Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. This all-star game is timed perfectly to coincide with the United States of America’s 250th birthday. Celebrating where the nations Declaration of Independence and Constitution were both signed and ratified in the city of brotherly love. The last time the mid-summer classic was played in Philadelphia was in 1996 at the Phillies previous confines of Veterans Stadium. 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, nor the commissioner’s office. 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 12th

* – asterisk indicates starter

American League

Pitchers

Sonny Gray – Boston Red Sox

11-1, 2.54 ERA, .229 BAA

Aroldis Chapman – Boston Red Sox

19 SV, 2.20 ERA, .213 BAA

Parker Messick – Cleveland Guardians

8-5, 2.73 ERA, 110 K

Cade Smith – Cleveland Guardians

28 SV, 2.84 ERA, 63 K

Joe Ryan – Minnesota Twins

6-5, 2.85 ERA, 128 K

Cam Schlittler – New York Yankees

9-5, 2.05 ERA, 137 K

Drew Rasmussen – Tampa Bay Rays

7-5, 3.26 ERA, 0.95 WHIP

Bryan Baker – Tampa Bay Rays

25 SV, 1.73 ERA, .150 BAA

Jacob deGrom – Texas Rangers

7-5, 3.49 ERA, 122 K

Jacob Latz – Texas Rangers

18 SV, 1.61 ERA, 0.67 WHIP

Louis Varland – Toronto Blue Jays

19 SV, 1.10 ERA, 67 K

Dylan Cease – Toronto Blue Jays*

6-4, 2.56 ERA, 148 K

Notable Omissions: Logan Gilbert – Mariners, Tyler Rogers – Blue Jays, Nick Martinez – Rays, Shane McClanahan – Rays, Tarik Skubal – Tigers, Casey Mize – Tigers, Gavin Williams – Guardians, Davis Martin – White Sox, Ranger Suarez – Red Sox

Catchers

Shea Langeliers – Athletics

.257 AVG, 21 HR, 46 RBI

Adley Rutschman – Baltimore Orioles

.253 AVG, 8 HR, 47 RBI

Dillon Dingler – Detroit Tigers*

.262 AVG, 19 HR, 60 RBI

Notable Omissions: Carter Jensen – Royals

Infielders

1B Nick Kurtz – Athletics*

.266 AVG, 20 HR, 66 RBI

3B Miguel Vargas – Chicago White Sox

.245 AVG, 21 HR, 59 RBI

2B Travis Bazzana – Cleveland Guardians

.238 AVG, 7 HR, 28 RBI

SS Kevin McGonigle – Detroit Tigers

283 AVG, 8 HR, 34 RBI

SS Bobby Witt Jr. – Kansas City Royals*

.286 AVG, 13 HR, 39 RBI

1B Ben Rice – New York Yankees

.279 AVG, 29 HR, 68 RBI

3B Junior Caminero – Tampa Bay Rays*

.279 AVG, 28 HR, 59 RBI

1B Jonathan Aranda – Tampa Bay Rays

.297 AVG, 14 HR, 64 RBI

1B/DH Yandy Diaz – Tampa Bay Rays

.322 AVG, 13 HR, 55 RBI

3B Kazuma Okamoto – Toronto Blue Jays

.239 AVG, 22 HR, 62 RBI

2B Ernie Clement – Toronto Blue Jays*

.296 AVG, 8 HR, 32 RBI

Notable Omissions: Vladimir Guerrero Jr. – Blue Jays, Ezequiel Duran – Rangers, Josh Jung – Rangers, Jake Burger – Rangers, Cole Young – Mariners, Josh Bell – Twins, Zach Neto – Angels, Christian Walker – Astros, Brayan Rocchio – Guardians, Colson Montgomery – White Sox, Munetaka Murakami – White Sox, Willson Contreras – Red Sox, Samuel Basallo – Orioles, Gunnar Henderson – Orioles, Pete Alonso – Orioles

Outfielders/Designated Hitter

Randy Arozarena – Seattle Mariners

.286 AVG, 11 HR, 45 RBI

Julio Rodriguez – Seattle Mariners

.259 AVG, 14 HR, 40 RBI

Byron Buxton – Minnesota Twins*

.271 AVG, 25 HR, 45 RBI

Mike Trout – Los Angeles Angels*

.237 AVG, 18 HR, 39 RBI

Yordan Alvarez – Houston Astros* (as DH)

.318 AVG, 31 HR, 70 RBI

Riley Greene – Detroit Tigers*

.288 AVG, 13 HR, 45 RBI

Notable Omissions: Cody Bellinger – Yankees

National League

Pitchers

Chris Sale – Atlanta Braves

9-6, 2.20 ERA, 117 K

Raisel Iglesias – Atlanta Braves

19 SV, 2.23 ERA, 1.08 WHIP

Chase Burns – Cincinnati Reds

11-1, 2.54 ERA, 118 K

Yoshinobu Yamamoto – Los Angeles Dodgers

9-6, 2.85 ERA, 0.91 WHIP

Justin Wrobleski – Los Angeles Dodgers

10-2, 2.69 ERA, .219 BAA

Max Meyer – Miami Marlins

9-1, 2.58 ERA, 116 K

Jacob Misiorowski – Milwaukee Brewers*

10-4, 1.62 ERA, 167 K

Cristopher Sanchez – Philadelphia Phillies

11-4, 2.62 ERA, 144 K

Zack Wheeler – Philadelphia Phillies

10-1, 2.13 ERA, 0.89 WHIP

Jhoan Duran – Philadelphia Phillies

24 SV, 2.13 ERA, 0.92 WHIP

Mason Miller – San Diego Padres

25 SV, 0.91 ERA, 0.78 WHIP

Riley O’Brien – St. Louis Cardinals

24 SV, 3.43 ERA, .218 BAA

Notable Omissions: Foster Griffin – Nationals, Paul Skenes – Pirates, Braxton Ashcraft – Pirates, Jesus Luzardo – Phillies, Aaron Ashby – Brewers, Kyle Harrison – Brewers, Tanner Scott – Dodgers, Robert Suarez – Braves, Dylan Lee – Braves, Eduardo Rodriguez – Diamondbacks, Michael Soroka – Diamondbacks

Catchers

Drake Baldwin – Atlanta Braves*

.254 AVG, 15 HR, 46 RBI

Hunter Goodman – Colorado Rockies

.254 AVG, 27 HR, 51 RBI

William Contreras – Milwaukee Brewers

.282 AVG, 9 HR, 53 RBI

Notable Omissions: Liam Hicks – Marlins

Infielders

1B Matt Olson – Atlanta Braves*

.267 AVG, 25 HR, 58 RBI

2B Ozzie Albies – Atlanta Braves

.267 AVG, 14 HR, 51 RBI

SS Dansby Swanson – Chicago Cubs

.211 HR, 16 HR, 58 RBI

3B Max Muncy – Los Angeles Dodgers*

.259 AVG, 17 HR, 40 RBI

1B Freddie Freeman – Los Angeles Dodgers

.290 AVG, 15 HR, 49 RBI

SS Otto Lopez – Miami Marlins

.334 AVG, 9 HR, 45 RBI

2B Brice Turang – Milwaukee Brewers*

.266 AVG, 14 HR, 60 RBI

1B/DH Kyle Schwarber – Philadelphia Phillies

.254 AVG, 32 HR, 59 RBI

2B Brandon Lowe – Pittsburgh Pirates

.246 AVG, 21 HR, 64 RBI

INF Luis Arraez – San Francisco Giants

.330 AVG, 4 HR, 35 RBI

SS CJ Abrams – Washington Nationals*

.275 AVG, 20 HR, 67 RBI

Notable Omissions: Luis Garcia – Nationals, JJ Wetherholt – Cardinals, Alec Burleson – Cardinals, Casey Schmitt – Giants, Rafael Devers – Giants, Manny Machado – Padres, Nick Gonzales – Pirates, Bryce Harper – Phillies, Bo Bichette – Mets, Jake Bauers – Brewers, Xavier Edwards – Marlins, Elly De La Cruz – Reds, Sal Stewart – Reds, Mauricio Dubon – Braves, Ketel Marte – Diamondbacks

Outfielders/Designated Hitter

Corbin Carroll – Arizona Diamondbacks

.252 AVG, 13 HR, 45 RBI

Pete Crow-Armstrong – Chicago Cubs*

.291 AVG, 21 HR, 53 RBI

Shohei Ohtani – Los Angeles Dodgers* (as DH)

.293 AVG, 22 HR, 58 RBI

Juan Soto – New York Mets

.290 AVG, 21 HR, 51 RBI

Jordan Walker – St. Louis Cardinals*

.294 AVG, 22 HR, 74 RBI

James Wood – Washington Nationals*

.279 AVG, 28 HR, 64 RBI

Notable Omissions: Jung Hoo Lee – Giants, Fernando Tatis Jr. – Padres, Ryan O’Hearn – Pirates, Oneil Cruz – Pirates, Brandon Marsh – Phillies, Jackson Chourio – Brewers, Andy Pages – Dodgers, Seiya Suzuki – Cubs, Michael Harris – Braves