Tampa Bay Rays first baseman Jonathan Aranda and second baseman Brandon Lowe were selected to play in next week’s Major League Baseball All-Star Game in Atlanta.
Both infielders won the player vote to earn their spots on the American League team for the July 15 showcase at Atlanta's Truist Park. Aranda even beat out starter Vladimir Guerrero Jr. of Toronto, who won the fan vote. Lowe finished second in player balloting to Detroit’s Gleyber Torres.
Rays manager Kevin Cash informed Aranda and Lowe of the honor in the Tampa Bay clubhouse before Sunday’s game at Minnesota.
“I think both of them are incredibly deserving,” Cash said. “The (teammates) guys were pumped for both guys, equally loud, equally pumped up. You wanted to have representation. This team deserves to have representation.”
Lowe was an All-Star replacement pick as a rookie in 2019 but didn’t play because of a leg injury. He has remained healthy this year and leads AL second baseman in runs batted in (50), home runs (19) and slugging percentage (.487).
Lowe had just tied a team-record 20-game hitting streak but left Sunday’s game after the second inning as a precaution due to soreness on his left side. He later said he didn’t think the soreness would keep him from playing in the All-Star Game.
Aranda, who has been Tampa Bay’s most consistent hitter over the first half of the season, leads AL first basemen in batting average (.320) and several other categories.
“When you watch him at the plate and you watch what he does, and then you see the work that he's put in defensively to become a very good first baseman, it’s just all those things put together,” Lowe said. “This guy deserves to be in Atlanta.”
Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw was picked for his 11th All-Star Game and Pittsburgh’s Paul Skenes, Philadelphia’s James Wood and Cincinnati’s Elly De La Cruz boosted the 23-and-under group to five when they were picked the game.
Wood at 22 is the youngest of the 65 All-Stars, while Skenes, De La Cruz and fan-elected starters Pete Crow-Armstrong and Jacob Wilson are all 23.
Cal Raleigh and Yoshinobu Yamamoto joined Wood, Wilson and Crow-Armstrong among 19 first-time All-Stars. Wood was acquired by Washington in the August 2022 trade that sent outfielder Juan Soto to San Diego.
Kershaw gives the Dodgers at least five NL All-Stars for the sixth straight season. Detroit and Seattle of the AL will have four players each at the game.
