MLB All-Star

The MLB All-Star Game, also known as the “Midsummer Classic” is an annual baseball game held between the all-star players from the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). It is sanctioned by the MLB.

For this game, the starting players are chosen by the fans, managers of both leagues select the pitchers for their teams and reserve players are chosen by managers and players for their respective league teams. It generally takes place on the second or third Tuesday in July every year. Additionally, no regular season games are held before and after two days of the All-Star game. This is called an All-Star Break.

The first All-Star game was held on July 6, 1933, at Comiskey Park, Chicago during the World Fair of 1933. Two more All-Star games were held each season from 1959 to 1962 for increasing the pension of the players.

The venues for the All-Star games are chosen by MLB itself. Generally, they choose the cities that have not hosted an All-Star game in many years or have a new baseball stadium. The venues also alternate every year with the American League hosting in an odd-numbered year and the National Team hosting in an even-numbered year. The hosting team serves as the home team in each year's All-Star game, with the exception of 2016’s game.

MLB All-Star Game: Rule, Formats and Gameplay

Rule

The MLB All-Star game has followed a new rule since 2022. According to this new rule, if any All-Star game ends in a tie after the nine-innings regulation, it will result in both teams competing against each other in a best-of-three-round home run derby. In such a case, the managers for both the National League (NL) and the American League (AL) teams will choose three players and they will determine who will bat.

Formats

The MLB All-Star game has followed the same format since 2003. The initial stage is the voting stage in which fans, baseball writers and other players vote for the players worthy of being All-Stars. They are allowed to vote five times every 24 hours. In this way, both National League and American League players get selected separately. After 25 rounds of this, the two players getting the most votes automatically get the starting spot.

Then comes the selection of the starting players. The top two players of the early round move on to the next round. These include catchers, outfielders and hitters. Then, the votes reset and fans vote again for 28 hours. After that, the winning players are selected to be the starters of the All-Star game.

In the next round, the selection of the pitchers and the reserve players takes place. Out of the 23 remaining sports in the teams, 12 must be filled by pitchers. These are chosen by the players and the commissioner's office. The players can cast 17 votes and the remaining six votes are cast by the MLB commissioner’s office.

Finally, the managers are chosen for the two teams. In this case, the managers are coaches from the teams that played in the World Series in the previous season. These managers, in turn, select the starting pitchers for both their teams.

Gameplay

The MLB All-Star gameplay is quite similar to a normal MLB game. Just like a normal MLB game, it lasts for nine innings. The American League team faces the National League team.

However, an important change is that the managers of both teams want to provide opportunities to the younger players. Hence, in an All-Star game, player substitution is frequently done. For this, position players only get a few at-bats and pitchers only one or two innings. The rest of the game is played by the younger players.

2023 MLB All-Star game venue

The 2023 MLB All-Star game venue has already been decided. It will take place at T-Mobile Park in Seattle, Washington. The Seattle Mariners are the host team of the game. This is the third time they are hosting the All-Star game after 1979 in Kingdome and 2001 at Safeco Field.

Players to participate in the 2023 Home Run Derby

The Home Run Derby will take place on July 10, 2023, at T-Mobile Park in Seattle, Washington at 8 pm E.T. Here are the players participating in the Home Run Derby this year so far:

• Julio Rodriguez (Seattle Mariners)

• Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (Toronto Blue Jays)

• Mookie Betts (Los Angeles Dodgers)

• Randy Arozarena (Tampa Bay Rays)

• Pete Alonso (New York Mets)

Notably, this is not the full list of players. It will be updated once more players are added to the list.

2023 MLB All-Star team rosters

The rosters for the National League Team and the American League team for the 2023 MLB All-Star game have been revealed. These are as follows:

American League Team (AL)

Manager - Dusty Baker (Houston Astros)

Starters

• Jonah Heim (C) (Texas Rangers)

• Yandy Diaz (1B) (Tampa Bay Rays)

• Marcus Semien (2B) (Texas Rangers)

• Josh Jung (3B) (Texas Rangers)

• Corey Seager (SS) (Texas Rangers)

• Mike Trout (OF) (Los Angeles Angels)

• Randy Arozarena (OF) (Tampa Bay Rays)

• Aaron Judge (OF) (New York Yankees)

• Shohei Ohtani (DH) (Los Angeles Angels)

Pitchers

• Shohei Ohtani (RHP) (Los Angeles Angels)

• Gerrit Cole (RHP) (New York Yankees)

• Luis Castillo (RHP) (Seattle Mariners)

• Sonny Gray (RHP) (Minnesota Twins)

• Nathan Eovaldi (RHP) (Texas Rangers)

• Kevin Gausman (RHP) (Toronto Blue Jays)

• Shane McClanahan (LHP) (Tampa Bay Rays)

• Framber Valdez (LHP) (Houston Astros)

• Michael Lorenzen (LHP) (Detroit Tigers)

Relievers

• Kenley Jansen (RHP) (Boston Red Sox)

• Emmanuel Clase (RHP) (Cleveland Guardians)

• Felix Bautista (RHP) (Baltimore Orioles)

• Yennier Cano (RHP) (Baltimore Orioles)

Reserve Players

• Salvador Perez (C) (Kansas City Royals)

• Adley Rutschman (C) (Baltimore Orioles)

• Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (IF) (Toronto Blue Jays)

• Whit Merrifield (IF) (Toronto Blue Jays)

• Bo Bichette (IF) (Toronto Blue Jays)

• Jose Ramirez (IF) (Cleveland Guardians)

• Luis Robert Jr. (OF) (Chicago White Sox)

• Austin Hays (OF) (Baltimore Orioles)

• Yordan Alvarez (OF) (Houston Astros)

• Adolis Garcia (OF) (Texas Rangers)

• Brent Rooker (DH) (Oakland Athletics)

Notably, since Aaron Judge is still injured, his replacement starter will be decided by the manager from the reserve players list. This also applies to the other players who might be injured but are selected as starters by the fans.

National League Team (NL)

Manager - Rob Thomson (Philadelphia Phillies)

Starters

• Sean Murphy (C) (Atlanta Braves)

• Freddie Freeman (1B) (Los Angeles Dodgers)

• Luis Arraez (2B) (Miami Marlins)

• Nolan Arenado (3B) (St. Louis Cardinals)

• Orlando Garcia (SS) (Atlanta Braves)

• Ronald Acuna Jr. (OF) (Atlanta Braves)

• Mookie Betts (OF) (Los Angeles Dodgers)

• Corbin Carroll (OF) (Arizona Diamondbacks)

• J.D.Martinez (DH) (Los Angeles Dodgers)

Pitchers

• Zac Gallen (RHP) (Arizona Diamondbacks)

• Spencer Strider (RHP) (Atlanta Braves)

• Bryce Elder (RHP) (Atlanta Braves)

• Justin Steele (LHP) (Chicago Cubs)

• Mitch Keller (RHP) (Pittsburgh Pirates)

• Josiah Gray (RHP) (Washington Nationals)

• Clayton Kershaw (LHP) (Los Angeles Dodgers)

• Marcus Stroman (RHP) (Chicago Cubs)

Relievers

• Alexis Diaz (RHP) (Cincinnati Reds)

• Josh Hader (LHP) (San Diego Padres)

• Devin Williams (RHP) (Milwaukee Brewers)

• Camilo Doval (RHP) (San Francisco Giants)

Reserve Players

• Will Smith (C) (Los Angeles Dodgers)

• Elias Diaz (C) (Colorado Rockies)

• Matt Olson (IF) (Atlanta Braves)

• Ozzie Albies (IF) (Atlanta Braves)

• Austin Riley (IF) (Atlanta Braves)

• Dansby Swanson (IF) (Chicago Cubs)

• Pete Alonso (IF) (New York Mets)

• Lourdes Gurriel Jr. (OF) (Arizona Diamondbacks)

• Nick Castellanos (OF) (Philadelphia Phillies)

• Juan Soto (OF) (San Diego Padres)

• Jorge Soler (DH) (Miami Marlins)

The 2023 MLB All-Star game schedule

The schedule for the 2023 MLB All-Star game has been announced. It will take place at T-Mobile Park at Seattle, Washington on Tuesday, July 11, 2023, at 8 pm E.T. on Fox.