Cubs, Red Sox dominate MLB All-Star rosters

As expected, Chicago Cubs and Boston Red Sox players will be plentiful at baseball’s All-Star game, happening July 12 at San Diego’s Petco Park. The Cubs are sending five starters to San Diego, including the entire infield and seven players total. The Red Sox are sending four starters, including two of three starting outfielders and six players total.

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On the NL roster, Anthony Rizzo, Kris Bryant, Ben Zobrist, Addison Russell and Dexter Fowler will represent the Cubs as starters, which is more than half to the fan-voted starters on the club. Bryce Harper, Yoenis Cespedes and Buster Posey are the non-Cubs players elected as starters. The five starters for the Cubs are the most for a team since the 1976 Cincinnati Reds sent five. Zobrist’s spot almost wasn’t his, as Daniel Murphy of the Washington Nationals was behind by just 88 votes when all the ballots were counted.

On the AL roster, the Red Sox are sending twice as many as the Kansas City Royals, the team whose fans have been characterized as the top ballot-box stuffers the past two seasons. The Royals are sending two, including top overall vote-getter in either league, Salvador Perez. And two-time reigning All-Star game Mike Trout is back again, which should be a surprise to no one.

Here are starters, reserves, pitchers and Final Vote candidates for each team:

NL STARTING LINEUP
C: Buster Posey, San Francisco Giants
1B: Anthony Rizzo, Chicago Cubs
2B: Ben Zobrist, Cubs
SS: Addison Russell, Cubs
3B: Kris Bryant, Cubs
OF: Bryce Harper, Washington Nationals
OF: Yoenis Cespedes, New York Mets
OF: Dexter Fowler, Cubs

AL STARTING LINEUP
C: Salvador Perez, Kansas City Royals
1B: Eric Hosmer, Royals
2B: Jose Altuve, Houston Astros
SS: Xander Bogaerts, Boston Red Sox
3B: Manny Machado, Baltimore Orioles
OF: Mike Trout, Los Angeles Angels
OF: Jackie Bradley Jr., Red Sox
OF: Mookie Betts, Red Sox
DH: David Ortiz, Red Sox

NL RESERVES & PITCHERS
C: Wilson Ramos, Washington Nationals
C: Jonathan Lucroy, Milwaukee Brewers
1B: Paul Goldschmidt, Arizona Diamondbacks
1B: Wil Myers, San Diego Padres
2B: Daniel Murphy, Nationals
2B: Matt Carpenter, St. Louis Cardinals
3B: Nolan Arenado, Colorado Rockies
SS: Corey Seager, Los Angeles Dodgers
OF: Marcell Ozuna, Miami Marlins
OF: Carlos Gonzalez, Rockies
OF: Adam Duvall, Cincinnati Reds
OF: Odubel Herrera, Philadelphia Phillies
P: Jake Arrieta, Cubs
P: Madison Bumgarner, Giants
P: Johnny Cueto, Giants
P: Jeurys Familia, Mets
P: Jose Fernandez, Marlins
P: Kenley Jansen, Dodgers
P: Jon Lester, Cubs
P: Clayton Kershaw, Dodgers
P: Mark Melancon, Pittsburgh Pirates
P: A.J. Ramos, Marlins
P: Fernando Rodney, Marlins
P: Stephen Strasburg, Nationals
P: Noah Syndergaard, Mets
P: Julio Teheran, Atlanta Braves

AL RESERVES & PITCHERS
C: Stephen Vogt, Oakland Athletics
C: Matt Wieters, Orioles
1B: Miguel Cabera, Detroit Tigers
2B: Robinson Cano, Seattle Mariners
3B: Josh Donaldson, Toronto Blue Jays
SS: Francisco Lindor, Cleveland Indians
SS: Eduardo Nunez, Minnesota Twins
OF: Carlos Beltran, New York Yankees
OF Ian Desmond, Texas Rangers
OF: Mark Trumbo, Orioles
DH: Edwin Encarnacion, Blue Jays
P: Dellin Betances, New York Yankees
P: Brad Brach, Orioles
P: Zach Britton, Orioles
P: Alex Colome, Tampa Bay Rays
P: Wade Davis, Royals
P: Marco Estrada, Blue Jays
P: Cole Hamels, Rangers
P: Will Harris, Astros
P: Kelvin Herrera, Royals
P: Craig Kimbrel, Red Sox
P: Andrew Miller, Yankees
P: Danny Salazar, Indians
P: Chris Sale, Chicago White Sox
P: Steven Wright, Red Sox

FINAL VOTE
As is tradition, the final spot on each team will be decided via fan vote. The Final Vote contest has started and here are the possibilities for both teams:

• NL: Brandon Belt (Giants), Ryan Braun (Brewers), Jake Lamb (D-backs), Starling Marte (Pirates) and Trevor Story (Rockies)

• AL: Ian Kinsler (Tigers), Evan Longoria (Rays), Dustin Pedroia (Red Sox), Michael Saunders (Blue Jays) and George Springer (Astros)

OTHER INTERESTING NOTES
• This is a rather young selection of All-Stars, as 12 of the 17 starters are 26 years of age or younger. Twenty nine players on the rosters are 27 or younger. On the AL team, every starter is 26 or younger aside from David Ortiz.

• Eleven of the All-Star starters are first-timers. The most since 2005. In total, there are 26 first-time starters among the 68 players on both rosters.

• Astros reliever Will Harris was selected to replace Wade Davis, who is injured and won’t play in the All-Star game. Likewise, Kershaw won’t play for the NL team so manager Terry Collins got an extra selection.

• You’ll notice a stark difference in roster construction between the AL and NL teams. Ned Yost’s team reflects how he’s built the Royals, with a strong collection of relief pitchers and only five starters while the NL team carries nine starting pitchers.

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Mike Oz is the editor of Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at mikeozstew@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @MikeOz