For the first time since 2013, the Cincinnati Reds will have two National League starters in the All-Star Game.
Outfielders Nick Castellanos and Jesse Winker were announced as starters Thursday, selected through the fan vote. It was the first time either player was selected for an All-Star team. They’ll be joined in the NL’s starting outfield by Atlanta’s Ronald Acuña Jr.
Shortstop Zack Cozart was the organization's last All-Star Game starter in 2017.
The Reds haven’t had two starters in the All-Star Game since Joey Votto and Brandon Phillips started alongside each other on the right side of the infield in 2013. The last time the Reds had two outfielders starting together was Frank Robinson and Gus Bell in 1956.
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“Nick plays a style that is energizing and challenges his teammates,” Votto said Thursday afternoon. “We’re very lucky to have him on the team. That’s always kind of come with Nick’s style, but he’s also improved significantly on the defensive end of things. Kudos to him for doing that because that’s intent. That’s something that requires focus, preparation and you have to wake up every day with the intent that this is going to be hard, but I’m going to do it. And he has.
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“Seeing Jesse get better in the outfield also is a big deal too. There have been stretches where they both have carried us. Those are exactly the type of players that you want on the big stage for All-Star Games.”
Castellanos, entering Thursday, led the Majors in batting average (.346), hits (102) and doubles (27). His 1.002 OPS (on-base plus slugging) trailed only Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Fernando Tatis Jr. and Shohei Ohtani.
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He’s provided many signature moments in the first half of the season. There was the flex while standing over St. Louis Cardinals reliever Jake Woodford when he scored on a wild pitch in the second game of the season, which netted him a two-game suspension. He hit .404 in May, the highest batting average in franchise history during the month. He had an MLB-best 21-game hit streak. He hit a go-ahead grand slam Monday.
“I think what matters to me most,” Castellanos said, “is the imprints that I leave on my teammates and the people that spend their hard-earned money to watch me play.”
Winker ranks fifth in the Majors, one spot behind Castellanos, with a 1.000 OPS. He’s already set career-highs with 19 homers and 48 RBI while posting a .404 on-base percentage.
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He was always regarded as a good hitter, picked No. 49 overall in the 2012 MLB Draft. The one question was whether he’d hit for power – and he’s answered that in a big way. He became the first Reds player in club history with multiple three-homer games.
“We’ve all been 10, 12 years old before saying we want to be in the big-league All-Star Game, right?” Winker said recently. “All I’ve ever wanted to do my whole life was to be a baseball player. I’d be lying to you if I said no because I know that little kid growing up Orlando, Florida, and Buffalo, he would look at you and say, ‘of course.’
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“There is a lot that goes into it, right? You have to be healthy. You have to be on the field. It’s always been on the list, but I’ve never really paid too much attention to it because I really get lost in the fact that you’re trying to help the team win games.”
The rest of the All-Star team will be announced Sunday. The game will be played at Colorado’s Coors Field on Tuesday, July 13.
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