Blue Jays get three starters voted into the All-Star Game

Blue Jays fans rewarded Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Marcus Semien, and Teoscar Hernandez for their stellar first half by voting them as starters for the AL All-Star team

The Toronto Blue Jays will be well represented when the MLB All-Star Game begins at Coors Field in Denver on July 13.

Three Blue Jays—Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Marcus Semien, and Teoscar Hernandez—were named as starters for the American League team following the conclusion of fan balloting on Thursday. That is the most All-Star starters for the franchise since their last World Series season in 1993, when John Olerud, Paul Molitor, Joe Carter, and Roberto Alomar started the game in Baltimore. Justin Smoak was the last Blue Jays player to earn a spot in the All-Star Game starting lineup, in 2017.

Guerrero enjoyed a comfortable lead throughout the fan voting, his spot in the lineup never seriously challenged. After finishing as the top overall vote-getter in the first phase, he earned 74 percent in the second stage, the largest share of the vote of any player. At 22, he’ll be the second-youngest player to start the All-Star Game at first base, after Hall of Famer Orlando Cepeda in 1959. He joins his father as the fifth father-son duo to both start an All-Star Game.

It’s an honour that’s richly deserved. Guerrero is making a serious run at winning the Triple Crown in the first half of the season. He second in the league with 66 RBI and came into play on Thursday second to Shohei Ohtani with 26 home runs and a point behind Michael Brantley in batting average (.339 to .340). He leads MLB in OPS, WAR, total bases, and Weighted Runs Created. Guerrero, who’s started every one of the Blue Jays 79 games this season, is on pace to hit 53 home runs and drive in 135 runs; no one has put up those numbers and batted above .330 since 1932.

Semien earned the first All-Star selection of his nine-year career, finishing with 52 percent of the vote and beating out Jose Altuve of the Astros and the Yankees’ DJ LeMahieu for the starting spot at second base. Semien bet on himself this offseason, signing a one-year, $18 million deal with the Blue Jays and hoping for a big payday in free agency after the season. The bet has paid off.

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Semien leads all second baseman this season with 20 home runs and a .905 OPS. He was the AL Player of the Month in May, during which he batted .368 and had the third-highest OPS in the leage at 1.130. He’s become such a fixture at the top of the Blue Jays lineup that George Springer, whom the Blue Jays gave $150 million to bat leadoff, has been fifth in the order since returning from the IL. Semien has 18 home runs from the leadoff position, second in the league to Ronald Acuna Jr.

Hernandez narrowly beat out Byron Buxton for the third outfield spot in the AL starting lineup. After missing 17 games in April while on the COVID-19 list, Hernandez is batting .311 with 10 home runs and a .870 OPS in 52 games since returning to the lineup.

Salvador Perez, Xander Bogaerts, Rafael Devers, Mike Trout (who is injured and won’t play), Ohtani, and Aaron Judge round out the remainder of the AL roster. Bo Bichette nearly made it four starters for the Blue Jays, finishing second to Bogaerts in the voting at shortstop.

The Blue Jays are the only team in the Majors who will have three starters in Denver in two weeks. The lineup, the youngest in baseball, leads the league in home runs, is second to the Astros in batting average, OPS, and runs per game. Their young, talented, and, thanks to a passionate fan base who clicked the vote button often, about to get the national exposure they deserve.

The last time the Blue Jays had this many starters they won the World Series. This current crop may not match what the 1993 team accomplished, but they’ll get the opportunity to show the baseball world just how good they are.