Cincinnati Reds get three players named to the All-Star Game

In a somewhat surprising announcement, the Cincinnati Reds had 3 players named to this year’s All-Star Game. The game will be played July 17th in Washington D.C.

Every Major League team gets at least one player selected to the All-Star Game. The Cincinnati Reds will have three players representing them in the Midsummer Classic. Joey Votto, Eugenio Suarez, and Scooter Gennett will all travel to Washington D.C. next week and be part of the 89th MLB All-Star Game.

While all three players are very deserving of the honor, most Reds fans were skeptical that all three would actually make the roster. Gennett was likely viewed as the one lock to represent the Reds. Suarez was very deserving, but it was assumed he and Votto may have been on the outside looking in.

That turned out not to be the case. Freddie Freeman (first base) of the Braves, Javier Baez (second base) of the Cubs and Nolan Arenado (third base) of the Rockies will get the start over the Reds’ trio. Let’s check out the resume` for each of the Cincinnati Reds All-Stars, all of whom were selected to be reserves.

Scooter Gennett, second base

Scooter Gennett will be making his very first All-Star game when the festivities kick off next Tuesday in D.C. Gennett was in the mix with Baez and Ozzie Albies, who also made the team, for the starting spot at second base.

Gennett is more than deserving of his All-Star selection. The 28-year is having a career-year. He’s slashing .329/.369/.520 with 14 home runs and 58 RBIs.

 Eugenio Suarez, third base

Eugenio Suarez, who just signed a 7-year $66 million deal this offseason, is off to what Reds fans hope is the first of many All-Star games to come. The 26-year old has been tearing up pitchers all season long. He just knocked his 19th round-tripper of the season off Cubs pitcher Jon Lester this afternoon.

In addition to the 19 home runs this season, Suarez is hitting .312 with .402 on-base percentage. He has an OPS of .982 and his 3.2 WAR is the highest on the team.

Joey Votto, first base

The All-Star Game is nothing new for Reds first baseman Joey Votto, having been five times before. However, this one might be the most unlikely due to the heavy competition he was facing among National League first basemen.

In addition to Votto and Freeman, Paul Goldschmidt, Anthony Rizzo, Eric Hosmer and Cody Bellinger are all first basemen.

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The selection of Votto is spot on, however, as he leads the National League in OBP at .428. He’s hitting .296 with 8 runs and 44 RBIs. This is Votto’s second straight All-Star appearance after 3 straight seasons of missing out on the Midsummer Classic.