Tigers’ Joe Jiménez named to American League All-Star team

Detroit Tigers reliever Joe Jiménez was named to the 2018 American League All-Star team on Sunday afternoon. This is Jiménez’s first All-Star berth, and it comes in his second season of MLB action. He will be the Tigers’ lone representative in this year’s game.

Jiménez endured a disaster of a season in 2017, but has rebounded in a big way this season. He has a 2.85 ERA through 41 innings pitched, with 46 strikeouts to just 12 walks. He has recently taken over the closer’s role since Shane Greene was placed on the disabled list, and is 2-for-3 in save opportunities since moving to the ninth inning. Jimenez also has 13 holds on the year.

Nicholas Castellanos was long considered the favorite to be the Tigers’ representative in the Midsummer Classic. He is deserving of the honor offensively, having hit .301/.352/.518 with 15 home runs through 88 games. However, he isn’t as strong defensively as the rest of a loaded AL outfield, and will probably be left out. The full All-Star rosters will be announced at 7:00 p.m. ET on Sunday in a selection show on ESPN. The Final Vote will be announced at some point as well, and Castellanos could potentially be included in that quintet of players.

The 2018 MLB All-Star Game will take place on Tuesday, July 17, in Washington, D.C. This post will be updated as the full rosters are announced.

American League

Starters

C: Wilson Ramos
1B: José Abreu
2B: José Altuve
SS: Manny Machado
3B: José Ramírez
OF: Mookie Betts
OF: Aaron Judge
OF: Mike Trout
DH: J.D. Martinez

Pitchers

SP: Justin Verlander
SP: Trevor Bauer
SP: Corey Kluber
SP: Chris Sale
SP: Luis Severino
SP: Gerrit Cole
RP: Edwin Díaz
SP: José Berríos
RP: Aroldis Chapman
SP: J.A. Happ
RP: Joe Jiménez
RP: Craig Kimbrel
RP: Blake Treinen

Reserves

OF: Michael Brantley
OF: George Springer
OF: Mitch Haniger
SS: Francisco Lindor
DH: Nelson Cruz
3B: Alex Bregman
2B: Gleyber Torres
OF/DH: Shin-Soo Choo
1B: Mitch Moreland
C: Salvador Perez

National League

Starters

C: Willson Contreras
1B: Freddie Freeman
2B: Javier Báez
SS: Brandon Crawford
3B: Nolan Arenado
OF: Bryce Harper
OF: Matt Kemp
OF: Nick Markakis

Pitchers

SP: Max Scherzer
SP: Jacob deGrom
SP: Jon Lester
SP: Aaron Nola
RP: Josh Hader
RP: Kenley Jansen
SP: Patrick Corbin
RP: Sean Doolittle
SP: Mike Foltynewicz
RP: Brad Hand
SP: Miles Mikolas
RP: Felipe Vázquez

Reserves

2B: Scooter Gennett
OF: Lorenzo Cain
3B: Eugenio Suarez
2B: Ozzie Albies
OF: Charlie Blackmon
1B: Paul Goldschmidt
C: Buster Posey
SS: Trevor Story
C: J.T. Realmuto
OF: Christian Yelich