While four other Orioles fell short in the final phase of voting, Adley and Gunnar each earned their first career All-Star starts.
The dynamic duo of Adley Rutschman and Gunnar Henderson will be taking their talents to Arlington as American League All-Star starters.
The Orioles’ two superstars won the fan voting at catcher and shortstop, earning their spots in the AL starting lineup. It will be the first career All-Star appearance for Henderson, the reigning AL Rookie of the Year and a 2024 AL MVP frontunner. Henderson’s fWAR of 6.0 is second highest in baseball behind Aaron Judge’s 6.1, and his 26 home runs trail only Judge’s 32 among AL hitters. He ranks fourth in baseball with a .983 OPS.
Henderson had already committed to participate in the Home Run Derby, and now it’s official that he’ll be joining the All-Star team as well (not that there was ever any doubt). Gunnar outpaced all other AL shortstops in Phase 1 of the voting, then handily defeated the Royals’ Bobby Witt Jr. in a head-to-head matchup in Phase 2.
This will be the first All-Star start and second All-Star appearance for Rutschman, who came up short last year in Phase 2 of the fan voting — losing to the Rangers’ Jonah Heim — but left no doubt this time by beating Kansas City’s Salvador Perez. Rutschman was the leading vote-getter among catchers in Phase 1 as well.
Rutschman is putting up career-best numbers in SLG (.465) and OPS (.811) and, with 15 home runs already, is on pace to shatter his previous season high of 20. Rutschman was selected as a reserve for last year’s All-Star Game in Seattle, going 0-for-1 after replacing Heim. He also took part in the 2023 Home Run Derby, memorably homering from both sides of the plate, but doesn’t seem likely to join Henderson in this year’s dinger contest.
While Henderson and Rutschman sailed to easy victories at their positions, the other four Orioles who were part of the Phase 2 voting all fell short. Jordan Westburg, unsurprisingly, lost in the vote to perennial MVP candidate José Ramírez of the Guardians, a five-time All-Star. Anthony Santander, one of four outfielders competing for two starting spots alongside Judge, was outvoted by the Yankees’ Juan Soto and Cleveland’s Steven Kwan.
Ryan O’Hearn came tantalizingly close to earning an All-Star start, losing to Houston’s Yordan Alvarez by just 4% of the vote. And Ryan Mountcastle, who won Phase 1 of the voting, ended up falling behind the Blue Jays’ Vladimir Guerrero Jr. in Phase 2. Besides Guerrero’s name recognition, Mountcastle may have fallen victim to bad timing. He missed three consecutive games with an illness while the Phase 2 voting was going on, while Guerrero has exploded for a .471/.500/1.088 line with five homers in his last eight games.
Westburg, Santander, O’Hearn, and Mountcastle still have a chance to be selected as All-Star reserves, while pitchers such as Corbin Burnes and Grayson Rodriguez have good cases, too. MLB players will vote for eight pitchers and one backup at each position, and the commissioner’s office will select two more position players and four additional pitchers.
The Orioles have no shortage of All-Star caliber candidates, though with every team requiring at least one representative, it’s unlikely we’ll see every worthy Oriole make the team. Still, Henderson and Rutschman make for a pretty good start, and you can bet they won’t be the only O’s representatives in Arlington for the July 16 Midsummer Classic.
American League All-Star starters:
C Adley Rutschman, Orioles
1B Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Blue Jays
2B Jose Altuve, Astros
SS Gunnar Henderson, Orioles
3B José Ramírez, Guardians
OF Aaron Judge, Yankees; Juan Soto, Yankees; Steven Kwan, Guardians
DH Yordan Alvarez, Astros
National League All-Star starters:
C William Contreras, Brewers
1B Bryce Harper, Phillies
2B Ketel Marte, Diamondbacks
SS Trea Turner, Phillies
3B Alec Bohm, Phillies
OF Christian Yelich, Brewers; Jurickson Profar, Padres; Fernando Tatis Jr., Padres
DH Shohei Ohtani, Dodgers