The New York Yankees have been the best team in Major League Baseball this season. Despite going into last night’s (Wednesday) game at home versus the Cincinnati Reds on a three-game losing streak, only the second stretch of the season losing three in a row – the first was May 22 and the 23rd – they still had the best record in baseball at 61-26 and were 14 games ahead of the second place Tampa Bay Rays in the American League East.
Their superlative play was rewarded with six All-Star selections in the annual Midsummer Classic that will be held at Dodgers Stadium in Los Angeles next Tuesday. The first place Mets, who are 55-34 and held a slight 2.5 game lead over the 53-37 Atlanta Braves in the National League East after a 7-3 win over the Braves yesterday, have four players who have been tabbed for the NL squad.
The Yankees have the most players in MLB that were either voted in as starters or chosen as reserves. Outfielders Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton will be starting in the American League outfield. Starting pitchers Gerrit Cole and Nestor Cole were picked for their excellent first halves, and catcher Jose Trevino and reliever Clay Holmes round out the group.
In a video posted by the Yankees on Sunday, the 29-year-old Trevino, from Corpus Christi, Texas, who is in first season with the team after being traded to them by the Texas Ranger on April 2, was genuinely shocked when informed by manager Aaron Boone he had become a first-time All-Star.
“Holy s–t, you’re serious?” asked Trevino incredulously. Trevino said he had plans for the three-day break before learning the surprising news. “I had no clue… I was actually gonna go buy a car in Texas, like holy s–t. You’re serious, right?”
The Mets will be represented by first baseman Pete Alonso, who held baseball’ RBI lead with 72 at the start of yesterday’s schedule, second baseman Jeff McNeil, outfielder Starling Marte and closer Edwin Diaz. Similar to Trevino, the 33-year-old Marte is in his first season with the Mets after breaking into the majors with the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2012. After seven-plus seasons with the Pirates, the native of Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, was traded to the Miami Marlins in August of 2020.
Last July he was traded again, to the Oakland Athletics and in November signed a four-year, $78 million free-agent contract with the Mets.