ARLINGTON, Texas — Sure, Josh Jung imagined making the All-Star team. Put it down on the vision board he made for himself before the season.
A rookie All-Star? Big dreams.
But a rookie All-Star starter? Hoo-boy.
It’s a lot to unpack.
“It’s just kind of a wow moment,” Jung said Thursday after being informed he was one of a club-record four Rangers elected as starters for the July 11 game in Seattle. “It hasn’t really hit me yet. It’s always been [a dream]. But to really hear it is just special. And it’s going to be super to share with everybody.”
Like virtually the entire infield. Jung, the first MLB rookie elected to start an All-Star Game since Aaron Judge in 2017, will be joined by catcher Jonah Heim, second baseman Marcus Semien and shortstop Corey Seager in the AL starting lineup. Semien, in 2021, is the only one who had started an All-Star Game previously.
The Rangers, who have led the AL West all season, have more starters than any other AL team and more than any AL team since Boston in 2016. In the second round of voting, when elections were trimmed to head-to-head contests, the Rangers beat Toronto players in all three head-to-head matchups. Heim had finished second by 300,000 votes in the first round to Baltimore’s Adley Rutschman. For the second round, vote totals were reset to zero and fans were only permitted to vote once per day.
The contingent could grow. The remainder of the roster, including pitchers, will be named on Sunday evening. The bulk of the pitchers and reserves will be chosen by player voting, which was completed over the weekend, but has not yet been released. Outfielder Adolis García is the Rangers’ fifth finalist. Starter Nathan Eovaldi is a strong candidate to be added, too.
The Rangers had three starters once before: In 2012, when they were coming off back-to-back World Series appearances. Josh Hamilton, Adrian Beltré and Mike Napoli were all elected starters. They were part of a club-record eight-player contingent that also included manager Ron Washington.
The Rangers got fan support like they’ve never experienced, for sure. But they also had strong individual cases. Heim leads all AL catchers in WAR, nearly a full win ahead of Rutschman. Semien leads all second basemen. Seager, still about 25 plate appearances shy of qualifying for the league leaders, still has 2.5 WAR in 50 games. He trailed Tampa Bay’s Wander Franco and Toronto’s Bo Bichette slightly. Seager’s 1.020 OPS would rank third in the AL behind Shohei Ohtani and Judge, both of whom were elected at their respective positions.
Jung actually ranked fourth in WAR at third base, but his 16 homers, 55 RBIs, .815 OPS, solid defense and veteran poise seemed to make him stand out. Though Baltimore rookie Gunnar Henderson has come on strong in June, Jung has won the AL Rookie of the Month in each of the first two months of the season.
“To be here and have the kind of success he’s had, you have to have some confidence,” Seager said. “I think he’s shown that.”
Said manager Bruce Bochy: “He did all he could do to make the team. He’s just had a tremendous first half.”
Jung made the All-Star team because he’s played like a veteran. Also, he’s answered questions like one, too.
When asked what making the All-Star team says about him, he replied quickly.
“Potential,” he said. “That’s all it really says. It’s just one half. We’ve got a lot more in front of us.”
