Texas Rangers right-handed pitcher Nathan Eovaldi and outfielder Adolis García have been selected to the American League roster via player voting for the 2023 Major League Baseball All-Star Game on Tuesday, July 11 in Seattle. Final rosters for this year’s Midsummer Classic were announced late this afternoon in a televised show on ESPN.
The Rangers’ six All-Stars are the second-most of any MLB club this year to only Atlanta (8), as Eovaldi and García join four other Rangers on the A.L. roster. Catcher Jonah Heim, third baseman Josh Jung, shortstop Corey Seager, and second baseman Marcus Semien were all elected as starters through fan voting in an announcement made on Thursday evening.
This year marks just the third time in Rangers history for the club to have at least six All-Stars, as the team had a franchise-record eight All-Stars for the 2012 game in Kansas City and six for the 2010 contest in Anaheim. The Rangers’ five position player selections this year match 2012 for most in team history.
Eovaldi finished first among all A.L. starting pitchers in player balloting with 182 votes. It marks his second career All-Star selection, as he pitched a scoreless 4th inning for the American League at the 2021 All-Star Game in Denver as a member of the Boston Red Sox. This marks the fourth consecutive year for Texas to have a pitcher selected to the A.L. roster (no ASG in 2020), the second-longest such span in club history (5 straight, 2010-14). Eovaldi has gone 10-3 with a 2.64 ERA over 17 games/starts for Texas this season, ranking among American League leaders in wins (2nd, 10), ERA (3rd, 2.64), opponent OPS (3rd, .615), and WHIP (3rd, 0.99).
García received the fifth-most votes among A.L. outfielders in player voting with 226 votes, trailing only Randy Arozarena (360), Yordan Alvarez (328), Aaron Judge (316), and Mike Trout (292). He has been an All-Star selection in two of the past three seasons, going 1-for-2 with a double while playing center field in the 2021 Midsummer Classic in Denver. García joins Joey Gallo (2019, 2021) as the only Texas outfielders to be selected to the A.L. roster multiple times since Nelson Cruz (2009, 2013) and Josh Hamilton (2008-09-10-11-12). García has batted .259 with 20 home runs and 67 RBI over 83 games for the Rangers this season, ranking among American League leaders in RBI (T1st), runs (2nd, 61), home runs (T3rd), extra-base hits (T3rd, 38), and total bases (5th, 161).
The 2023 Rangers are the first Major League team with at least four elected starters for the All-Star Game since 2016, when both the Chicago Cubs (5 – OF Dexter Fowler, 2B Ben Zobrist, 1B Anthony Rizzo, SS Addison Russell, 3B Kris Bryant) and Boston Red Sox (4 – OF Jackie Bradley Jr., SS Xander Bogaerts, OF Mookie Betts, DH David Ortiz) had four-or-more elected. This marks the first time the Rangers have ever featured four elected starters for an All-Star Game, surpassing the previous high of three in 2012 (3B Adrian Beltre, OF Josh Hamilton, C Mike Napoli).