Corbin Carroll, Lourdes Gurriel Jr. finalists for All-Star starter spots
Jun 22, 2023, 3:39 PM | Updated: 3:45 pm
Corbin Carroll #7 and Lourdes Gurriel Jr. #12 of the Arizona Diamondbacks take the field before a game against the Philadelphia Phillies at Citizens Bank Park on May 22, 2023 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Rich Schultz/Getty Images)
(Photo by Rich Schultz/Getty Images)
The mad dash will soon be on.
Beginning at 9 a.m. Arizona time on Monday, a three-day event gets underway to determine the remainder of Major League Baseball’s All-Star starters. Arizona Diamondbacks Corbin Carroll and Lourdes Gurriel Jr. made the cut as finalists, competing with four other outfielders for the two starting positions in the National League outfield.
It should be six finalists for three spots but the leading vote-getter in each league up to the cutoff for finalists automatically gets their position. That’s Atlanta Braves outfielder Ronald Acuna Jr. in the NL and Los Angles Angels designated hitter Shohei Ohtani for the American League.
All votes get reset, so the final positions for Carroll and Gurriel only mattered in terms of making them finalists. Fans can vote once a day from Monday morning up until Thursday at 9 a.m. Arizona time at MLB.com/vote.
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Carroll is in the MVP race and certainly has a great case for starting. As of Thursday afternoon, Carroll’s ranks in the NL are second for OPS (.956) and stolen bases (22), while he’s third in runs (57), tied for ninth in doubles (19) and tied for 13th in homers (16).
Gurriel has had a rough June but still has some strong numbers. He’s hitting .276 with 11 homers, 17 doubles and 42 RBI, plus an OPS of .822.
The D-backs duo is competing with Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Mookie Betts and Atlanta Braves outfielder Michael Harris II for the other two starting positions. Betts is a favorite for at least one spot, as he finished with nearly 900,000 more votes than Carroll, who was third to Acuna and Betts.
The rest of the starters are revealed on June 29 at 4 p.m. Arizona time on ESPN.
As far as the pitchers and reserves, those get done through player ballot choices and picks by the commissioner’s office. Arizona has a handful of other candidates, such as pitchers Zac Gallen and Merrill Kelly, first baseman Christian Walker, second baseman Ketel Marte and shortstop Geraldo Perdomo. The full rosters are announced on July 2nd at 2:30 p.m. Arizona time.
