Major League Baseball announced a slew of All-Star Game replacements on Saturday, with 12 players in total joining the rosters ahead of Tuesday's game.
In the American League, the honors went to shortstop Tim Anderson (Chicago White Sox), right-hander Chris Bassitt (Oakland Athletics), second baseman Whit Merrifield (Kansas City Royals), and utility infielder Joey Wendle (Tampa Bay Rays).
Anderson and Merrifield were voted in by the players, as they replaced Houston Astros infielders Jose Altuve and Carlos Correa, both of whom had withdrawn from the Midsummer Classic.
As for the National League, the new names include right-handers Walker Buehler (Los Angeles Dodgers), Freddy Peralta (Milwaukee Brewers), Max Scherzer (Washington Nationals), and Taijuan Walker (New York Mets), as well as catcher Yadier Molina (St. Louis Cardinals) and third baseman Justin Turner (Dodgers).
As with Anderson and Merrifield, Molina earned the designation by way of the Player Ballot. He was supposed to replace San Francisco Giants backstop Buster Posey, but he told reporters on Saturday that he too will withdraw because of a foot injury. J.T. Realmuto of the Philadelphia Phillies will start in Posey's place.
Brewers catcher Omar Narváez will take Molina's place on the All-Star roster, MLB announced Saturday afternoon. Narváez is the 40th player selected to his first All-Star Game this year, a new record. Later on Saturday, Padres third baseman Manny Machado was named to the All-Star Game to replace Ronald Acuña Jr., who suffered a season-ending knee injury.
MLB deemed that the following players will be inactive for the All-Star Game:
With Altuve, Correa, Brantley, and Pressly all out for one reason or another, the Astros will not have a representative play in the game.
The 2021 MLB All-Star Game is scheduled to take place on Tuesday, July 13 and will be hosted at Coors Field in Denver, Colorado. The Home Run Derby will take place on Monday, July 12. This will be the first of either event in two years, as the 2020 editions were canceled because of the COVID-19 global pandemic.
