The Yankees will be represented by six players in the 2011 All-Star Game in Arizona. Four of them will be starters and then two reserves.
At second base, Robinson Cano will start for the second straight year, following up his excellent season in 2010 with a strong first half this year hitting .292 with 14 homeruns and 54 RBI heading into Sunday.
Derek Jeter will make his 7th straight All-Star Game, and his 12th overall. Jeter’s selection as a starter further proves that the All-Star Game is simply a popularity contest, with his numbers being clearly inferior to other AL shortstops like Asdrubal Cabrera or Alexei Ramirez.
As much as I like Jeter, a .260 average with 20 RBI and a total of 12 extra-base hits just don’t seem like All-Star caliber numbers.
A-Rod is back as the starting third baseman after a very good first half, hitting .304 with 13 homers and 52 RBI, also scoring 51 runs. This will be his 14th All-Star Game, tying him with Ivan Rodriguez for most among active players.
The fourth Yankees starter is Curtis Granderson, who’s making his first All-Star start. Granderson comes into Sunday hitting .276 with 22 homeruns and 57 RBI, plus he leads the league in runs with 73 and 7 triples.
Russell Martin got edged out of the starting catcher spot by Alex Avila of the Tigers, and will make the team as a bench player. Mariano Rivera will make his 11th All-Star Game, as he continues to slam the door game after game, even at the age of 41.
It was surprising to see CC Sabathia not make the team after his great first half of the season, going 11-4 with a 3.04 ERA. Mark Teixeira was also not added to the team, but that is a little more understandable, considering how many great first basemen are in the league.
I thought David Robertson might have a shot with his 1.08 ERA and 14.4 strikeouts per nine innings, but it’s pretty hard to make the team as a setup man, still an impressive season thus far for him.
You can catch the All-Star game on July 12th on FOX.
