ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — The 2023 MLB All-Star Game will take place next week in Seattle, and three Tampa Bay Rays players will be taking part in the special baseball event!
The league announced Sunday evening that Rays pitcher Shane McClanahan earned his second All-Star Game selection after he was invited to the Midsummer Classic roster as a result of player balloting.
McClanahan joins his fellow teammates Randy Arozarena and Yandy Diaz as the other two players from the franchise to play in the big game.
However, McClanahan was put on the 15-day injured list Tampa Bay on Saturday, a day after the 26-year-old left-hander came out of his second straight start due to mid-back tightness. His IL stint will run through the All-Star break.
It will be the first time Arozarena and Diaz play in the All-Star game, both of which were chosen by fans and among the nine first-time starters, joined by Atlanta shortstop Orlando Arcia and catcher Sean Murphy, Miami second baseman Luis Arraez and Arizona outfielder Corbin Carroll.
Arozarena and Diaz will become the fourth and fifth positional players for the club to ever start at an All-Star Game joining, Evan Longoria (2010), Carl Crawford (2010) and Corey Dickerson (2017).
Arozarena will also participate in the 2023 Home Run Derby, marking his first time in the Derby, and makes him the third Rays player to participate in one, after Evan Longoria and Carlos Pena.
One of the surprise players left out of the All-Star roster is Rays shortstop Wander Franco after having a stellar season so far. He may have a chance of being wiggled in as a replacement, but that's not yet known.
The full All-Star rosters for the AL and NL were unveiled during the “2023 Scotts MLB All-Star Selection Show” on ESPN. To see who else earned an All-Star selection, click here.
McClanahan, Arozarena and Diaz will play in the All-Star game on July 11 at Seattle's T-Mobile Park.
The Associated Press and 10 Tampa Bay's Jordan Highsmith contributed to this report.