Triple-A All-Star Voting Underway
INDIANAPOLIS - Triple-A Baseball today announced the launch of online fan voting for the 2019 Triple-A All-Star Game presented by Grilling All-Stars. The online ballot will be available to fans over the next four weeks through Friday, June 21. The 32nd annual Triple-A All-Star Game is scheduled for Wednesday, July
INDIANAPOLIS - Triple-A Baseball today announced the launch of online fan voting for the 2019 Triple-A All-Star Game presented by Grilling All-Stars. The online ballot will be available to fans over the next four weeks through Friday, June 21. The 32nd annual Triple-A All-Star Game is scheduled for Wednesday, July 10 at Southwest University Park in El Paso, Texas, home of the El Paso Chihuahuas.
Vote here
Each of the last seven years, the Indianapolis Indians have had at least three players elected or selected to the International League All-Star team. Last year, five Indians were named to the squad: OF Christopher Bosick, RHP Dovydas Neverauskas, SS Kevin Newman, C Ryan Lavarnway and RHP Tyler Eppler. The latter three all played in the 2018 Midsummer Classic held at Huntington Park in Columbus, Ohio.
Sixteen Indians are on the 2019 ballot. The full list and season notes through May 23 games are below:
Catcher - Jacob Stallings
Stallings, 29, has appeared in 13 games for the Tribe after opening the campaign in Pittsburgh. A neck injury led him to Indy for a rehab assignment, and the Pirates eventually designated him for assignment in mid-May. Fortunately for the Tribe, Stallings cleared waivers. Among IL catchers with 50-plus plate appearances, the veteran ranks first in OPS (1.024), tied for first in doubles (8), tied for fourth in batting average (.302) and fifth in on-base percentage (.396).
First Base - Will Craig
Craig's first season in Triple-A has been much like his last in Double-A, where he clubbed 20 home runs and drove in 102 runs a year ago. Craig's power stroke is in full force this summer; he has belted 12 of Indy's 52 home runs. He also leads the team in RBI (32) and total bases (80) and is second in base hits (40). He ranks among IL leaders in homers (T-5th) and RBI (T-5th).
Second Base - Kevin Kramer
After earning Indy's Rookie of the Year Award and IL postseason All-Star team honors in 2018, Kramer is beating up the baseball again this summer. A slow start didn't deter the 25-year-old; he's batting .355 (22-for-62) with three homers, eight doubles and 16 RBI through 19 games in May. He led the club in average, hits, doubles, home runs, RBI and total bases in 2018.
Third Base - Ke'Bryan Hayes
Fresh off winning his second consecutive Rawlings Gold Glove Award for being Minor League Baseball's top defensive third baseman, Hayes is at it again at the hot corner, committing just one error in 103 total chances to date. His .990 fielding percentage is the top mark among all MiLB third basemen. The 22-year-old has also flashed gap-to-gap power with two home runs and a league-high 17 doubles.
Shortstop - Pablo Reyes
Reyes, 25, flew onto Pittsburgh's radar last year when he recorded 32 extra-base hits, 36 RBI and 52 runs scored while playing five different positions defensively in 110 games for Indy.
Outfielders - Jake Elmore, Trayvon Robinson, Jason Martin
Elmore, 31, hit his way back to the big leagues for the first time since 2016. The journeyman had his contract selected by Pittsburgh earlier this month after batting a league-best .380 (41-for-108) in 31 games.
Robinson, 31, spent the last three seasons in the independent leagues. His return to affiliated ball has been fruitful; the switch-hitter is batting .341 (30-for-88) with 14 RBI in 31 games. He ripped his 100th career home run during Indy's most recent homestand, as well.
Martin, 23, was recalled by Pittsburgh at the start of the season and recorded a single in his first major league at-bat. He was optioned to Indy on April 30 and has nine extra-base hits and eight RBI in 18 Triple-A games. He has hit safely in 10 of his last 12 games after going 3-for-20 in his first six contests.
Designated Hitter - José Osuna
Osuna, 26, has been named as Indianapolis' Silver Slugger Award winner two times (2016, 2018). He made his MLB debut with Pittsburgh in April 2017 and has bounced between Triple-A and the big leagues ever since. Osuna owns a lifetime average over .300 with the Indians dating back to the 2016 campaign. This year through 18 games, he's batting .258 (17-for-66) with seven RBI and 12 runs scored.
Starting Pitchers - Mitch Keller, Dario Agrazal, Alex McRae, Eduardo Vera
Keller, 23, is Pittsburgh's top prospect and a consensus top 30 prospect in all of baseball. He's lived up to the hype with a perfect 5-0 record, 3.45 ERA and 56 strikeouts through nine starts. He is one of two pitchers in the IL with five wins, is second in punchouts and sixth in ERA.
Agrazal was removed from Pittsburgh's 40-man roster in January but may soon be added after an impressive start to the 2019 season. He went 2-1 with a 3.60 ERA in four starts for Double-A Altoona and has been even better with the Indians, going 2-1 with a 2.84 ERA and .195 average against through his first four career Triple-A outings.
McRae has shown improvement is his second go-round with Indianapolis. The righty is 4-2 with a 5.18 ERA and 44 strikeouts in nine starts, including a season-high eight punchouts over 7.0 innings on May 22 at Louisville. IL opponents are batting .274 after hitting .295 off him last summer. He has induced a league-high eight double plays and ranks third in innings pitched (48.2).
Vera, 24, has earned the win in each of his last three starts to even his record at 3-3 on the season. He is second in the league in innings pitched (49.0) and has thrown 5.0-plus frames in eight of his nine starts.
Relief Pitchers - Dovydas Neverauskas, Tyler Lyons, Brandon Waddell
Neverauskas was named to the 2018 IL All-Star team but didn't travel to Columbus. He has put up All-Star caliber numbers again this year, registering a 1.98 ERA and four saves in 11 appearances. Opponents are hitting just .188 against him with 21 strikeouts.
Lyons allowed three earned runs through his first three games (3.0ip) with Indy but has dominated since then, recording a 0.79 ERA (1er/11.1ip) and 10 strikeouts.
Waddell, a southpaw, is in his first season as a full-time reliever. He has held left-handed batters to a .161 average (5-for-31).
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