Three Bruins Named to MLB All-Star Game
July 11, 2018 | Baseball
LOS ANGELES โ Three UCLA Baseball alums were selected as Major League Baseball All-Stars over the weekend as Brandon Crawford (San Francisco Giants) was named the starting National League shortstop, while Trevor Bauer (Cleveland Indians) and Gerrit Cole (Houston Astros) were selected to the American League pitching staff. The three selections are the most by any collegiate program in the country.
Crawford (2006-08) earns his second All-Star team selection and his first starting nod as he is currently hitting .296 with 10 home runs and 39 RBIs and is on pace to set career-bests in several offensive categories. With a week until the All-Star break, he is leading all National League shortstops in batting, on-base percentage, is second in slugging, OPS, doubles and RBIs, and third in home runs. He received over three million votes to earnย the starting spot, nearly doubling the second-place vote getter, and will be the Giants' first All-Star starting shortstop since 2001.
Bauer (2009-11) collects his first All-Star Game selection as he is having what many are calling a breakout season. He holds an 8-6 record with a 2.30 ERA in 19 starts this season for Cleveland. Bauer is currently third in the A.L. in strikeouts with 168, second in innings pitched at 129.1 and has the lowest home run rate per nine innings in the league. He is also top-10 in the American League in ERA, WHIP, and strikeouts per nine innings.
Cole (2009-11) is now an All-Star for the second time in his career but the first in the American League as his first selection came in 2015 as a member of the Pittsburgh Pirates. In his first season with Houston, he is 9-2 with a 2.57 ERA in 19 starts. Cole is currently one strikeout ahead of Bauer for second place in the A.L. with 169 and fifth in innings pitched at 122.2. He is also second in strikeouts per nine innings, third in opponent batting average, fifth in WHIP and seventh in ERA.
The 2018 MLB All-Star game will take place on July 17 at Nationals Park in Washington, D.C.