AL names starting pitcher for All-Star Game

Burnes, 29, has been one of the best pitchers in the majors in recent years. He spent most of his career with the Brewers but came to the O’s via an offseason trade. 

From 2020 to 2023, Burnes logged over 600 innings with Milwaukee, posting a 2.86 ERA in that time. He struck out 30.9 percent of batters faced, limited walks to a 7.1 percent clip and kept balls in play on the ground at a rate of 46.4 percent. He made the All-Star team in three straight years from 2021 to 2023 and won the National League Cy Young in the first season of that stretch.

Since coming over to the American League, he has largely continued in the same manner. Through 19 starts as an Oriole, he has a 2.43 ERA in 118 2/3 innings. His 23.3 percent strikeout rate is down relative to his past work but he’s also lowered his walk rate to 5.3 percent and increased his ground-ball rate to 49.4 percent.

It was a bit questionable as to whether Burnes would be able to participate in the game as his wife recently gave birth to twins, but she apparently signed off on him appearing in the game, per Britt Ghiroli of The Athletic on X. 

Rangers manager Bruce Bochy is the skipper for the American League and mentioned the success of the O’s as well as the track record of Burnes as factors leading to his decision, per Jake Rill of MLB.com on X.

Burnes is in his final season of arbitration and will be a free agent at season’s end. He placed second on the most recent edition of the MLBTR Free Agent Power Rankings, trailing only Juan Soto of the Yankees.