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SUNRISE, Fla. — Everything one needs to understand about Florida Panthers center Sam Bennett as a Stanley Cup playoffs juggernaut was epitomized by one shift in their Game 3 win over the Edmonton Oilers.

It began with a backcheck. It continued with a thundering hit on Oilers forward Vasily Podkolzin right after he released the puck — brutal, legal. Podkolzin had made a short pass to Edmonton defenseman John Klingberg, so Bennett hit him, too. He kept fighting for the puck along the boards before attempting a clear that was intercepted briefly, before Panthers forward Eetu Luostarinen jarred it loose.

Bennett saw this and — like he had just used a power-up in a game of Mario Kart — blew past everyone to accept a pass for a breakaway on Stuart Skinner, who was frozen in place as Bennett deposited the puck behind him for the fourth goal of a 6-1 blowout.

“That shift was a perfect example of his game: Blows two guys up and then he somehow leads the rush after that to score a beautiful goal. He can do it all,” said Brad Marchand, a one-time Bennett adversary turned Panthers teammate. “He has been an animal this whole playoffs. He’s built for this time of year.”

Every round, Bennett has validated this thesis. He leads the NHL postseason in goals with 14, four more than Edmonton star Leon Draisaitl. This is Florida’s third straight trip to the Stanley Cup Final. In that span, no one on the Panthers has scored as many goals (26) as Bennett.

“You just see him year after year, playoffs after playoffs. That’s where he makes his name,” Matthew Tkachuk said. “He’s the definition of a playoff player. And it’s really fun to play with him, especially at this time of year.”

His 20 points in 20 games leads the team. In a Panthers run defined by their dominance away from Florida, he has been their road warrior, with 12 goals and three assists — his 15 away points lead the playoffs.

After the Panthers’ Game 3 win put them two victories away from repeating as Stanley Cup champions, Bennett moved into the lead in the wagering odds for the Conn Smythe Trophy as NHL playoff MVP.

He’s been a menace in every zone this postseason, but especially in the offensive zone where his punishing forechecking and controversial play around the opponents’ crease have fueled Florida’s attack.

“I think that’s one of the biggest separators that he has is when you get in this time of year that you have to be in the dirty areas and he lives there,” Marchand said. “A lot of guys get pushed at this time of year, but [it’s great] when you have that ability to and skill to capitalize in front of the net.”

Even Bennett’s rivals have to nod to his postseason acumen.

“He’s always played with an edge, ever since he was a little guy. Nothing that we haven’t seen before — he’s playing well, scoring goals,” Edmonton captain Connor McDavid said. “We’ve got to figure him out.”

This MVP-caliber moment for Bennett is the latest milestone in a peculiar 11-year journey in the NHL: From the draft prospect who couldn’t complete a pullup to a Stanley Cup champion who can’t stop frustrating opponents — by any means necessary.


BENNETT WAS DRAFTED fourth overall by the Calgary Flames in 2014 behind three other players competing in the Stanley Cup Final this season: Florida defenseman Aaron Ekblad (1st) and center Sam Reinhart (2nd, by Buffalo), and Edmonton’s Draisaitl (3rd).

A center for the Ontario Hockey League’s Kingston Frontenacs, Bennett showed palpable offensive upside to go along with his defensive prowess: 91 points in 57 games during the 2013-14 season. He said he modeled his game after Hockey Hall of Famer Doug Gilmour, a tenacious two-way player whose nickname with the Toronto Maple Leafs was “Killer.”

But heading into the 2014 draft, Bennett was known for something else: Being the prospect who couldn’t complete a single pullup at the NHL scouting combine.

That became a viral story, defining him before the Flames selected him fourth overall. Players like Ottawa Senators captain Jason Spezza called him to offer support and advice on how to deal with the embarrassment. Bennett completed five pullups later that year for a predraft television special, in an effort to prove doubters wrong.

“I knew right away he’d be embarrassed by that. He likes to succeed in everything he ever tries. Now we can joke about it, but when it first went down it was like, ‘Oh, buddy, yikes,'” his mother Diane told Maclean’s in 2014. “The fact that some people in the media doubted his motivation made me think, ‘Oh god. They don’t know Sammy at all.'”

Bennett’s first full NHL season came as a 19-year-old in 2015-16. He had 18 goals and 18 assists in 77 games, but didn’t receive a single vote for the Calder Trophy as rookie of the year. The next five seasons were defined by Bennett’s unrealized potential: 67 goals and 73 assists in 402 games, skating to a minus-67 while averaging just over 14 minutes per game in ice time. The season before the Flames traded him, Bennett was averaging just 12:31 in ice time per game — less than 31-year-old Milan Lucic (13:20) for Calgary.

The only place were Bennett excelled? The postseason. In 30 playoff games, he had a 1.63 points-per-60 minutes average, higher than his regular-season average (1.41) in that span.

“He’s always had the talent. He’s always had the work ethic, he’s always had the bite, the jam, everything. I think a lot of it has got to do with opportunity,” said Tkachuk, who played with Bennett in Calgary.

“He didn’t get the opportunity in Calgary that he has here with the minutes and how he’s utilized and everything. I don’t know why that is. Maybe that’s just a personnel thing or whatever, but he’s just taken off as a whole new player here in Florida for everybody to see — even though in Calgary I saw it all along and us as players saw it all along.”

Tkachuk was one of the Flames players that hated to see him go.

“We weren’t too thrilled, especially him being a great buddy of mine, I was not too happy when he got traded from Calgary,” he said, “but I was also so happy to see him come here and have a chance.”

Maple Leafs GM Brad Treliving was running the Flames when they traded Bennett and a sixth-round pick in April 2021 for a 2022 second-round pick and winger Emil Heineman, who was subsequently traded to Montreal in a deal for winger Tyler Toffoli.

Logistically, the trade made sense for Calgary. They were likely to lose Bennett in the Seattle expansion draft that year for nothing; or, if they kept him, it would have meant giving Bennett a qualifying offer as a restricted free agent and a raise.

At the time of the trade, Treliving admitted that Bennett’s development and deployment could have been “handled a little bit differently” during his time in Calgary.

“I don’t put that on Sam. I think at the end of the day, Sam worked hard here. That was never an issue,” Treliving said. “I think he’s going to embrace a fresh start.”

Bennett appreciated the new opportunity with the Panthers.

“I definitely struggled in Calgary for a while. I think once I got here, just how the team embraced me, the opportunity the team gave me, really from the beginning, was totally different than what I was getting in Calgary,” he said. “I took that opportunity and found some success early. And then our team definitely changed quite a bit from when I first got here, but I still had that confidence.”

Bennett paid immediate dividends, scoring a career-high 28 goals in his first season in Florida on a team that finished with the best record in the NHL.

But things would change dramatically in the offseason: Coach Andrew Brunette was replaced by coach Paul Maurice, and Tkachuk arrived from Calgary in a trade for Jonathan Huberdeau, Bennett’s slickly skilled linemate who lacked the unique intangibles that Tkachuk brought to Florida.

“Sam Bennett goes from playing with Jonathan Huberdeau — fantastic player, very skilled and Benny can play that game — to playing with Matthew Tkachuk,” Maurice said. “So his game changes a little bit.”

This is where the “playoff animal” began to really emerge from Bennett. He had the scoring and the skill. He had the playoff clutch gene. Tkachuk brought out even more tenacity and agitation from Bennett — and the swagger in relishing that style of play — forging Panthers hockey into its current blunt force form.

“I think our style changed, but I think it even fit my style of game even more so. That gave me even more confidence to go out and play,” Bennett said. “I’ve got quite a few playoff games under my belt now, and always felt the need to perform when the game’s the biggest.”

Bennett plays to win. And those wins come at all costs.


BENNETT COLLIDES WITH skaters.

He received a one-game suspension in May 2021 for boarding and a three-game ban in January 2022 for an illegal check to the head of Cedric Paquette of the Montreal Canadiens. He infamously punched Marchand in the Panthers’ 2024 playoff win over the Boston Bruins, putting Marchand out of the series for two games and resulting in no punishment for Bennett.

“He’s got a good right hook,” Marchand said last month, remembering a time before they shared the same dressing room.

“He’s not as serious of a person as I thought he was. When you see him on the ice and you see him kind of around the media, he just seemed like he was quiet and very reserved,” Marchand said. “Once you get to know him, he’s actually pretty vocal and really funny and a good guy to be around. But when you see him on the ice, he’s so intense. He doesn’t really chirp. You don’t hear him during the game. He’s all business.”

Bennett also collides with goaltenders.

Like, a lot.

He collided with Anthony Stolarz in Game 1 of the second round. The Maple Leafs goaltender — Bennett’s former teammate on the Panthers — left the series with a concussion and didn’t return.

He collided with Carolina’s Frederik Andersen in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference finals. He fell backward into Skinner’s crease in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final after battling with defenseman Brett Kulak, getting credited for a goal when the puck deflected in off him. He fell on Skinner again in Game 2, earned a penalty for goalie interference that in hindsight he hadn’t earned, having tripped over Skinner’s leg as the Edmonton goalie went to move in his crease.

During a TNT postgame show early in the Stanley Cup Final, Bennett was told that “a very large portion of the Alberta population” no longer wanted to see him in front of the Edmonton net.

“That’s where I’m going to be for the rest of this series,” Bennett said.

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Puck deflects off Sam Bennett’s skate for Panthers goal

Sam Bennett deflects in a goal for the Panthers to tie the score in the first period vs. the Oilers.

His physicality around the crease — and into goaltenders — has been the catalyst for plenty of ‘how does he keep getting away with it?’ moments of exasperation for fans and opposing teams.

“Obviously, you don’t like when guys are purposely falling into your goaltender. That’s never good, and you hope that gets noticed,” Oilers winger Evander Kane said. “You can’t go out and take a 10-minute penalty in the first period. That wouldn’t help anybody. But there are other ways to handle it. Staying aggressive and going hard to their net as well.”

Seth Jones used to defend against Bennett around the crease before joining the Panthers via trade this season.

“As a defenseman, you see where he gets around that blue paint. He pushes off. He makes himself big. Screens goal as well,” he said. “It’s just that constant body contact around the net that really elevates his game and makes it difficult to handle.”

Ekblad has been Bennett’s teammate now for five seasons. The way he sees it, Bennett earns these high-danger opportunities by going to the toughest parts of the ice.

“A lot of times there’s nothing you can do if he gets pushed, right? Just like Corey Perry, he’s extremely good at getting there and being between the D-man and a goalie, so there’s not much you can do,” Ekblad said. “Those guys have a knack for it. They’re some of the best in the league at it.”

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Sam Bennett scores on the power play for Florida Panthers

Sam Bennett scores on the power play for Florida Panthers

Bennett has been the best at most things in this playoff run for Florida. All of it is happening at a critical time for the veteran center’s career.

Bennett is an unrestricted free agent this summer. He’s in the last year of a four-year contract signed with Florida that carries an average annual value of $4.425 million. There has been speculation that Bennett could earn upwards of $10 million annually on his next contract.

He has clearly been happy as a Panther, not only in their success but in how that success has been set up by those around him.

“I’m just very fortunate to get some great teammates and great linemates and great coaches that believe in me,” he said. “I think all that together just is the perfect combination to have success.”

Whether he signs in Florida or leaves for another team’s riches, the value placed on Bennett won’t be for his regular-season achievement. Bennett has never scored 30 goals in a season, and this was his first campaign with more than 50 points.

It’ll be for his championship pedigree. For being the “definition of a playoff player.” Or, as Marchand poetically said, for simply being “an animal” when it counts the most.

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2025 MLB All-Star rosters: Biggest snubs and other takeaways

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2025 MLB All-Star rosters: Biggest snubs and other takeaways

The initial 2025 MLB All-Star Game rosters are out, the product of the collaborative process between fans, players and the league. How did this annual confab do?

We already know that injuries will prevent some of these selectees from appearing in Atlanta, and replacement choices will be announced in the coming days. By the end of this post-selection period, we’ll wind up with something like 70 to 75 All-Stars for this season.

These first-draft rosters contain 65 players, the odd number stemming from the decision to send Clayton Kershaw to the festivities as a “Legend” pick. First reaction: Baseball’s newest member of the 3,000 strikeout club has earned everything he gets.

Now, on to the nitpicking.


American League

Biggest oversight: Joe Ryan, Minnesota Twins

The Twins’ lone representative on the initial rosters is outfielder Byron Buxton, a worthy selection. Ryan (8-4, 2.76 ERA) fell into a group of similar performers including Kansas City’s Kris Bubic and the Texas duo of Jacob deGrom and Nathan Eovaldi. Bubic and deGrom made it, which is great, and Bubic in particular is quite a story.

But Ryan and Eovaldi didn’t make it, and both were probably a little more deserving that Seattle’s Bryan Woo, whose superficial numbers (8-4, 2.77) are very close to Ryan’s. But Woo plays in a more friendly pitching park, and the under-the-hood metrics favor Ryan.

The main takeaway: If this is the biggest discrepancy, the process worked well.

Second-biggest oversight: Many-way tie between several hitters

The every-team-gets-a-player rule, along with positional requirements, always knocks out worthy performers from teams with multiple candidates. Thus, a few picks on the position side might have gone differently.

The Rays are playing so well they probably deserve more than one player. Their most deserving pick made it — infielder Jonathan Aranda — along with veteran second baseman Brandon Lowe. Infielders such as J.P. Crawford (Seattle), Isaac Paredes (Houston) and Zach McKinstry (Detroit) had good cases to make it ahead of Lowe, whose power numbers (19 homers, 54 RBIs) swayed the players.

While acknowledging that Gunnar Henderson has had a disappointing season, I still think he deserved to be the Orioles’ default pick instead of Ryan O’Hearn. But the latter was selected as the AL’s starting DH by the fans, and Baltimore doesn’t deserve two players. It’s a great story that O’Hearn will be a first-time All-Star just a couple of weeks before his 32nd birthday.

Other thoughts

• The default White Sox selection is rookie starter Shane Smith, a Rule 5 pick from Milwaukee last winter. Smith is my lowest-rated player on the AL squad, but he has been consistently solid. Adrian Houser, an in-season pickup, has been great for Chicago and has arguably produced more value than Smith. But I like honoring the rookie who has been there the whole campaign.

• The Athletics’ Jacob Wilson was elected as a starter and is easily the most deserving player from that squad. I’m not sure I see a second pick there, but Brent Rooker made it as a DH. Rooker has been fine, but his spot could have gone to one of the overlooked hitters already mentioned, or perhaps Kansas City’s Maikel Garcia.

• Houston’s Jeremy Pena is a deserving choice and arguably should be the AL’s starter at shortstop instead of Wilson. Alas, he’s on the injured list, and though reports say he might soon resume baseball activities, it’s likely Pena will be replaced. Any of the above-mentioned overlooked hitters will do.

• As for the starters, the fans do a great job nowadays. I disagreed with them on a couple of spots, though. I would have gone with a keystone combo of Jazz Chisholm Jr. and Pena rather than Gleyber Torres and Wilson, but I’d have them all on the team. And I would have definitely started Buxton over Javier Baez in the outfield.


National League

Biggest oversight: Juan Soto, New York Mets

Not sure how this happens, but I’m guessing Soto is a victim of his own standards. Yes, he signed a contract for an unfathomable amount of money, and so far, he hasn’t reinvented the game as a member of the Mets. He has just been lower-end Juan Soto, which is still one of the best players in the sport. His OBP is, as ever, north of .400, he leads the league in walks and it sure seems as if Pete Alonso has very much enjoyed hitting behind him.

The All-Star Game was invented for players like Soto, and though you might leave out someone like him if he is having a truly poor season, that’s not the case here. It is kind of amazing that he didn’t make it, while MacKenzie Gore and James Wood — both part of the trade that sent Soto from Washington to San Diego — did. They deserve it, and you can make a strong argument that a third player the Nats picked up in the trade — CJ Abrams — does as well. But Soto deserves it too.

Finally, the Marlins’ most-deserving pick is outfielder Kyle Stowers, who indeed ended up as their default selection. But he probably ended up with Soto’s slot.

Second-biggest oversight: Andy Pages, Los Angeles Dodgers

It’s hard to overlook anyone on the Dodgers, but somehow Pages slipped through the cracks despite his fantastic all-around first half for the defending champs.

It was just a numbers game. I’ve got five NL outfielders rated ahead of Pages, and all but Soto made it, so no additional quibbles there. The fans voted in Ronald Acuna Jr. to start at his home ballpark. Having Acuna there in front of the fans in Atlanta makes sense. But he has played only half of the first half.

Other thoughts

• The shortstop position is loaded in the NL, but the only pure shortstops to make it were starter Francisco Lindor and Elly De La Cruz. Both are good selections, but the Phillies’ Trea Turner has been just as outstanding. Abrams and Arizona’s Geraldo Perdomo are also deserving. The position has been so good that the player with the most career value currently playing shortstop in the NL — Mookie Betts — barely merits a mention. Betts has had a subpar half, but who will be surprised if he’s topping this list by the end of the season?

• Both leagues had three pitching staff slots given to relievers. The group in the AL (Aroldis Chapman, Josh Hader and Andres Munoz) was much more clear-cut than the one in the NL, which ended up with the Giants’ Randy Rodriguez, the Mets’ Edwin Diaz and the Padres’ Jason Adam. It made sense to honor someone from San Diego’s dominant bullpen, and you could have flipped a coin to pick between Adam and Adrian Morejon.

• Picking these rosters while meeting all the requirements and needs for teams and positions is hard. I don’t have any real issue with the pitchers selected for the NL. One of them is Atlanta’s Chris Sale, who is on the IL and will have to be replaced. My pick would be Philadelphia’s Cristopher Sanchez (7-2, 2.68 ERA).

• And for the starting position players, Alonso should have gotten the nod over Freddie Freeman at first base, though it will be great to see Freeman’s reception when he takes the field in Atlanta. For that matter, the Cubs’ Michael Busch has had a better first half than Freeman at this point, though that became true only in the past few days, thanks to his explosion at Wrigley Field. I would have gone with Turner at short, but it’s close. And I’d have started Wood in place of Acuna.

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Nats seek ‘fresh approach,’ fire Martinez, Rizzo

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Nats seek 'fresh approach,' fire Martinez, Rizzo

The last-place Washington Nationals fired president of baseball operations Mike Rizzo and manager Davey Martinez, the team announced Sunday.

Rizzo, 64, and Martinez, 60, won a World Series with the Nationals in 2019, but the team has floundered in recent years. This season, the Nationals are 37-53 and stuck at the bottom of the National League East after getting swept by the Boston Red Sox this weekend at home. Washington hasn’t finished higher than fourth in the division since winning the World Series.

“On behalf of our family and the Washington Nationals organization, I first and foremost want to thank Mike and Davey for their contributions to our franchise and our city,” principal owner Mark Lerner said in a statement. “Our family is eternally grateful for their years of dedication to the organization, including their roles in bringing a World Series trophy to Washington, D.C.

“While we are appreciative of their past successes, the on-field performance has not been where we or our fans expect it to be. This is a pivotal time for our club, and we believe a fresh approach and new energy is the best course of action for our team moving forward.”

Mike DeBartolo, the club’s senior vice president and assistant general manager, was named interim GM on Sunday night. DeBartolo will oversee all aspects of baseball operations, including the MLB draft. An announcement will be made on the interim manager Monday, a day before the club begins a series against the St. Louis Cardinals.

Rizzo has been the top decision-maker in Washington since 2013, and Martinez has been on board since 2018. Under Rizzo’s leadership, the team made the postseason four times: in 2014, 2016, 2017 and 2019. The latter season was Martinez’s lone playoff appearance.

“When our family assumed control of the team, nearly 20 years ago, Mike was the first hire we made,” Lerner said. “Over two decades, he was with us as we went from a fledging team in a new city to World Series champion. Mike helped make us who we are as an organization, and we’re so thankful to him for his hard work and dedication — not just on the field and in the front office, but in the community as well.”

The Nationals are in the midst of a rebuild that has moved slower than expected, though the team didn’t augment its young core much during the winter. Led by All-Stars James Wood and MacKenzie Gore, Washington has the second-youngest group of hitters in MLB and the sixth-youngest pitching staff.

The team lost 11 straight games in a forgettable stretch last month. And during a 2-10 run in June, Washington averaged just 2.5 runs. Since June 1, the Nationals have scored one run or been shut out seven times. In Sunday’s 6-4 loss to Boston, they left 15 runners on base.

There was industry speculation over the winter that the Nationals would spend money on free agents for the first time in several years, but that never materialized. Instead, the team made minor moves, signing free agents Josh Bell and Michael Soroka, trading for first baseman Nathaniel Lowe and re-signing closer Kyle Finnegan. Now, the hope is a new management team, both on and off the field, can help change the franchise’s fortunes.

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Kershaw gets special ASG invite; no Soto, Betts

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Kershaw gets special ASG invite; no Soto, Betts

The rosters for the 2025 MLB All-Star Game will feature 19 first-timers — and one legend — as the pitchers and reserves were announced Sunday for the July 15 contest at Truist Park in Atlanta.

Los Angeles Dodgers left-hander Clayton Kershaw, a three-time Cy Young Award winner who made his first All-Star team in 2011, was named to his 11th National League roster as a special commissioner’s selection.

Kershaw, who became only the fourth left-hander to amass 3,000 career strikeouts, is 4-0 with a 3.43 ERA in nine starts after beginning the season on the injured list. He joins Albert Pujols and Miguel Cabrera as a legend choice, after the pair of sluggers were selected in 2022.

Kershaw said he didn’t want to discuss the selection Sunday.

Among the first-time All-Stars announced Sunday: Dodgers teammate Yoshinobu Yamamoto; Washington Nationals outfielder James Wood and left-hander MacKenzie Gore; Houston Astros ace Hunter Brown and shortstop Jeremy Pena; and Chicago Cubs 34-year-old left-hander Matthew Boyd.

“It’ll just be cool being around some of the best players in the game,” Wood said.

First-time All-Stars previously elected to start by the fans include Seattle Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh, Athletics shortstop Jacob Wilson, Baltimore Orioles designated hitter Ryan O’Hearn and Cubs center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong.

Overall, the 19 first-time All-Stars is a drop from the 32 first-time selections on the initial rosters in 2024.

Kershaw would be the sentimental choice to start for the National League, although Pittsburgh Pirates ace Paul Skenes, who leads NL pitchers in ERA and WAR, might be in line to start his second straight contest. Philadelphia Phillies right-hander Zack Wheeler, a three-time All-Star, is 9-3 with a 2.17 ERA after Sunday’s complete-game victory and also would be a strong candidate to start.

“I think it would be stupid to say no to that. It’s a pretty cool opportunity,” Skenes said about the possibility of being asked to start by Dodgers manager Dave Roberts. “I didn’t make plans over the All-Star break or anything. So, yeah, I’m super stoked.”

Kershaw has made one All-Star start in his career, in 2022 at Dodger Stadium.

Among standout players not selected were New York Mets outfielder Juan Soto, who signed a $765 million contract as a free agent in the offseason, and Dodgers shortstop Mookie Betts, who had made eight consecutive All-Star rosters since 2016.

Soto got off to a slow start but was the National League Player of the Month in June and entered Sunday ranked sixth in the NL in WAR among position players while ranking second in OBP, eighth in OPS and third in runs scored.

The players vote for the reserves at each position and selected Wood, Corbin Carroll of the Arizona Diamondbacks and Fernando Tatis Jr. of the San Diego Padres as the backup outfielders. Kyle Stowers also made it as a backup outfielder as the representative for the Miami Marlins.

Unless Soto later is added as an injury replacement, he’ll miss his first All-Star Game since his first full season in 2019.

The Dodgers lead all teams with five representatives: Kershaw, Yamamoto and starters Shohei Ohtani, Freddie Freeman and Will Smith. The AL-leading Detroit Tigers (57-34) and Mariners have four each.

Tigers ace Tarik Skubal will join AL starters Riley Greene, Gleyber Torres and Javier Baez, while Raleigh, the AL’s starting catcher, will be joined by Seattle teammates Bryan Woo, Andres Munoz and Julio Rodriguez.

Earning his fifth career selection but first since 2021 is Texas Rangers righty Jacob deGrom, who is finally healthy after making only nine starts in his first two seasons with the Rangers and is 9-2 with a 2.13 ERA. He has never started an All-Star Game, although Skubal or Brown would be the favorite to start for the AL.

The hometown Braves will have three All-Stars in Acuna, pitcher Chris Sale (his ninth selection, tied with Freeman for the second most behind Kershaw) and first baseman Matt Olson. The San Francisco Giants had three pitchers selected: Logan Webb, Robbie Ray and reliever Randy Rodriguez.

The slumping New York Yankees ended up with three All-Stars: Aaron Judge, Jazz Chisholm Jr. and Max Fried. The Mets also earned three All-Star selections: Francisco Lindor, Pete Alonso and Edwin Diaz.

“Red carpet, that’s my thing,” Chisholm said. “I do have a ‘fit in mind.”

Rosters are expanded from 26 to 32 for the All-Star Game. They include starters elected by fans, 17 players (five starting pitchers, three relievers and a backup for each position) chosen in a player vote and six players (four pitchers and two position players) selected by league officials. Every club must be represented.

Acuna, Wood and Raleigh are the three All-Stars who have so far committed to participating in the Home Run Derby.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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