One day after he failed to make the American League All-Star team through regular channels (fan vote, selection by players or manager, online poll), Mariners third baseman Kyle Seager was added to the squad Monday as an injury replacement for Toronto’s Edwin Encarnacion. Boston manager John Farrell, who will lead the AL All-Stars July 15 at Target Field in Minneapolis, made the announcement.
The Blue Jays placed Encarnacion, an All-Star for the second consecutive year, on the disabled list Monday with a right quadriceps strain. Seager did not make the top eight in fan balloting.
The left-handed hitting Seager, 26, in his fourth major league season, is making his first All-Star appearance. The third baseman joins RHP Felix Hernandez and second baseman Robinson Cano as Seattle’s representatives. This marks the first time since 2011 with Hernandez, Michael Pineda and Brandon League, that Seattle has featured three All-Stars.
Seager, a University of North Carolina product, is batting .274 with 13 home runs, 59 RBIs, 21 doubles and a .483 slugging percentage. Seager has been the team MVP, selected by the Seattle chapter of the Baseball Writers Association of America, after each of the past two seasons.
He will be the first Mariner third baseman to play in the All-Star game since Edgar Martinez in 1992. Adrian Beltre (2005-09), who has made four All-Star teams at third base with Boston and Texas since leaving Seattle, never made the All-Star team while playing for the Mariners.
Seager, selected by the Mariners in the third round of the 2009 amateur draft, is the first player developed entirely by the franchise during Jack Zduriencik’s tenure as general manager to become an All-Star.
The Mariners (48-40) begin a four-game series with Minnesota at 7 p.m. Monday night at Safeco Field. RHP Hisashi Iwakuma (6-4, 3.33) will throw opposite RHP Kevin Correia (4-10, 4.95). The Mariners enter Monday seven games behind Oakland in the AL West, while Minnesota (39-48) is last in the AL Central.
2 Comments
So, so excited for Kyle Seager. Seems like a good guy and is a hard working player. Proud to have him on our team and wish him the best of luck at the all star game and hope he has many, many more in his future (though I would prefer to see him in a playoff game in a Mariners uniform).
Just need to get Rodney there and all will be right with the universe.