American League All-Star manager Ned Yost of the Kansas City Royals announced today his selection of Cleveland Indians right-hander Corey Kluber to the AL All-Star roster as a replacement for Toronto Blue Jays righty Marco Estrada, who has been placed on the 15-day disabled list.
This marks the first career Midsummer Classic for the 30-year-old Kluber, the winner of the 2014 AL Cy Young Award and an anchor for pitching-rich Cleveland. Now in his sixth Major League season, Kluber is currently 8-8 with a 3.79 ERA, striking out 114 batters in his 114.0 innings of work. On the season the Stetson University product has a 1.04 WHIP and has limited batters to a .219 batting average, both of which would be the best marks of his career. Kluber joins teammates Danny Salazar and Francisco Lindor in representing the AL Central-leading Indians on the AL All-Star roster.
The 33-year-old Estrada, who was elected via the Player Ballot, has followed up a career-best 2015 season with the first All-Star recognition of his nine-year Major League career in 2016. The Sonora, Mexico native is 5-3 with a 2.93 ERA (104.1 IP, 64 H, 99 SO) on the season, in which he has fashioned a 0.99 WHIP and a .173 opponents' batting average. The Long Beach State product has been a model of consistency this season, recently posting a record-setting stretch in which he pitched at least 6.0 innings without permitting more than five hits in a Major League-record 12 consecutive starts, eclipsing the previous mark of 10 (Jake Arrieta -- 2014; Johnny Cueto -- 2013; Johan Santana -- 2004). He is invited to San Diego with full All-Star honors.
MLB All-Star Week includes the MLB All-Star Game presented by MasterCard at Petco Park (July 12th), Gatorade All-Star Workout Day featuring the T-Mobile Home Run Derby (July 11th), All-Star Sunday featuring the SiriusXM All-Star Futures Game and All-Star Legends & Celebrity Softball Game (July 10th), All-Star FanFest at the San Diego Convention Center (July 8th-12th), plus a lineup of additional events taking place around the city. The 87th Midsummer Classic will be televised nationally by FOX Sports; in Canada by Rogers Sportsnet and RDS; and worldwide by partners in more than 160 countries. ESPN Radio and ESPN Radio Deportes will provide exclusive national radio coverage of the All-Star Game. MLB Network, MLB.com and Sirius XM also will provide comprehensive All-Star Week coverage. For more information about MLB All-Star Week and to purchase tickets, please visit AllStarGame.com and follow @AllStarGame on social media.
(MLB press release)
