No matter which team you root for during the regular season, there is plenty to watch at the 2016 MLB All-Star Game.
While the starting lineups are dominated by two teams—the Chicago Cubs and Boston Red Sox will have eight starters between the two sides—each organization has a representative at the Midsummer Classic. Additionally, there are plenty of well-known players to follow on both teams, from young superstars to well-known veterans.
The squads will battle for home-field advantage in the World Series, but in reality, this is still just a chance to see the best in baseball on the big stage.
2016 MLB All-Star Game
When: Tuesday, July 12
Where: Petco Park; San Diego, California
Time: 8 p.m. ET
TV: Fox (Coverage begins at 7:30 p.m. ET)
Live Stream: Fox Sports Go
The past week saw some shuffling on the rosters because of injury concerns, but the starting lineups are officially set for the American League and National League teams, including the starting pitchers.
ESPN Stats & Info provided a look at the lineups:
While Johnny Cueto had a strong first half, he likely wasn’t the first choice for NL manager Terry Collins.
Sure, he leads the league with 13 wins to go with an impressive 2.47 ERA. However, it helps that Clayton Kershaw, Madison Bumgarner, Stephen Strasburg and Noah Syndergaard couldn’t compete in the exhibition for a variety of reasons.
In the end, the choice likely came down to Cueto and Jake Arrieta, and the latter has struggled as of late with 15 earned runs allowed in his last three starts. The San Francisco Giants starter became the easy decision.
There was also an easy choice in the AL, but that is due to the strong showing by Chris Sale in the first half of the season. He is coming off his worst start of the year (eight earned runs in five innings) but still has a 3.38 ERA in 2016. Most importantly, his 14 wins lead the majors at the All-Star break.
AL manager Ned Yost explained his thoughts on the division rival, per Dan Hayes of CSN Chicago:
Sale has been underrated in recent years despite the fact that he is going to his fifth consecutive All-Star Game, but he is impossible to ignore this time around.
With Steven Wright and as many as seven relievers potentially making appearances, this is a deep staff.
No matter what the pitchers do for the American League, the squad remains in good shape thanks to an impressive lineup from top to bottom: Jose Altuve, Mike Trout, Manny Machado and David Ortiz represent the perfect combination of batting average, speed and power at the top of the order.
Red Sox outfielders Jackie Bradley Jr. and Mookie Betts also have a chance to make an impact at the end of the order.
Meanwhile, the National League has some quality hitters as well, beginning with the Cubs duo of Kris Bryant and Anthony Rizzo.
According to Baseball-Reference.com, they have the two best WAR marks among NL position players this year:
Bryant has been especially impressive, with his 25 home runs leading the NL, making him a top contender for the MVP award with a few months to go.
The Giants—who have the majors’ best record—don’t have a lot of representatives in the game, but don’t count out catcher Buster Posey, who could come up with some big hits after barely securing the starting spot over Yadier Molina.
With these players in action for the first few innings and a long list of replacements ready to make an impact late in the game, this should be an enjoyable battle between two evenly matched opponents.
Follow Rob Goldberg on Twitter for year-round sports analysis.
Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com