8 Atlanta Braves selected to 2023 MLB All-Star Game
The Atlanta Braves have been arguably the best team in baseball in the first half. As a reward they got the most All-Star selections in franchise history
We knew Ronald Acuña Jr, Sean Murphy, and Orlando Arcia were headed to Seattle for the 2023 MLB All-Star Game, but now we know which Braves will be joining the 3 All-Star starters in Seattle, as MLB announced the full rosters this evening.
In addition to the 3 position players starting, the Braves will have 3 position players on the bench and 2 pitchers. Here they are:
Who are the 2023 Atlanta Braves All-Stars?
The position players
Ronald Acuña Jr. led MLB in votes this year and got his fourth All-Star nod of his career. Sean Murphy and Orlando Arcia got their first nods.
Austin Riley, Ozzie Albies, and Matt Olson were selected as reserves in the 2023 All-Star Game. This will be Albies' third All-Star nod, while Riley and Olson receive their second nods. This is Matt Olson's first All-Star seletion as a member of the Braves.
Olson has had an excellent season for the club, leading the NL in HRs and RBIs, and has a 145 wRC+.
Albies has rebounded from an injury-riddled 2022 with one of his best seasons yet. He currently sits at 9th in the majors in HRs at 20 and has a 113 wRC+, which would be his second-best in his career.
While Austin Riley hasn't had the same type of year he had in 2021 or 2022, he has still been an above-average bat, with a 110 wRC+. His 1.7 fWAR sits at third-best in the NL, behind J.D. Davis and Jeimer Candelario.
The pitchers
Bryce Elder and Spencer Strider will join the 6 position players in Seattle this July. It will be both pitchers' first All-Star Game.
Coming into the season, Strider was a Cy Young front-runner, and, aside from a few hiccups in June, has been exceptional this season. He leads the league in strikeouts, with 155 Ks in just 98.1 innings, to go along with a 3.66 ERA. He had 2.2 fWAR coming into Sunday's game against the Marlins.
Bryce Elder, on the other hand, didn't even make the team out of Spring Training, with the final two rotation spots initially going to Dylan Dodd and Jared Shuster. Since making his first start on April 5, however, he's been unstoppable.
In 16 starters, the 24-year-old has 2.44 ERA in 96 innings. Elder currently has the second-lowest ERA in baseball, just a tick behind Justin Steele of the Cubs, who owns a 2.43 ERA.
With eight All-Stars, the Braves set a franchise record for most All-Stars in a season. The previous record was seven, done in 1997 and 2003. It's also the first time in history that the team's entire infield was selected.