Major League Baseball opened the balloting for the 2019 All-Star Game on Tuesday, introducing a new “primary round” for fans to vote their favorite players into the Midsummer Classic.
The primary round, which runs until 2 p.m. MDT on June 21, will be used to determine the top three vote-getters at every position except the outfield. For outfielders, the top nine vote-getters will advance.
In the past, the No. 1 vote-getter at each position would automatically become the all-star starter for his league. But now, the top vote-getters who advance from the “primary round” will face a reset round of fan voting in the “starters election,” which launches at 10 a.m. June 26 and concludes at 2 p.m. June 27. The starters will be announced later that day, with full rosters unveiled June 30.
There are two ways to vote in the primary round: on all MLB digital platforms, as well as via MLB platforms allow fans to vote up to five times daily, while the Google ballot allows votes for 17 players per day.
This year’s all-star game is July 9 at Cleveland’s Progressive Field. Last season, the Rockies had three all-star representatives: Nolan Arenado, Charlie Blackmon and Trevor Story.
Colorado’s tone-setting victories. With three walk-off wins in the last four games of the homestand heading into Tuesday, manager Bud Black acknowledged the season-long undertones those sorts of victories can set, especially for a club that’s still finding its footing. “It leaves you with a great feeling when you leave the ballpark, and it sets a great foundation for moving forward. Any type of game that you’re in, you feel as though you always have the ability to come back.”
Black, on the late Bill Buckner. The baseball legacy of Bill Buckner, a 22-year-old big-league veteran who passed away Monday at 69 from dementia, wasn’t lost on the Rockies’ skipper.
Despite Buckner’s groundball blunder in the 1986 World Series that remains one of the most famous errors in baseball history, it was the late first baseman/outfielder’s hardball tenacity that still resonates most with Black, who played against Buckner and then briefly with him in Kansas City in 1988. “There was a toughness to him that was noticeable,” Black said. “He was a hard-nosed, tough player every day. There was a presence to him, and he could still play even was he was sort of hobbling around (as a veteran).”
Wolters held out. Catcher Tony Wolters was scratched from Tuesday’s starting lineup because of a bruised right hand, suffered when he was hit by a foul ball behind the plate Monday against Arizona. Black said Wolters, one of Colorado’s best hitters with a .296 average this season, is day to day.
On Deck
Diamondbacks LHP Robbie Ray (3-1, 3.25) at Rockies RHP Jeff Hoffman (0-1, 8.10)
6:40 p.m. Wednesday, Coors Field
TV: AT&T SportsNet
Radio: 850 AM/94.1 FM
Ray has been trending upward during the month of May, posting a 3-0 record with a 2.10 ERA in five starts. He allowed five runs, but just one earned, in five-plus innings in the Diamondbacks’ 10-9 win over Colorado on May 3 at Coors Field. Nolan Arenado has fared well against Ray with a .382 average and three homers, but the Rockies will surely miss the injured Charlie Blackmon, who is hitting .462 with four homers against the southpaw. Meanwhile, Hoffman has yet to settle in following two big-league starts this year, as he allowed five runs in five innings against Baltimore last week.
Trending: Entering Tuesday, right-hander Chad Bettis has made five relief appearances of two innings or longer this season. In those appearances, Bettis has combined for 11⅔ scoreless innings while allowing just six hits, with two walks and seven strikeouts.
At Issue: In the early sample size of 3⅔ innings since being recalled from Triple-A Albuquerque on May 22, reliever Jairo Diaz has scuffled a bit. The 28-year-old right-hander has a 4.91 ERA and has given up homers in consecutive outings.
Upcoming pitching matchups
ճܰ岹:Diamondbacks RHP Taylor Clarke (1-1, 2.93 ERA) at Rockies LHP Kyle Freeland (2-6, 6.71), 1:10 p.m., no TV
Friday: Blue Jays RHP Edwin Jackson (0-2, 9.00) at Rockies RHP German Marquez (5-2, 3.52), 6:40 p.m., ATTRM
Saturday: Blue Jays RHP Marcus Stroman (3-6, 2.74) at Rockies RHP Jon Gray (4-4, 4.52), 7:10 p.m., ATTRM
