Cardinals first baseman Paul Goldschmidt emerged victorious from the fan voting for the 2022 All-Star Game and will serve as the starter at his position for the Midsummer Classic on July 19 in Los Angeles.
The distinction marks Goldschmidt’s seventh All-Star selection of his career and his first with St. Louis. Goldschmidt leads all NL hitters in batting average, on-base percentage and slugging percentage as he makes his case for an MVP Award with his exceptional performance for the Cardinals this season.
Though Nolan Arenado could still be named for the NL All-Star team, he won’t be in the lineup as a starter for the game after Padres’ third baseman Manny Machado narrowly edged out Arenado in the fan vote, with 51% of the final tally compared to Arenado’s 49%.
Interestingly, the Cardinals will have two representatives at the first base position at the festivities at Dodger Stadium later this month. MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred named Albert Pujols to the All-Star team earlier Friday as a legacy player using an authority that was granted to the league’s commissioner in the most recent collective bargaining agreement between the league and the MLB Players Association. Miguel Cabrera drew the honor on the American League side.
This will not be the end of the All-Star names that come out. On Sunday, MLB will unveil the remainder of the rosters.