Toronto well-represented with five Blue Jays at All-Star Game

Canada’s lone MLB club is well represented at this year’s All-Star festivities.

For the last few years, the Toronto Blue Jays have rebuilt their roster to form one of the more exciting young squads to watch in baseball, and the results are starting to show.

Five Blue Jays will be representing Canada at the annual Midsummer Classic. Of them, four are participating for the first time in their careers. That also doesn’t include George Springer, who was selected as an All-Star but withdrew from the game to rest from his right elbow injury.

Of the All-Stars representing the Jays at Tuesday’s game, let’s take a look at who they are and how they got here.

Alek Manoah

In his first full season in the big leagues, Alek Manoah is putting up an eye-popping campaign as one of the best starters in the American League. Manoah is one of just eight pitchers across the MLB who has reached double-digit wins in the first half of this season and is tied for second in the AL in winning decisions on the mound. With 38 starts under his belt, he’s already posted Cy Young-calibre numbers and will be relied upon in the Jays’ starting rotation for years to come. He may not be the flashiest or biggest name since being drafted in 2019, but you better believe Alek Menoah is here and he is an All-Star.

Alejandro Kirk

Batting at ninth for the American League squad is perhaps one of the best success stories in baseball this season. Alejandro Kirk didn't even start the season as the Blue Jays' starting catcher, but has risen all the way up to become the best hitting backstop in all of baseball and a participant in his first All-Star game.

Kirk joined the franchise in 2016 on a $30,000 signing bonus after scouts identified him at a tryout where another backstop was the initial target they were looking at. Passed over at least one year by every team, he climbed the ranks of the minor leagues before finally being promoted to the big club in September 2020. Now, he has grown to be the most consistent at the plate for a Jays team that has seen plenty of uneven stretches offensively.

Santiago Espinal

Santiago Espinal was one of three All-Star replacements named on Saturday, taking the spot of the Houston Astros’ Jose Altuve on the American League team. Since joining the Blue Jays from the Boston Red Sox in 2020, Espinal has become a standout for the Jays on both sides of the ball, hitting six home runs and 37 RBIs in 89 games this season while owning a .271/.322/.394 slash line.

To announce Espinal’s selection to the game, new Jays manager John Schneider called a team meeting to surprise their beloved Santi on his achievement. 

Jordan Romano

A bit of a last minute decision, Jordan Romano will represent his hometown team at the Midsummer Classic. He was recently named as a replacement for the Yankees’ Gerritt Cole, who is out with injury. On a team that has been at times inconsistent with relief pitching, Romano has been a soothing presence. As the 29-year-old prepares for his first All-Star game, he has spent the past three seasons as one of the most consistent back-end arms not just on his own team, but across all of baseball.

Romano currently owns a 3-2 record with a 2.73 ERA and 19 saves over 33 innings pitched this season, including 37 strikeouts. Watching his teammates celebrate his selection with him in the locker room may be one of the best sports videos you’ll see all day.

Vladimir Guerrero Jr.

And of course, you can’t forget Vladdy. 

It’s the Blue Jays superstar’s second consecutive appearance at the Midsummer Classic. The 2021 home run leader and Silver Slugger winner will hit bat cleanup for the American League squad. Guerrero Jr. has emerged to become one of the league’s premier offensive players and was the youngest player as well as the first Blue Jay to ever win All-Star Game MVP honours last year. Who’s to say he won’t win it again this year?