The red hot Oakland Athletics are sending another player to the 2018 All-Star Game.
Tuesday afternoon MLB announced A's second baseman Jed Lowrie has been named to the AL All-Star team as an injury replacement for Yankees rookie Gleyber Torres. Torres is on the disabled list with a hip strain and will miss the All-Star Game next week.
.@Jed_Lowrie has been named to the AL All-Star team to replace Gleyber Torres (right hip strain). pic.twitter.com/JZLCICXfbj
— MLB (@MLB) July 10, 2018
The 34-year-old Lowrie is in his 11th MLB season, and he is an All-Star for the very first first time. He's hitting a stout .288/.358/.504 (139 OPS+) with 16 home runs and is among the AL leaders with 100 hits (ninth), 25 doubles (eighth), and 62 RBI (second). At 3.4 WAR, this is already the second most productive season of Lowrie's career.
The A's have won 17 of their last 21 games to climb back into the AL wild card race, and Lowrie's consistent run production has been a big factor in their recent surge. Lowrie is the team's second All-Star, joining closer Blake Treinen on the AL squad.
As for Torres, he is nursing a relatively minor hip injury and is expected to rejoin the Yankees after the All-Star break. The rookie is hitting .294/.350/.555 (141 OPS+) with 15 home runs on the year.
The 2018 All-Star Game will be played Tuesday, July 17, at Nationals Park. Lowrie will back up Astros second baseman Jose Altuve, who was voted the starter by the fans. Here are the full All-Star Game rosters.
