2017 MLB All-Star Roster: Complete Lineups and Top Storylines to Watch

This Major League Baseball season has contained more surprises, excitement and drama than usual.

New York Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge, who struck out 42 times in 95 plate appearances last season, is hitting monster home runs every few games and leads the league in dingers with 29.

The Houston Astros are making a push to be the best team in baseball this century and would win 109 games at their current pace.

Washington Nationals ace Max Scherzer is dominating hitters like another star pitcher who played in Washington a century ago, Walter "Big Train" Johnson.

The second half of the MLB campaign should be fascinating, but until then, the Midsummer Classic needs to play out.

Here's a look at the lineups for this year as well as three storylines to watch.

Note that the starting pitchers for the game have not been named yet.

Lineups

American League Starters

C Salvador Perez, Kansas City Royals

1B Justin Smoak, Toronto Blue Jays

2B Jose Altuve, Houston Astros

3B Jose Ramirez, Cleveland Indians

SS Carlos Correa, Houston Astros

*OF Mookie Betts, Boston Red Sox

OF Aaron Judge, New York Yankees

OF George Springer, Houston Astros

DH Corey Dickerson, Tampa Bay Rays

*Originally, Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim outfielder Mike Trout was picked to start, but he is rehabbing a torn ligament in his left thumb and will not play.

American League Reserves

C Gary Sanchez, New York Yankees

1B Yonder Alonso, Oakland Athletics

2B Jonathan Schoop, Baltimore Orioles

2B Starlin Castro, New York Yankees

3B Miguel Sano, Minnesota Twins

3B Mike Moustakas, Kansas City Royals

SS Francisco Lindor, Cleveland Indians

OF Michael Brantley, Cleveland Indians

OF Avisail Garcia, Chicago White Sox

DH Nelson Cruz, Seattle Mariners

American League Pitching Staff

SP Chris Sale, Boston Red Sox

SP Jason Vargas, Kansas City Royals

SP Lance McCullers, Houston Astros

SP Yu Darvish, Texas Rangers

*SP Michael Fulmer, Detroit Tigers

*SP Corey Kluber, Cleveland Indians

SP Ervin Santana, Minnesota Twins

SP Luis Severino, New York Yankees

*SP Dallas Keuchel, Houston Astros

RP Craig Kimbrel, Boston Red Sox

RP Andrew Miller, Cleveland Indians

RP Dellin Betances, New York Yankees

*Fulmer and Kluber are ineligible to pitch in the All-Star Game because they are starting Sunday. Dallas Keuchel is rehabbing a pinched nerve in his neck and will not play. All three pitchers will have replacements.

National League Starters

C Buster Posey, San Francisco Giants

1B Ryan Zimmerman, Washington Nationals

2B Daniel Murphy, Washington Nationals

3B Nolan Arenado, Colorado Rockies

SS Zack Cozart, Cincinnati Reds

OF Charlie Blackmon, Colorado Rockies

OF Bryce Harper, Washington Nationals

OF Marcell Ozuna, Miami Marlins

National League Reserves

C Yadier Molina, St. Louis Cardinals

1B Paul Goldschmidt, Arizona Diamondbacks

1B Joey Votto, Cincinnati Reds

1B/OF Cody Bellinger, Los Angeles Dodgers

2B Josh Harrison, Pittsburgh Pirates

2B D.J. LeMahieu, Colorado Rockies

3B Jake Lamb, Arizona Diamondbacks

3B Justin Turner, Los Angeles Dodgers

SS Corey Seager, Los Angeles Dodgers

OF Giancarlo Stanton, Miami Marlins

OF Michael Conforto, New York Mets

OF Ender Inciarte, Atlanta Braves

National League Pitching Staff

SP Max Scherzer, Washington Nationals

*SP Clayton Kershaw, Los Angeles Dodgers

SP Carlos Martinez, St. Louis Cardinals

SP Zack Greinke, Arizona Diamondbacks

SP Robbie Ray, Arizona Diamondbacks

SP Stephen Strasburg, Washington Nationals

RP Kenley Jansen, Los Angeles Dodgers

RP Corey Knebel, Milwaukee Brewers

RP Wade Davis, Chicago Cubs

RP Greg Holland, Colorado Rockies

RP Brad Hand, San Diego Padres

RP Pat Neshek, Philadelphia Phillies

*Kershaw is ineligible to pitch because he is starting Sunday. He will be replaced.

Top Storylines

Sale and Scherzer Dueling It Out

It's abundantly clear that the two best pitchers in baseball in the American and National Leagues, respectively, have been Chris Sale and Max Scherzer, the two likely All-Star Game starters.

The numbers for both are just staggering. One can just cherry pick the most fascinating statistics for each player to explain why their performances this year are some of the best in recent baseball history.

Here are three mind-blowing facts about each:

1. Sale has struck out nearly 10 batters per start this year (9.88 to be exact). Scherzer is right behind him (9.59).

2. Sale and Scherzer are the only two pitchers in Major League Baseball to have a swinging strike rate of 16 percent or more, per FanGraphs.

3. Scherzer and Sale are two of three MLB starting pitchers who have held opposing batters to averages at or below the Mendoza Line of .200. Scherzer's mark of .159 is particularly impressive.

The third one is Clayton Kershaw, who is inarguably the best pitcher this decade.

Unfortunately, we probably won't get to see these aces pitch more than two innings each, but it'll be fun to see how they do against the best hitters in the league, if only for a short time.

Astros and Nationals Make Up One-Third of the Starting Lineups

In 2001, four Seattle Mariners started for the American League (John Olerud, Ichiro Suzuki, Bret Boone and Edgar Martinez) en route to a 116-46 regular season for the M's.

It's hard to imagine that record ever being topped, but this year, three Houston Astros are starting for the AL while three Washington Nationals are doing the same for the NL.

Houston vs. Washington could certainly be a World Series matchup this year, and we'll see their superstar position players (plus a couple stud pitchers) in action.

Jose Altuve and Carlos Correa will man the middle infield to start the game for the AL, while George Springer will hold down one of the outfield spots.

Bryce Harper, who has been named an All-Star five times before turning 25 years old, will start in the NL outfield. Ryan Zimmermann, who is a frontrunner for the National League Comeback Player of the Year award, and the hot-hitting Daniel Murphy will handle the right side of the infield.

Rising Stars on the Coasts

Judge isn't the only rookie dominating the league this year, as Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder/first baseman Cody Bellinger has been making waves out west.

Bellinger, who is the son of former New York Yankees utility man Clay Bellinger, has hit 24 home runs in 279 plate appearances. Between June 10 and June 20, he hit 10 home runs over 10 games. After a four-game homerless stretch, he hit another two against Colorado.

Bellinger is currently tied for the National League lead in home runs with 24 alongside Cincinnati Reds first baseman Joey Votto.

As far as Judge goes, he is making a concerted effort at the American League Triple Crown. He leads the AL in homers (29) and RBI (65) and is hitting .331, which is third in the league among qualified players behind Seattle Mariners outfielder Ben Gamel (.335) and Altuve (.334). Naturally, Judge leads the league in offensive WAR (4.6), per Baseball-Reference.

A potential matchup between Judge and Scherzer on Tuesday will be must-see TV.