MLB All-Star Voting 2019 Rosters: Starters, Snubs and Predictions for Reserves

The 2019 MLB All-Star Game will make its way to Cleveland for the first time since 1997 as the American League and National League sides square off for the 90th time in Major League Baseball history.

The last two Midsummer Classics have been thrillers, with the American League winning both in 10 innings. Those victories gave the junior circuit the 44-43-2 edge in the all-time record book and a seven-game win streak.

The AL will look to make it eight on Tuesday, July 9, at Progressive Field, but a powerful National League lineup stands in its way.

The starters (minus pitchers) were both announced Wednesday on ESPN, and here's a look at both sides as well as pitching staff predictions, reserve picks and notable starting-lineup snubs.

American League Starters

C: Gary Sanchez (New York Yankees)

1B: Carlos Santana (Cleveland Indians)

2B: DJ LeMahieu (New York Yankees)

3B: Alex Bregman (Houston Astros)

SS: Jorge Polanco (Minnesota Twins)

OF: Mike Trout (Los Angeles Angels)

OF: George Springer (Houston Astros)

OF: Michael Brantley (Houston Astros)

DH: Hunter Pence (Texas Rangers)

National League Starters

C: Willson Contreras (Chicago Cubs)

1B: Freddie Freeman (Atlanta Braves)

2B: Ketel Marte (Arizona Diamondbacks)

3B: Nolan Arenado (Colorado Rockies)

SS: Javier Baez (Chicago Cubs)

OF: Christian Yelich (Milwaukee Brewers)

OF: Cody Bellinger (Los Angeles Dodgers)

OF: Ronald Acuna Jr. (Atlanta Braves)

American League Pitcher Predictions

SP: Mike Minor (Texas Rangers), Charlie Morton (Tampa Bay Rays), Justin Verlander (Houston Astros), Lucas Giolito (Chicago White Sox), Matthew Boyd (Detroit Tigers) and Marcus Stroman (Toronto Blue Jays)

RP: Shane Greene (Detroit Tigers), Aroldis Chapman (New York Yankees), Brad Hand (Cleveland Indians) and Ryan Pressly (Houston Astros)

American League Reserve Predictions

C: James McCann (Chicago White Sox) and Robinson Chirinos (Houston Astros)

1B: Dan Vogelbach (Seattle Mariners) and Luke Voit (New York Yankees)

2B/INF: Tommy La Stella (Los Angeles Angels)

3B: Matt Chapman (Oakland Athletics) and Hunter Dozier (Kansas City Royals)

SS: Xander Bogaerts (Boston Red Sox) and Francisco Lindor (Cleveland Indians)

OF: Joey Gallo (Texas Rangers) and Trey Mancini (Baltimore Orioles)

National League Pitcher Predictions

SP: Max Scherzer (Washington Nationals), Hyun-Jin Ryu (Los Angeles Dodgers), Cole Hamels (Chicago Cubs), Zack Greinke (Arizona Diamondbacks) and Luis Castillo (Cincinnati Reds)

RP: Kirby Yates (San Diego Padres), Will Smith (San Francisco Giants), Felipe Vazquez (Pittsburgh Pirates), Josh Hader (Milwaukee Brewers) and Hector Neris (Philadelphia Phillies) 

National League Reserve Predictions

C: Yasmani Grandal (Milwaukee Brewers) and Jorge Alfaro (Miami Marlins)

1B: Josh Bell (Pittsburgh Pirates), Anthony Rizzo (Chicago Cubs) and Pete Alonso (New York Mets)

2B/INF: Mike Moustakas (Milwaukee Brewers)

3B: Anthony Rendon (Washington Nationals) and Kris Bryant (Chicago Cubs)

SS: Fernando Tatis Jr. (San Diego Padres) and Trevor Story (Colorado Rockies)

OF: Charlie Blackmon (Colorado Rockies) and Marcell Ozuna (St. Louis Cardinals)

Starter Snubs

Josh Bell (Pittsburgh Pirates)

One couldn't really go wrong picking between the Atlanta Braves' Freddie Freeman, the Chicago Cubs' Anthony Rizzo or the New York Mets' Pete Alonso to start at first base for the NL this season.

Therefore, Bell hitting the bench to start isn't an egregious oversight, but he should be taking the field in the first inning.

The 26-year-old has 70 RBI or seven more than anyone else in the entire league. He's also first in extra-base hits, doubles and average exit velocity, per Pirates broadcaster Joe Block. Bell is third in slugging and fourth in OPS.

Freeman is fantastic in his own right, with 22 home runs, 63 RBI and a .396 OPS. He's also the best player on the second-best National League team and the likely back-to-back NL East champion.

However, Bell's production compared to the rest of the league should have given him the edge.

Anthony Rendon (Washington Nationals)

Any discussion involving Washington Nationals third baseman Anthony Rendon and the All-Star Game can't go without including this clip of ex-teammate Daniel Murphy asking a reporter an important question ("Do you go to FanGraphs?") when defending Rendon's All-Star resume in 2017.

A quick trek to FanGraphs reveals some eye-popping stats for the 29-year-old. Namely, he's first among qualified NL third basemen in WAR, offensive WAR, WOBA, WRC+, ISO and SLG. He's also second among NL third baseman in hard-hit rate, proving that these rankings aren't flukes.

And that makes Rendon's omission from the final NL third base trio in the MLB All-Star voting process all the more confusing.

If anything, Rendon deserved a close race with Colorado Rockies third baseman Nolan Arenado, who got the nod to start again.

Arenado is one of the game's best hitters, and he's arguably the MLB's best defensive player period.

However, Rendon is such a dominant hitter among his peers that he deserves to start at third for the senior circuit.

Joey Gallo (Texas Rangers)

No one with 100 or more plate appearances has a better hard-hit rate than Texas Rangers outfielder Joey Gallo, who crushes balls 57.1 percent of the time when he makes contact, per FanGraphs.

Granted, Gallo strikes out at a 35.4 percent clip, but he's also fourth among all MLB players in WOBA with at least 200 plate appearances. He's second in ISO, fourth in OPS, fourth in OBP and fifth in WRC+.

Gallo has only played 52 games, which may have hurt his cause. That being written, he's had such a tremendous impact in a short amount of time that it's hard to overlook him for one of the three AL outfield spots.

As for whom he should have replaced, the answer is the Houston Astros' Michael Brantley despite his excellent season.

Brantley is absolutely deserving of an All-Star nod, but he's 14th among all outfielders in WAR (Gallo is fifth) and 21st among all outfielders with at least 200 plate appearances in WOBA (Gallo is fourth).

Gallo's incredible power should have given him the start, especially considering that his much-improved plate discipline (20.2 percent walk rate as compared to 12.8 percent last season) has made him a dangerous hitter.