2019 MLB All-Star Game Roster: Starting Pitchers and Lineup for AL and NL Squads

The 2019 MLB season has been defined by the long ball, and Monday night was no exception.

The eight sluggers participating in the Home Run Derby launched a combined 312 bombs, shattering last year's record total of 221, per MLB.com.

Is there any reason to think Tuesday's Midsummer Classic will be any different? Not judging by the All-Star Game's starting lineups, which are sufficiently stocked with big boppers.

Then again, if any two pitchers were capable of silencing these electric bats, it might be the two on the bump to start the festivities.

We'll examine all of it below in advance of tonight's 7:30 p.m. ET showdown.

Starting Pitchers

NL: Hyun-Jin Ryu, Los Angeles Dodgers

There might be more recognizable names among the pitching ranks, but none with better numbers than Hyun-Jin Ryu.

For the second straight season, the southpaw has been nearly unhittable. Only now, he's healthy enough to consistently showcase that dominance.

His minuscule 1.73 ERA is baseball's best. Same goes for his 9.90 strikeout-to-walk ratio. He has issued just 10 free passes over 109 innings and allowed only 21 earned runs over 17 starts.

"He's been the epitome of consistency," Dodgers skipper and NL All-Star leader Dave Roberts said. "He's been the best pitcher in the National League."

When Ryu posted a 1.97 ERA across 15 starts, it was both eye-opening and slightly open for skepticism, given the tiny workload (82.1 innings). After seeing him stay healthy enough to handle a regular rotation role and prove even more dominant on the mound, his place among the sport's elites should be solidified.

AL: Justin Verlander, Houston Astros

There are few more recognizable names in all of baseball than Justin Verlander, who's slated to make his eighth All-Star appearance and second All-Star start.

The honor is well-deserved for the 36-year-old, who is aging like fine wine. He's one of only eight starting pitchers in this homer-happy environment with a sub-3 ERA (2.98 to be precise) and the MLB leader with an absurdly low 0.81 WHIP.

His 153 punchouts are tied for third-most in baseball, and his .168 batting average against bests all starters (only three others are under .200).

"He's getting better," Red Sox manager and AL skipper Alex Cora said. "You know, the work that he puts in, that you people don't see. ... He got there to Houston, and he bought into the concept, and he's getting better. And it's a pleasure for me to give him the ball and start everything off."

Starting Lineups

If you needed a reason to cancel your Tuesday evening plans, this is it. Honestly, you might consider preemptively calling off work Wednesday, too.

The NL side packs a powerful punch at the top. Leadoff man, and reigning NL MVP, Christian Yelich paces all players with 31 homers. Cleanup hitter Cody Bellinger, perhaps Yelich's biggest threat for this year's honor, sits tied for second with 30. Josh Bell, who holds down the No. 6 spot, is tied for fifth with 27 balls sent over the fence.

The AL, meanwhile, counters with just one player among the top-five home run leaders—but what a player it is.

"There are All-Stars. And then there's Mike Trout," White Sox catcher and first-time All-Star James McCann said, per The Athletic's Jayson Stark. "He's a freak. I mean that in the best possible way. He's a freak talent, a once-in-a-generational player.

"One day, I firmly believe I'll be sitting on my couch, talking to my grandkids about how I played against Mike Trout. They'll look at Mike Trout the way we look at guys like Ted Williams, Mickey Mantle and Babe Ruth. That's how good Mike Trout is."

Trout, of course, isn't the AL's only offensive weapon.

DJ LeMahieu is tied for second with a .336 batting average. Gary Sanchez and Alex Bregman have produced a combined 47 home runs and 113 RBI. Carlos Santana is on pace to shatter his personal bests with a .297 batting average and 19 homers.

On paper, the firepower seems skewed toward the NL side. But the AL has Trout, and maybe that's all it needs. He's one of only five players to win a pair of All-Star Game MVP awards, and a third piece of hardware would be a record-setter.