Juan Soto joins Aaron Judge with All-Star starting nod

In pairing Aaron Judge and Juan Soto, the Yankees envisioned a starry top of the lineup and outfield. Those dreams have become reality, and the pair are officially stars. Soto has joined Judge, who already had clinched his sixth All-Star trip, as a starter for the American League in the July 16 All-Star Game at Globe Life Field in Texas.The two are the only starters for the Yankees, with pitchers and reserves set to be announced Sunday. Judge already had wrapped up his spot in the Midsummer Classic as the AL’s leading vote-getter in Phase 1 of the voting, riding 3,425,309 votes to the nod.

The third American League outfield starter is Cleveland’s Steven Kwan, who beat out Houston’s Kyle Tucker. Soto’s fourth (and fourth straight) All-Star Game nod will be his first on the American League side after cracking the roster with the Nationals and Padres the past three seasons. In his first 83 games with his new club, Soto posted a .997 OPS with 20 home runs and a major league-leading 72 walks.He has been everything the Yankees could have wanted after the blockbuster trade with San Diego this offseason. “He’s a generational hitter — we’ve seen that kind of phrase thrown around him, and I think that rings true,” manager Aaron Boone said before the Yankees played the Reds in The Bronx on Wednesday.

“His level of at-bat day in and day out [stands out].And then when you pair it with him and Aaron back-to-back, that’s something that I don’t think many of us have ever seen. “It’s just as quality of an at-bat as you’re going to face anywhere at any time, and just his understanding of who he is in the batter’s box is pretty impressive.” In the absence of Giancarlo Stanton, Jahmai Jones earned another start at DH against an opposing lefty. The righty swinger entered play 5-for-15 with a home run and a triple against southpaws. Jon Berti took ground balls at third base before the game. The infielder, sidelined since suffering a left ca...