MLB All-Star Game: Cubs’ Kris Bryant, Anthony Rizzo selected

The Chicago Cubs will send two representatives to this year’s MLB All-Star Game in rookie third baseman Kris Bryant and first baseman Anthony Rizzo.

For the second-straight year, Chicago will have two position players in the Midsummer Classic. Rizzo earned his first career selection in 2014 alongside shortstop Starlin Castro, and will once-again represent the National League.

Rizzo, who has been mired in a slump of late, still boasts a .295/.405/.543 slash-line, all of which would be career-bests for the 25-year-old first baseman.

The left-handed swinging Rizzo leads the National League with 24 two-baggers this season, forming a formidable two-three punch alongside his rookie teammate, Bryant.

This weekend, he earned his first off-day of the season, in hopes that the rest would snap him out of his cold spell.

However, he was back in the lineup for Monday night’s series opener against the St. Louis Cardinals at Wrigley Field.

Bryant, meanwhile, is the Cubs’ youngest third baseman to make the MLB All-Star Game since Ron Santo in 1963 and is the sixth rookie in team history to earn an All-Star selection.

The former first-round pick of Chicago leads all big league rookies with his 49 runs batted in across his first 71 games. On July 4, he put up career-numbers, clubbing two homers and driving in six to lead the Cubs to an Independence Day win at home.

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He’s also tied for second amongst all eligible rookies with 73 hits on the year, trailing only Billy Burns of the Oakland Athletics.

With his promotion, Bryant brought with him an excitement and anticipation not seen or felt at Wrigley Field since the late 1990s. His contributions at the dish have led the team to a second Wild Card berth a week into the month of July.

While there were multiple questions as to whether or not one – or either – of the Cubs’ 2015 All-Star reps would get the nod, one thing is for sure.

These two players deserve their respective selections; they’ve turned a losing team and led the charge that has fans across Chicago and the country licking their lips at the prospects of postseason action for the Chicago Cubs.

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