Pittsburgh’s Andrew McCutchen, Gerrit Cole, A.J. Burnett and Mark Melancon have been named to the National League All-Star team for this year’s All-Star Game in Cincinnati.
This is the fifth straight year the Pirates will send multiple representatives to the Midsummer Classic and the first since a 12-year run of multiple representatives from 1958 to 1969.
This is the fifth consecutive time McCutchen has been named to the All-Star team. He is the first Pirates position player to be named to five straight Midsummer Classics since Roberto Clemente was selected to eight consecutive All-Star Games from 1960-1967. The only other players in team history to be named to at least five All-Star teams were Hall-of-Famers Roberto Clemente (12 times), Arky Vaughan (eight times), Willie Stargell and Bill Mazeroski (seven times each) and Ralph Kiner (five times).
The selections of Cole and Burnett will give the Pirates two starting pitchers in the Midsummer Classic for the first time since 1960 when Bob Friend and Vernon Law were two of a Pirates-record eight All-Stars.