Jay Bruce And Drew Pomeranz Join NL All-Star Team As Injury Replacements

(Drew Pomeranz, photo credit: am860theanswer)

San Diego Padres pitcher Drew Pomeranz, along with outfielder Jay Bruce of the Cincinnati Reds, have recently been added to the NL All-Star team as injury replacements.

On Saturday, Major League Baseball also announced that outfielders Carlos Gonzalez of the Colorado Rockies and Marcell Ozuna of the Miami Marlins will be in the starting lineup for the NL team.

The addition of Bruce and Pomeranz came about after outfielder Yoenis Cespedes and pitcher Noah Syndergaard of the New York Mets are dealing with minor injuries. Cespedes left the Mets game on Friday with a right quad strain, while Syndergaard is dealing with what the Mets are calling "arm fatigue," per Anthony DiComo of MLB.com.

Ozuna of the Marlins will replace Cespedes in the outfield for the NL team. The Mets outfielder just finished up a very productive first half of the season, which included him hitting 21 home runs. He was also having career bests in batting average (.302), on-base percentage (.372), and slugging percentage (.583) as well.

The Reds hard hitting slugger, Jay Bruce, will be making his third All-Star appearance after driving in 62 runs and belting 18 home runs through the first 81 games. After coming off back-to-back seasons in which Bruce batted below .230, this season he's hitting .265, which is a significant improvement and why he's been the subject of numerous trade rumors.

As far as Pomeranz, he will be taking the spot of Mets star pitcher, Noah Syndergaard, who is 9-4 on the season with an ERA of 2.56. Pomeranz, who is 27-years-old, is 8-7 in 17 starts on the season, but has an ERA of 2.47. He'll also have the luxury of pitching in front of his home crowd at Petco Park.