Blue Jays Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Marcus Semien and Teoscar Hernandez have earned their all-star starting jobs

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This article was published 02/07/2021 (1600 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Many people go into the making of an all-star starter.

First, and most definitely foremost, is the player himself. In the Blue Jays’ case, Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Marcus Semien and Teoscar Hernandez did the hard work to earn the starts at first base, second base, and in the outfield, respectively, as they represent the American League later this month at the all-star festivities in Denver, Colo.

“Excited for them and proud,” manager Charlie Montoyo said of the nods, which were announced on Thursday night on ESPN. “I feel like a dad, you know, when your kids do something right. I’m so happy for them. I know it was a voting deal but they all earned it. Their numbers are amazing and they all deserve to be there.”

Fans vote in Major League Baseball’s all-star starters, so they play a big part, too. As do teammates, managers, coaches, staff, family, friends and more.

And, when it comes to Toronto’s starters, the all-star announcements had the Jays front office looking fairly shrewd as well.

Take Teoscar Hernandez, the longest standing Jays player of the three. He came over from the Houston Astros as part of a trade for Francisco Liriano in July, 2017. It was a deal made at the trade deadline, when the struggling Jays were willing to give up an aging pitcher to take a chance on a young slugger who had been blocked in the Astros’ deep system.

It worked. Liriano, 37, put up decent numbers in 2018 and 2019 but hasn’t pitched at the big-league level in two seasons. Hernandez has broken out as one of the game’s top hitters. He won an AL Silver Slugger award last fall. And a demotion to Triple-A in 2019 to help Hernandez figure things out at the plate now looks more like a stroke of genius than a hardship.

“Since he came back from the minor leagues, he’s been consistent that whole time and that’s not easy to do,” Montoyo said.

With Marcus Semien, it’s not as though he was some unknown free agent when he signed a one-year, $18-million (U.S.) deal with the Jays in January. Semien was two years removed from finishing third in the AL’s most valuable player voting. But the 30-year-old was also coming off a down year with Oakland, and the Jays had an existing shortstop in Bo Bichette. Some argued the price for Semien was too steep and some questioned if he could be turned into a second baseman.

It was that position change, Semien said, that may have helped him get the all-star this year.

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“Shortstop in the AL has always been so deep,” Semien said. “My closest chance may have been in (2019) but there are guys who are just killing it … Second base seemed like a little easier route for me.”

Even the front office’s dealings with Guerrero, who was signed by the previous Jays regime, have played into his call. Toronto’s brass never shied away from expecting more from their star slugger in terms of conditioning, and his much-improved fitness this year — with full marks to Guerrero for putting in the work — certainly contributed to the nod.

As there were many involved in the making of Toronto’s all-star starters, many will celebrate their nods, which ties a club record for starters set in 1993.

The Jays are still hoping more of their players will be invited to Coors Field. Semien is rooting for the likes of Bo Bichette and Robbie Ray to get calls, while Montoyo also suggested Randal Grichuk and Jordan Romano.

For every individual who gets to represent the Jays in Colorado, it’s a team win, said Montoyo. “Everybody’s happy for them and they’re one of the reasons we’re hanging in there, because they’ve done so well.”