Yankees slugger Aaron Judge has been named a starter for the American League in the 2021 MLB All-Star Game in Colorado on July 13.

After an underwhelming 2020 season in which he hit just nine home runs, Judge has returned to form and is back to playing at a high level. He's slashing .285/.382/.522 with 18 home runs and 42 RBI over 274 at-bats in 75 games. Playing mostly right field this season, he has a .992 fielding percentage with 122 putouts in 127 defensive chances, including four assists and just one error.

Judge, who finished second in outfield voting with 13 percent of the vote, will start in the outfield along with Angels star Mike Trout -- who led all outfielders with 19 percent of the votes-- and Teoscar Hernandez of the Blue Jays, who came in third at 12 percent.

This will be Judge's third-career All-Star appearance, and first since 2018. He was named a starter for the AL All-Star's in both 2017 and 2018. Judge went 0-for-3 with a strikeout in the 2017 All-Star Game as the AL beat the NL, 2-1. The RF came to play in the 2018 All-Star Game, going 1-for-2 with a solo home run off of Max Scherzer and a walk in the AL's 8-6 victory.

Yankees teammate DJ LeMahieu was also a finalist to start for the AL at second base, but that spot went to Marcus Semien of the Jays, who took home 54 percent of the votes. LeMahieu finished in third with 14 percent of the votes. Still with a chance to make the team as a reserve, the 2020 AL batting champ is slashing .273/.347/.377 with seven home runs and 33 RBI over 308 at-bats in 76 games played. If selected as a reserve, it would be LeMahieu's fourth All-Star appearance, having made it twice as a member of the Colorado Rockies (2015, 2017) and once as a Yankee (2019).

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