AL Pitcher Named All-Star Replacement Amid Red Sox Trade Rumors

Boston Red Sox fans may have another reason to watch the MLB All-Star Game.

Garrett Grochet and Aroldis Chapman represent Boston on the American League’s pitching staff. An ace recently linked to the Red Sox will join them in Atlanta next week.

Joe Ryan was named to his first All-Star Game on Wednesday night. The Minnesota Twins starting pitcher replaces Hunter Brown, who wouldn’t have been eligible to pitch if he makes his scheduled start Sunday.

Ryan received the good news on the same day MLB Network insider Jon Morosi identified Boston as one of several teams monitoring him as a potential trade target.

The 29-year-old stood out among the most notable exclusions when MLB revealed the All-Star rosters on Sunday night. Ryan has registered a 2.76 ERA with the third-lowest WHIP (0.89) among qualified starters behind Cy Young front-runners Tarik Skubal and Zack Wheeler.

Ryan’s 23.4 K-BB percentage ranks fourth after Skubal, Wheeler, and Crochet. While injuries have limited his workload in recent years, he’s already pitched 104 1/3 innings.

“He’s been so consistently dominant,” Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said of Ryan, per MLB.com’s Phil Ervin. “It’s just a wonderful first half of baseball. He’s had some other first halves that were good and probably was in consideration for something like this in the past, but he has just continued to go out there and do the work. You have to do the work. You have to have the success and put up the numbers and be just continuously really good, and he has.”

Given that success, acquiring Ryan won’t be easy for the Red Sox or anyone else. Morosi said the Twins must be “completely overwhelmed by an offer” to move the right-hander, who remains under contract through the 2027 season.

Minnesota also must fall out of the playoff picture to consider dealing the newly minted All-Star before the July 31 trade deadline. At 45-47, the Twins are just three games behind the Red Sox in the AL wild-card chase.

Ryan will look to celebrate the honor when he takes the mound against NL All-Star Paul Skenes and the Pittsburgh Pirates on Friday.