Former LSU stars Bregman, Nola named MLB All-Stars for first time

BATON ROUGE, La. – Former LSU stars Aaron Nola and Alex Bregman were named Sunday night to the 2018 Major League Baseball All-Star Game rosters, increasing the Tigers’ all-time total of MLB All-Stars to 12.

Nola, the ace of the Philadelphia Phillies’ staff, was selected as a pitcher for the National League team, and Bregman, the third baseman for the reigning World Champion Houston Astros, was chosen as a reserve for the American League squad.

The MLB All-Star Game will be held on July 17 at Nationals Park in Washington, D.C.

Nola is 11-2 on the mound this season with a 2.41 ERA and 116 strikeouts in 116 innings. Bregman is batting .284 on the year with 29 doubles, 17 home runs, 57 RBI and 59 runs.

Nola, a Baton Rouge native, was selected out of LSU by the Phillies in the first round (seventh overall) of the 2014 MLB Draft. He was the 2014 College Baseball Foundation National Pitcher of the Year and a Golden Spikes Award finalist.

Nola enjoyed a brilliant three-year (2012-14) career at LSU, compiling a 30-6 mark and a 2.09 ERA in 332 innings with 42 walks and 345 strikeouts. He was a two-time first-team All-American, and he is the only two-time winner of the Southeastern Conference Pitcher of the Year award, receiving the honor in both 2013 and 2014.

Bregman, a native of Albuquerque, N.M., played at LSU from 2013 through 2015 and helped lead the Tigers to two College World Series appearances. Bregman, the No. 2 overall selection by the Astros in the 2015 MLB Draft, was a two-time first-team all-American at LSU, and he was named the recipient of the 2013 Brooks Wallace Award as the nation’s best shortstop.

Bregman was the 29th-round selection of the Boston Red Sox as a high school senior in 2013, but he elected to enroll at LSU, where in three seasons he developed into one of the nation’s best prospects.
He was finalist for the 2015 Golden Spikes Award, and he was named the 2013 National Freshman of the Year.

Bregman started all 196 games of his LSU career at shortstop, batting .337 (265-for-786) with 56 doubles, 10 triples, 21 homers, 148 RBI, 153 runs and 66 stolen bases.

The selection of Nola and Bregman marks the fourth straight year a former LSU player has been chosen for the All-Star Game. Colorado Rockies second baseman DJ LeMahieu, who helped lead LSU to the 2009 College World Series title, was a National League All-Star in 2015 and in 2017.

Houston Astros reliever Will Harris, who played at LSU from 2003-06, was a member of the 2016 American League squad.

Former LSU pitcher Brian Wilson represented the San Francisco Giants in 2011 and earned the save in the National League’s 5-1 win in Phoenix. Wilson also represented the Giants in the 2008 game at Yankee Stadium and in the 2010 game in Anaheim, Calif.

Former LSU infielder Aaron Hill of the Toronto Blue Jays (AL) and former LSU outfielder Brad Hawpe of the Colorado Rockies (NL) played in the 2009 game in St. Louis.

LSU’s first All-Star was Boston Braves second baseman Connie Ryan of New Orleans, who played for the National League in 1944. New York Giants shortstop Alvin Dark of Comanche, Okla. was an NL All-Star in 1951, 1952 and 1954.

First baseman Joe Bill Adcock of Coushatta, La. represented the Milwaukee Braves on the 1960 National League roster.

Outfielder Albert Belle of Shreveport, La. was a five-time American League All-Star, representing the Cleveland Indians (1993-96) and Chicago White Sox (1997).

Right-hander Paul Byrd, a product of Louisville, Ky., pitched for the National League in 1999 as a member of the Philadelphia Phillies.

LSU’s Major League All-Stars
Connie Ryan, 2B, Boston Braves (NL) – 1944
Alvin Dark, SS, New York Giants (NL) – 1951-52, 1954
Joe Bill Adcock, 1B, Milwaukee Braves (NL) – 1960
Albert Belle, OF, Cleveland Indians (AL) – 1993-96; Chicago White Sox (AL) – 1997
Paul Byrd, RHP, Philadelphia Phillies (NL) – 1999
Brian Wilson, RHP, San Francisco Giants (NL) – 2008, 2010, 2011
Brad Hawpe, OF, Colorado Rockies (NL) – 2009
Aaron Hill, 2B, Toronto Blue Jays (AL) – 2009
DJ LeMahieu, 2B, Colorado Rockies (NL)- 2015, 2017
Will Harris, RHP, Houston Astros (AL) – 2016
Aaron Nola, RHP, Philadelphia Phillies (NL) – 2018
Alex Bregman, 3B, Houston Astros (AL) – 2018