John Schneider unveiled his American League All-Star lineup, and two Toronto Blue Jays are right in the middle of it.
Dylan Cease gets the ball as the starting pitcher, backing up everything Schneider said about his decision over Cam Schlittler just days earlier.
Cease has been dominant all season, sitting on a 2.56 ERA with 148 strikeouts across 98 and one third innings, exactly the résumé that made this call an easy one for his own manager.
Ernie Clement rounds out the lineup, batting ninth for the American League squad.
That's no small honor for a player who's turned himself into one of this season's most unexpected stories in Toronto.
Clement is hitting .296 this season with 42 runs scored and eight home runs, a career-best campaign that's now carrying him to an All-Star start.
The rest of the lineup reads like a murderers' row. Mike Trout leads off in center, followed by Yordan Alvarez at designated hitter and Shea Langeliers behind the plate.
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Why Clement's spot says everything about his rise
Junior Caminero bats cleanup, with Bobby Witt Jr. hitting fifth and Cody Bellinger in right field rounding out the middle of the order.
Nick Kurtz and Riley Greene fill out seven and eight before the order turns over to Clement at the bottom.
Batting ninth in an All-Star lineup still means being one of nine best players a manager chose to represent an entire league, regardless of where in the order that falls.
It's a bit like being the last name called at an awards show. You're still standing on the same stage as everyone else in the room.
Clement's path here started as a DFA'd utility infielder, and now he's taking at-bats in the same lineup as Trout and Alvarez.
Does batting ninth undersell what Clement has actually accomplished this season, or is it simply where he fits in a stacked lineup full of bigger names?
Cease and Clement now carry Toronto's flag into the Midsummer Classic, two very different paths that both led to the same stage this week.
Does Ernie Clement deserve better than the nine spot in this AL All-Star lineup?
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