SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. — Pitcher Bryan Woo learned on Sunday afternoon that he is the sixth former Cal Poly baseball player to land a spot in Major League Baseball’s All-Star Game.
With an 8-4 record and 2.77 ERA this season, the third-year Seattle Mariners right-hander is one of just two pitchers in the Majors with a sub-3.00 ERA, 100-plus strikeouts and 20 or fewer walks this season, The other is reigning American League Cy Young Award winner Tarik Skubal of the Detroit Tigers.
Woo has struck out 104 batters while walking just 19 over 107 1/3 innings after his last start Friday against Pittsburgh, in which he pitched six scoreless innings with three hits allowed and eight strikeouts. Woo has struck out eight or nine batters in four of his starts this season and has gone at least six innings in all 17 starts, the only pitcher in the Major Leagues to do that.
Woo is eighth in the American League with a .212 opponents’ batting average, sixth in WHIP, eighth in innings pitched and ninth in ERA. His next start will be Thursday at the New York Yankees.
This year’s All-Star Game is scheduled for Tuesday, July 15, in Atlanta.
Cal Poly’s first five Major League All-Stars were Thornton Lee in 1941, Kevin Correia in 2011, Mike Krukow in 1986, Mitch Haniger in 2018 and Ozzie Smith 15 times from 1981-92 and 1994-96.
Lee was 22-11 with a 2.37 ERA for the Chicago White Sox during his all-star season, notching 30 complete games and pitching 300 1/3 innings. Krukow was 20-9 with the Giants in 1986 and was third in balloting for the National League Cy Young Award.
Haniger hit .285 with 38 doubles, four triples, 26 home runs and 93 RBIs during his 2018 all-star campaign and Correia posted a 12-11 record and 4.79 ERA for the Pirates in 2011.
Each roster is comprised of 32 players — the nine starting position players determined by fan voting, and then 23 pitchers and backup position players selected by both a player ballot and input from the Commissioner’s office.