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9 AL All-Star Starters and What They’re Wearing: Trout, Betts, Machado

Here’s your 2018 American League All-Star starting lineup and their weapons of choice.  This is an absolutely stacked lineup, highlighted by some of the brightest young stars in decades, including Trout, Betts, Judge, Machado, and Altuve.

Wilson Ramos

Wilson Ramos and his Wilson A2000 1790 Superskin mitt would have made their first All-Star start until Ramos’ hammy started acting up this week.  One of the most talented catchers in the game, Ramos’ Wilson mitt employs a weight-saving synthetic material, Superskin, and you can get his exact model at this link.

Something looks a bit off on Ramos’ “Nike” batting gloves, no?  Here’s a classic example of a guy who’s got a deal with one company, but prefers the product of another.  Ramos’ batting gloves are Franklin CFX Pros disguised as Nikes, and the reason for this is so that he doesn’t break his contract with Nike, who pays good money to appear on the chests of MLB catchers.  Customize your own CFX Pros here.

The Nike catcher’s gear looks a lot more natural on Ramos than the BGs.  This is a pretty set, but Nike doesn’t mess with retail catcher’s gear.  You’ll have to scour eBay for something similar.

Jose Abreu

Jose Abreu’s consistency since coming to the MLB has been remarkable, and despite a bad June slump, he’s being rewarded with his first ever start in an All-Star Game.  His neon Franklin CFX Pro batting gloves can be had here.

His consistent approach spills over to his gear choices, too, swinging Marucci lumber for most of his career.  He has swung an AP5P that is very much like the retail AP5 (available here) with different balance points.

Abreu is still rocking a special 1B mitt that Wilson made for him.  Its a copy of the Rawlings PROSDCT 13″ with which he came into the league.  Glove brands do this from time to time for their pros—not just Wilson.  Most similar is the 1617, customizable at this link.

See Abreu’s full locker here.

Jose Altuve

Our most popular player in recent seasons, Altuve has swung a few different bat brands, Tucci, Sam Bat, Victus… but it doesn’t much matter.  Guy gets knocks.  With his Victus JA27 Maple bat, Altuve leads the American League in hits for the fifth straight season, and if that holds, he’ll look to match Stan Musial in 2019, who led his National League six times.  The JA27 is a 238 model that is most similar to Victus’ AP5 which is available here.

Altuve’s New Balance 4040v4 are a popular choice throughout the Bigs, available in several colorways here.

Our love for the newest Franklin batting glove model, the Powerstrap, is well-documented.  Altuve loves ’em, too, and he even got some “MVP” love on all of his colorways.  Shop the Powerstrap here.

See Altuve’s full locker here.

Manny Machado

The guy that everybody wants.  Manny Machado, despite incessant trade rumors, has managed to block out the glare with a pair of Oakley Radar EV Path sunglasses.

Machado mixes Marucci and Rawlings bats in, and his preference for Ash wood is unusual in the MLB these days.  The MY13 turning model is available in Manny’s Players Weekend 2017 colorway, and for a really good price via JustBats.  Machado swings a 34 inch, 32 ounce bat.

If you follow us on IG, these aren’t news, but they’re still fun to look at.  Machado’s Jordan 9 are cut at the ankle to give him a low profile.  Any Jordan 9 cleats that you find won’t have this feature, but they are available (most selection is on eBay now).

Another colorway of the Jordan IX cleats for Manny.

The turfs give a better look at that low-cut.

Machado’s batting gloves put him in very select company.  He’s one of only two baseball players on Earth that wears them.  These Jordan batting gloves, also worn by Mookie Betts, are very similar to Nike’s Huarache Elite batting gloves, which you can buy here.

The orange colorway always plays.

Manny Machado moves in and out of gloves liberally, similar to Javy Baez.  He’s varied his web, too.  Most often he uses an I-Web, but he’s worn Rawlings’ V-Web, and started out 2018 with a blindingly orange modified One-Piece with platinum labels that only Manny can get:

You can shop a similar glove here.  Despite the web differences, the pattern, stays the same…

Its a PRONP5, and lately, Manny’s game glove is black.  Shop the black one here.

See Manny’s full locker here.

Jose Ramirez

Jose Ramirez is the best player without a WPW locker…  We’re working on it.  In the meantime, here’s just a sample of Ramirez’ Easton gloves, which Easton made just for the All-Star Game!

Just enough snakeskin trim on this Easton C43 H-Web glove that Jose might choose to wear in Tuesday’s game.  There are other options, though.

Here’s a red/silver version (we’re still feeling the snakeskin).

The C43 will be available, but not in these colors.  Stay tuned for more on that.

Here’s a preview of Jose Ramirez’ batting gloves for the ASG, too.  Ramirez regularly wears the Franklin CFX Pro.  You can get a limited edition All-Star version of the CFX Pros, very similar to Ramirez’, here.

Ramirez does his damage with Marucci Maple, swinging an RC24 in the past, and lately switching over to the Lindor model (Lindy12).  His measurements are 33.5″ inches and 31.5 ounces.  The Lindy12 is similar to the RC24 with a little bit more barrel and a very similar handle.  Shop the Lindy12 here.

Mookie Betts

Mookie Betts joins Manny Machado as Jumpman’s player representatives to start in this year’s All-Star Game, though Mookie wears his 9 PEs in a mid-cut, not lows like Manny, which can be shopped on eBay.

Betts is Axe bat’s first MLB endorser, swinging a Victus Axe MB50 which is also swung by George Springer.  Betts’ Axe bat is sold by Victus as an X50, which you can shop here.  For more on Axe, here’s an article we wrote about it.

Betts’ Wilson A2K 1799 Superskin is a beaut, and one that Wilson will offer as an in-line model next month.  Until then, get it as a custom here.

A closer look at the 9s and their red bottoms.

Like we said earlier, Betts shares these Jordan batting gloves with only one other guy, his All-Star teammate Manny Machado.  The closest you can get is the Nike Huarache batting gloves that are available here.  The main difference is the Jumpman logo.

See Betts’ full locker here.

Mike Trout

The best player in baseball, Mike Trout leads an absolutely stacked American League squad with his long-time weapon of choice, the Old Hickory MT27* Maple, the same turning model as Old Hick’s J143M, which is available here.  The MT27* has a medium thickness (2.5″), extra long barrel with a quick taper to a thin handle.

Trout’s latest Rawlings glove features camo mesh, and its available exactly like Mike’s at this link.  Trout’s glove is a 12.75″ 601 pattern, and Trout is one of the few guys who still rocks the trap-eze web that Ken Griffey (and Stan Musial, and Ozzie Smith) made famous.

Mike Trout loves to hunt… in-season, he’s hunting fastballs with a Trout exclusive pair of camo Nike batting gloves.  Nike offers a Trout Elite line which look more like his 2017 batting gloves, available at this link.

For the All-Star Game, expect to see Trout turning heads in his latest, the Trout 5 cleats, in the above colorway, made just for Mike for the ASG.

They’ll have the 2018 All-Star Game logo on the inserts and under the laces.

Though Trout’s ASG cleats aren’t available, Nike is offering a similar colorway of the Trout 5 “ASG,” which is available here.

Aaron Judge

The Judge rules with a Chandler AJ99.2 Maple bat at 35 inches, 33 ounces.  At that length, plate coverage is not an issue.

Judge’s standard black and gold Chandler is something you can custom order through Chandler, and JustBats.com is now offering Judge’s hand-painted 2017 HR Derby winning bat for just $99.99, a price that is 80% off of its original $499.99 price tag.  This is an insane deal for any collectors out there, so you ought to grab ’em while they’re still in stock.  (I just grabbed one for WPW headquarters.)

Aaron Judge’s move to adidas in 2018 continues a trend of young stars choosing the three stripes, and Judge is wearing a new cleat from adidas, the Icon 4 Bounce, which offers Judge the support he needs underfoot.  They’ll release on August 1, and you can find more info on Aaron Judge’s cleats here.  (Pictured are the Icon 4 Bounce turfs)

Judge squeezes his bearpaws into a Rawlings Pro Preferred PROS303-6KN, the standard MLB pattern in a classy Yankee-friendly colorway.  You can get Judge’s exact glove at this link.

See Judge’s full locker here.

JD Martinez

JD Martinez is a hitting machine.  Its hard to believe that he’s only been with the Red Sox for five months, and already managing to draw comparisons to Boston untouchables Ted Williams, Manny Ramirez, and David Ortiz.

JD Martinez’ bat is the same Old Hickory J143M that Mike Trout swings.  Its a popular model that we’ve described earlier in this article, and you can purchase it here.

Martinez, like Ted Williams, takes an academic approach to hitting, and doesn’t bother much with his gear.  These UA Yard batting gloves are several seasons old.  Worth noting is his PROHITTER hitting aid on the thumb, which assists the hitter in keeping the bat in the fingers, away from the palm, which can sap power.  Get a PROHITTER here.

Rather than keep up with the Joneses, JD Martinez keeps a close eye on his swing, using three iPads to track and examine every swing he takes.

Martinez wears an off-the-rack version of the adidas Poweralley 5, which you can get at a very reasonable price here.

Who’s got the most swag in the AL starting lineup?

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