Espinal added to Eastern League All-Star Roster

Altoona first baseman picks up second straight E.L. all-star nod

By Trey Wilson

July 3, 2017

CURVE, Pa. - First baseman Edwin Espinal  has been added to the selections to represent the Altoona Curve at the 2017 Eastern League All-Star Game, the team announced in conjunction with the Eastern League of Professional Baseball on Monday. The game will take place at Northeast Delta Dental Stadium in Manchester, N.H.

CURVE, Pa. - First baseman Edwin Espinal has been added to the selections to represent the Altoona Curve at the 2017 Eastern League All-Star Game, the team announced in conjunction with the Eastern League of Professional Baseball on Monday. The game will take place at Northeast Delta Dental Stadium in Manchester, N.H. on July 12.

Espinal's selection brings the Curve's total representation to six players, the most of any team in the Eastern League this year. Jordan Luplow, Wyatt Mathisen, Kevin Kramer, Alex McRae and Montana DuRpau were announced to the rosters last week.
A native of Mao Valverde, Dominican Republic, Espinal is currently batting .286 through 72 games with a career-best eight home runs. He leads the team with 50 RBIs, which ranks sixth in the Eastern League. He is currently tied for first in the circuit with 23 doubles.
Tweet from @AltoonaCurve: ��Edwin Espinal blasted his eighth bomb of the year in last night's win, setting a new career high pic.twitter.com/lccENvf6Hc
Defensively, Espinal leads all E.L. first baseman with a perfect 1.000 fielding percentage, tallying 515 putouts and 46 assists without committing an error.
The addition of Espinal corresponds with the promotion of two Eastern League All-Stars. Luplow and Richmond left-hander Matt Gage have been promoted to Triple-A.
The selection of six all-stars is tied for second-most in Altoona franchise history, matching marks previously set in 2006 and 2010. The team had seven picks in 2014 when they most recently hosted the event at PNG Field.
Espinal is just the fourth player in Curve franchise history to be picked as an Eastern League Mid-Season All-Star twice, joining Shawn Garrett (2002-03), Jason Delaney (2008-09) and Brock Holt (2011-12).
The 2017 Eastern League All-Star Classic kicks off on Tuesday, July 11 with the Home Run Derby and Celebrity Softball Game. The E.L. All-Star Game will take place on Wednesday, July 12 at 7:05 p.m., preceded by a pregame autograph session. Tickets are available at NHFisherCats.com. The game will be broadcast on the TuneIn Radio app and on MiLB.TV.
The Curve return to Peoples Natural Gas Field for their last homestand before the all-star break on Tuesday with an Independence Day Fireworks celebration as the team faces the Binghamton Rumble Ponies. The series continues with a performance by BirdZerk on Wednesday, and it wraps up on Thursday with an appearance and performance by the ZOOperstars. For tickets and more information, visit AltoonaCurve.com, call 877.99.CURVE or stop by the PNG Field box office.
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