North Carolina Sports Network
The Atlantic Coast Conference and the state of North Carolina both will be represented Tuesday (8 pm, FOX) at the Major League Baseball All-Star Game in Arlington, Texas, and two former in-state college baseball players will be making history for their respective schools.
Former NC State infielder Trea Turner (Philadelphia Phillies) and former Louisville catcher Will Smith (Los Angeles Dodgers) will represent the ACC. Each will be part of the National League squad, Turner for the third time in his career and Smith for the second time.
In addition to Turner, All-Star relief pitchers Jeff Hoffman (Phillies) and Mason Miller (Oakland A’s) played college baseball in North Carolina. With their appearances in this year’s Midsummer Classic, they are making history for their respective collegiate programs.
Hoffman, 31, a starting pitcher at East Carolina from 2012-14, is the first former Pirate to be selected for the All-Star Game. ECU’s highest-ever draft pick in the four major American sports, he was taken ninth overall by the Toronto Blue Jays in the 2014 draft. Now in his ninth MLB season, Hoffman (3-1, 1.12 ERA, nine saves) has become the bullpen closer for the Phillies, who have the best record (62-34) in the league.
“Everybody’s paths and careers are different,” Hoffman said. “But I’ve always been a believer in the work that I put in, and my nose goes to the grindstone every offseason, always trying to get better and figure out ways to make it easier on myself out there.”
Miller, 25, a starting pitcher at Gardner-Webb in 2021 as a graduate student, is the first former Bulldog to be selected for the All-Star Game. Just the third Gardner-Webb product to reach the MLB level, he was a third-round draft pick by Oakland in 2021 and made his MLB debut in 2023. Miller (1-1, 2.27 ERA, 15 saves with the A’s this season) was a first-team All-Big South selection for the Bulldogs in 2021.
Converted to a relief pitcher by the A’s last summer, during his rookie MLB season, Miller has emerged as perhaps the most electrifying closer in baseball. The average velocity on his fastball (100.9 mph) is the highest in the league, his 70 strikeouts lead all MLB relievers, and he has struck out 70 of the 150 batters (about 47 percent) he has faced this season.
“You can’t not feel that kind of adrenaline (as a closer),” Miller said. “You feel that atmosphere, the fans, the moment in the game, the situation. It all adds up, for sure.
“Being able to put it all into one at-bat … I’m not saving anything, I’m not hiding anything. It’s going to be my best from the moment you step in the box. That moment, it just feels like all that competitive juice just gets compressed into that one at-bat, that one inning.”
Texas Rangers shortstop Corey Seager was the only product of the North Carolina high school ranks to make the All-Star Game this year.
Seager, 30, a two-time World Series champion and two-time World Series MVP (2020 with the Dodgers, 2023 with the Rangers), is now a five-time MLB All-Star.
The 18th overall selection in the 2012 draft after a stellar career at Northwest Cabarrus High School in Kannapolis, he committed to play college baseball at South Carolina before opting instead to sign with the Dodgers, who offered him a $2.35 million signing bonus.
2024 MLB All-Stars With ACC/NC Connections
RP Jeff Hoffman, Phillies (NL), East Carolina
RP Mason Miller, A’s (AL), Gardner-Webb
SS Corey Seager, Rangers (AL), Kannapolis Northwest Cabarrus HS
C Will Smith, Dodgers (NL), Louisville
SS Trea Turner, Phillies (NL), NC State
