![Topps Now cards featuring Rays shortstop Willy Adames and pitcher Ryan Yarbrough. [Special to the Times]](https://www.tampabay.com/resizer//VEKM-cVB2vYaqhWa327I60zFbqg=/426x0/smart/filters:format(webP)/s3.amazonaws.com/arc-wordpress-client-uploads/tbt/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/06160415/rays_rookies.jpg "Topps Now cards featuring Rays shortstop Willy Adames and pitcher Ryan Yarbrough. [Special to the Times]")
Rays SS Willy Adames and LHP Ryan Yarbrough were chosen for the 2018 Topps MLB All-Star Rookie team.
Rays 2B Joey Wendle, who was considered a potential finalist for the AL Rookie of the Year award, was not, beaten out again by Yankees 2B Gleyber Torres.
RELATED: Did Joey Wendle get a raw deal in Rookie of the Year voting?
The 12-player team is chosen by a vote of Topps officials who, the sports-card company said, "work on the (baseball) products all year long and follow baseball closely" and vote on players for each position.
Adames, 23, hit .278 with 10 homers, 34 RBIs and a .754 OPS in 85 games, making 14 errors (13 at short) and posting a 2.0 WAR, per baseball-reference.com.
Yarbrough, 26, went 16-6 with a 3.91 ERA in 38 games, starting six while working primarily behind an opener, a strategy designed to enable the following pitcher to work deeper and more effectively into the game. He posted a 0.9 bWAR.
RELATED: Snell, Cash are finalists for BBWAA awards; Wendle misses out
Wendle, 28, did not make the Topps team despite leading all AL rookies with a .300 average and 4.3 WAR rating. All six finalists for the BBWAA Rookie of the Year awards did: Miguel Andujar, Shohei Ohtani and Torres in the AL; Ronald Acuna, Walker Buehler and Juan Soto in the NL.
The full Topps team looks like this:
P/DH: Shohei Ohtani, Los Angeles Angels
P: Walker Buehler, Los Angeles Dodgers
P: Ryan Yarbrough, Tampa Bay Rays
P: AJ Minter, Atlanta Braves
C: Jorge Alfaro, Philadelphia Phillies
1B: Ryan O'Hearn, Kansas City Royals
2B: Gleyber Torres, New York Yankees
SS: Willy Adames, Tampa Bay Rays
3B: Miguel Andújar, New York Yankees
OF: Ronald Acuña Jr., Atlanta Braves
OF: Juan Soto, Washington Nationals
OF: Harrison Bader, St. Louis Cardinals
Adames and Yarbrough will be featured on a TOPPS NOW card that showcases their selection to the team, including a limited autograph version. There also will be a Rookie Cup logo on their 2019 Topps Baseball flagship cards, with the first series set for release Jan. 30.
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