Central League batting leader Hector Luna will miss the All-Star games after he was deactivated by the Chunichi Dragons on Tuesday due to pain in his left knee, Nippon Professional Baseball said Wednesday.
Luna, who is leading the CL with a .369 batting average in his first season in Japan ahead of Wednesday's games, was voted on to the CL All-Star squad by his peers.
He will be replaced by Takayuki Terauchi of the Yomiuri Giants, who will be making his first appearance in the All-Star series starting Friday at Sapporo Dome.
Dragons third baseman Luna was pulled from a July 6 game against Yakult with inflammation in his left knee. He returned to action on Saturday and had two pinch-hit appearances over the weekend.
NPB rules stipulate that players who withdraw from the All-Star games are not eligible to play for the first 10 games after the All-Star break.