On the heels of last night’s Home Run Derby, here are three things we’ll be keeping an eye on around the baseball world throughout the day today:
1. 2023 All-Star Game:
The 93rd MLB All-Star Game is set to take place in Seattle tonight. Phillies manager Rob Thomson will manage the NL squad against Astros manager Dusty Baker in the AL. Yankees ace Gerrit Cole will take the ball for the AL against Diamondbacks right-hander Zac Gallen at 7pm CT this evening. The American League will be looking to defend their nine-season winning streak in the Midsummer Classic in tonight’s game, though they’ll do so without fan-elected starters Aaron Judge and Mike Trout, who have been replaced by Adolis Garcia and Austin Hays in the starting lineup.
2. MLB Draft Day 3:
Yesterday saw all 30 organizations select a variety of potential future big leaguers in Rounds 3-10 of the MLB draft. The draft will conclude today with Rounds 11-20 starting at 1pm CT. At this point in the draft, most top-tier talents are prep players expected to honor their commitments to play collegiate ball. To have a realistic shot of signing any of them, a club would have to have saved up a considerable portion of their bonus pool from the first two days. Players like shortstop Roch Cholowsky (committed to UCLA), right-hander Joey Volchko (a Stanford commit) and southpaw Cameron Johnson (an LSU recruit) are all widely considered to be among the best 50 to 100 talents in this year’s overall draft class but could be tough signs at this point.
3. MLBTR Chat Today:
With MLB’s All-Star festivities fully underway and the 2023 draft reaching its final stage, the attention of MLB clubs will soon turn to the coming trade deadline on August 1. If you have any questions about your favorite team’s direction in the coming weeks or a trade idea you have in the back of your mind, MLBTR’s Steve Adams is holding a live chat with readers at 1pm CT today. You can click here to ask a question in advance, join in live once the chat begins, or read the transcript once the chat is complete.
I think Atlanta will beat Texas in the ASG, given how they are hot, while Texas is cold. The AL usually dominates, though.
It’s 11:11 on 7/11. Where’s your slushee?
Everybody wins if there are no injuries tonight.
That kid getting smoked was the highlight of the derby.
Since MLB plays with the baseball for the derby, we can’t even be sure each player used the same ball. Wouldn’t surprise me if the home town boy got special treatment, cuz it would make a good story for the league.
@stymeedone
Given the lack of integrity with the ball, game to game and year to year, baseball is becoming a joke of a sport. Stop messing with the ball. I get that people get excited about HRs but stop playing around with the ball to get more or less.
They have been messing with the ball for years, seems like since the beginning of time, one way or the other. Nothing new.
There sure are a lot of former cardinals starting in tonight’s game with Randy, Adolis, and Gallen. Throw Murphy in there (too stupid and walked away from that trade and went with Willson) and Roberts (too cheap and we’re out bid by the WhiteSux). Maybe if they weren’t such an arrogant, incompetent bunch they wouldn’t be 14 under .500 sitting at a .422.
Maybe if they weren’t such an arrogant,
========================
That’s the problem with having one of the most successful teams in baseball.
When you are smarter than everyone else, you tend to not listen to the Sliders of the world.
That’s so true. Most people may be dumber than you, but most people probably can’t outsmart dozens of others (or millions of fans) collectively. Everyone makes mistakes. I can say that about stocks.
You’re right. They couldn’t use any of those players. Not one. They clearly know what they’re doing. They’ve won ONE playoff game since getting swept and humiliated by the Nats in 2019. Successful team doing successful team stuff I guess.
Try using a bigger sample size. They’ve got their worst record for like a 100 years. Not team can boast that. Just be quiet they’re allowed to have a bad season occasionally
History is only for the dead. They have been in a downward spiral and this isn’t even the bottom. They’ll be even worse next year.
So much is going well for Texas! They are the 5th or 6th team to ever have 4 starters in the ASG lineup, they won the draft lottery and went from 7th to 4th, they got arguably the top or 2nd best guy in the draft and at worst, the 3rd best guy because of Detroit, and they turned their 2nd and 3rd round picks into below-market FA starters in terms of AAV. Eovaldi is elite this year, and the Rangers were 6-0 in deGrom’s starts. He does have a 20 MM vesting option since he underwent TJS, and I’d prefer that at 37 MM for a longer time than 43.3 for Scherzer and Verlander to put up barely above average #s. Last year: Rocker, Seager, Semien, and Porter
This year: Langford, deGrom, and Eovaldi
Semien may backfire and deGrom is volatile, but I’d take that effective outcome. Not my money lol
*5 starters, of which 4 were elected naturally
MLB wants more viewers and specifically younger viewers so naturally they make it impossible to watch for anyone who doesn’t have an old style cable package, a medium which is dying a rapid death.
The NL is getting robbed blind. Adolis is shining! This may be a preview of the World Series if things go well (except without Cole pitching). Imagine Garcia making that play during the WS.