Here are three things we’ll be keeping an eye on around the baseball world throughout the day today:
1. 2025 Home Run Derby:
All-Star week is officially underway, and with it comes the return of an All-Star week staple: the Home Run Derby. Eight sluggers will battle it out for the $1MM prize, and this year’s participants are Byron Buxton of the Twins, Junior Caminero of the Rays, Jazz Chisholm Jr. of the Yankees, Oneil Cruz of the Pirates, Matt Olson of the Braves, Cal Raleigh of the Mariners, Brent Rooker of the Athletics, and James Wood of the Nationals. The event is scheduled to begin at 8pm ET this evening, and will air on ESPN. Of this crop of contestants, only Olson has participated previously; he was eliminated in the first round back in 2021 while representing the A’s. It’s hard to view anyone other than catcher Cal Raleigh as the favorite headed into today’s event given his MLB-leading 38 homers this year. If he can take home the trophy, he’ll be the first catcher to do so in the event’s history and the first Mariners representative to win the Derby since Hall of Famer Ken Griffey Jr.
2. MLB Draft Day 2:
Yesterday, MLB held the first three rounds of the 2025 draft. Eli Willits was drafted first overall by the Nationals, while consensus top talent Ethan Holliday went fourth overall to the Rockies. The full results of the first round can be found here. Now, the attention of teams will turn towards the later rounds of the draft. Rounds 4 through 20 are scheduled to take place today as teams around the league wrap up the draft, with Round 4 slated to begin at 11:30am ET this morning. A handful of top talents fall outside of the first few rounds every year, and that’s once again the case this season. A look at MLB Pipeline’s Draft Tracker reveals three top-50 talents in the draft have not yet been chosen: Oregon outfielder Mason Neville, Lincoln-Way East HS southpaw Jack Bauer, and Memorial HS right-hander Matthew Fisher.
3. Rodriguez to see doctor about ailing elbow:
Rays right-hander Manuel Rodriguez was pulled off his rehab assignment on Friday after experiencing some soreness in his elbow in conjunction with unusually low velocity. Rodriguez, who saw an alarming drop to just 91.2 mph during his latest outing after averaging 96.9 mph throughout the year, will be further evaluated today. The 28-year-old was a key piece of the Rays’ bullpen this year prior to his injury, with a 2.08 ERA and 2.98 FIP in 31 appearances. The Rays acquired Bryan Baker from the Orioles last week in hopes of bolstering their relief corps, though his team debut did not go well (three runs in one inning). A notable absence for Rodriguez could spur Tampa Bay’s front office to further address the bullpen.
I’d like to see Big Dumper win it, but the baseball world will be watching to see if his production drops off in the second half because of his derby participation.
Well, he’s had an historic first half while playing 72 games at the most physically demanding position so I wouldn’t be surprised to see his production drop off anyway. Of course, the easy narrative will be to blame the derby.
dan – If it’s purely wear and tear that brings down his performance in the second half, that would happen gradually and probably not start until mid-August.
If he sucks immediately after the All-Star break (look up AGon etc) then it’s likely fatigue or a messed up swing from participating in the derby.
Kinda funny how you acknowledge his 72 first half starts at catcher are likely to wear him down, but you have no qualms about him participating in a grueling competition today knowing full well he will likely catch half the game tomorrow.
So in one post you are saying more rest during the break would help him, but you don’t give a damn. Well alrighty then …
Typically those who have a hot first half drop off in the second half. As an old catcher, I would especially see him dropping off a bit in August.
I don’t care though. Big Dumper (one of the best baseball nicknames ever) has had a great season regardless.
Fever – I see your point about participating, especially as a catcher. A bit surprised the Ms signed off on it, honestly. Especially as it seems like a lot of people (including the players) are ho hum on the derby anymore.
Reds – I get that he has never experienced it before, so it’s new to him.
And I get the publicity is something the Mariners want because it will help generate revenue. A lot of casual fans aren’t familiar with him, but if they watch the derby they will be.
I think the second half of seasons is not as grueling as it used to be, there’s a lot more temperature-controlled stadiums and a lot fewer doubleheaders and makeup games.
Theoretically, hitters should perform better in July thru September because the ball travels farther than in March thru May, right?
Yes it’s a great nickname, but still overall the nicknames of the past are so much better.
Oil Can, Guapo. Big Unit, The Human Rain Delay, The Big Hurt, The Penguin, Scrabble, Turkey, Crime Dog, Shoeless Joe, Satchel, Yogi, Babe ….
Oh, I agree (I may be biased) including a lot of them in the dugout we can’t put on here!
Big dumper is so much cooler than babe or yogi lol
Fever, what? You sure read a lot more into my post than I did.
dan – So you’re saying you agree it’s not a good idea for him to participate? Ok cool.
Nope. Didn’t say that. I have zero opinion on his home run derby participation. What I said was, as a catcher who’s put up historic numbers and has caught a lot of games, Raleigh’s numbers are probably going to be less impressive after the all-star break with or without participating in the home run derby. I 1000% agree with you that when/if his numbers start to regress would be a huge determinant as to whether the HRD affected him, but most people will reflexively blame the Derby for any second half decline. I can’t speak to anything else inferred from my original comment.
dan – Okay cool, so you’re saying he should participate and if he has a major regression in the second half then the HRD is likely the main (but not only) reason for it. I totally agree!
No, no, no, no……sigh. I’m saying he should skip the home run derby, forego the rest of the season, start training for the Slam Dunk Contest, skip that, and start a traveling medicine show. I hate when I have to explain everything.
dan – Haha …. I always appreciate humor, thank you!
I think he should forego all of those activities and only train for the NFL Pro Bowl Flag football game. The only selection game in Pro Sports that they actually play hard and play to win! ….Just Kidding!
I had to look it up because I didn’t know who the big dumper was. I follow the Red Sox pretty closely and NBA basketball so that doesn’t leave much time for following the rest of the baseball world.
But seriously, is that a misprint? 38 home runs right now?
That’s amazing. I wonder if anyone knows how often if ever something like that has happened before the All-Star break? That’s truly amazing to me on the surface.
Another aberration that comes to mind when considering this is the one year Albert Bell had 12 home runs in spring training. Not sure how common that is either but I just remember it for some reason.
If I’m rambling, just ignore me. Big time kudos to the Big Dumper though. Wow.
Bonds in 01 and 03, Luis Gonzales in 01, Sammy Sosa and Mark McGwire in 1998 think Griffey did it in 1998
In other words, the Cheater’s Home Runs Derby.
Enjoy the derby.
Ignore the narratives.
This is easy!
It seems like it’s not usually the favorite who wins it. I’d go with Caminero or Rooker, someone like that. I almost hope Cal goes out in the first round. And, by the way, where is the great and powerful Judge? Ducking out again, I see.
Pujols caught fire after participating in 2022 and managed to get to 703 career homeruns thanks to the derby. (Either that or Manfred helped him out with Juiced balls)
hard to get excited about the home run derby that doesn’t include Judge, Ohtani and Polar bear, personally
stp – Agreed, but we can’t expect them to participate every year.
And it’s cool that some of the players who’ve never been offered the opportunity can experience it and maybe make some money too.
I was thinking the lineup seemed rather weak… These dudes dont hit 40 homeruns a year except for Cal and Olsen. Cruz hits missiles but strikes out alot. Its might be good, who knows. Maybe MLB needed a fresh breath of air and offered the chances to the young bloods
Might be a different Mariner. Same happiness?
The HR derby would be more fun if they set-up a machine to throw random balls at high velocity and the one who hits the most HRs is crowned the champion. Enough with this glorified batting practice.
York – That’s actually a good idea, but it would result in a lot fewer pitches/swings which means ESPN’s broadcast would be cut down to about an hour ….. less revenue = bad.
@Fever Pitch Guy
But… I thought MLB wanted to shorten games because they’re too long and people have shorter attention spans than a goldfish. Having the HR derby done in an hour frees up time for the goldfish to check out other programing that ESPN would rather air.
York – We in here talking about practice.
I mean, listen: We talking about practice.
Not a game. Not a game. Not a game.
We talking about practice.
Not a game.
We talkin about praaaactice?
Why would you ask me questions about practice? I mean, it’s practice, man.
If Jack Bauer wears any number other than 24, his entire circle has failed him.
44 – That was an excellent show, probably the only one I binge-watched because I loved it so much!
Baseball has, due to its nature, the best of the All-Star games especially in recent times as the others have devolved even further. And it is hard to blame anyone as why would one risk injury to your players for an exhibition and moreso as the big $$ take over.
But even baseball has hit that ceiling. Teams don’t want their pitchers to interrupt their schedules to take any innings and would love the rest for everyone – especially their most crucial players. In a 162 game marathon where the approach is now max effort all year long, the wear and tear is absurd. So while baseball can still stage the game (and the rest break), when one compares what it used to be when you would only see players from the other league in the All-Star game and the competition was hot, today it is just a lark for the most part even as one can claim that it is not nearly as worthless as the basketball and football varieties.
I talked to a friend the other day about making it more of a Savannah Bananas affair – do the HR Derby; perhaps add a couple of other skills challenges and then introduce a bunch of up and coming stars and have them in a showcase with the SB and make it simply about fun. The next day I saw that Nick Castellanos made the very same comment but in a negative way about the game…perhaps we should just admit what it is. It is simply a spectacle, and make it a true spectacle.
Before yesterday, I had previously overstated until I was blue in the face that Tanner Scott got a stupid contract unless he put up Rivera-esque seasons in 2 out of 4 years of the contract. Year one isn’t happening and the comically stupid amount of money the Dodgers are paying a relief pitcher really means he needs a 200 or higher ERA+ in a third year where he misses some time being hurt.
Yersterday, he didn’t pass the eye test at all. $18 mil/year for 4 years for…. that? As he blew a save.
Looking under the hood, that was his 7th blown save and he has a 100 ERA+. The Dodgers have a closer by committee because Tanner Scott is butt cheeks, much less skips-leg-day @$$ that is making $18 million/year.
If anyone from the Lerner family sees this comment, I am typing this with a straight face when I reiterate that I would have done a better job than Mike Rizzo over the last decade, and there would have been more than one World Series appearance. Get my email from MLBTR and shoot me a message.
I enjoy the ASG, but I’m tired of players ducking out of it. They hurt their little toe, beg out of the game, but keep playing for their team despite the “injury”. Why bother voting these guys in if they’re just gonna decide not to go? I wonder how many of the players who were selected have dropped out.
Why should they play in a meaningless exhibition versus spending a few days with family etc? MLB wants to lock them out, give billionaires more money through a ridiculous salary cap while making hundreds of millions in profits, and names a pitcher to the game with five games in majors. Obviously they don’t take it seriously other than as money grab so why should players? It’s not 1950 I can see any player every day if I want to.
In fairness, the five game guy was named to the team only after several others opted out.
I think PCA should be in the HR derby.
I’m just waiting for the Atlanta Braves DFA Jesse Chavez post for the umpteenth time, then the follow-up Jesse Chavez elects free agency and finally Jesse Chavez signs minor league deal with the Braves! It’s going to happen. The Braves already have pre-printed contracts ready to sign!
HR Derby must be one of the least-watched MLB events of the year right? I wonder if they’ll ever replace it. Imo, home runs aren’t especially exciting outside of a game context.
At this point, the Derby is probably a bigger event than the all-star game itself.
I remember looking forward to the All Star game.
That’s how old I am.
Ditto. 1978 was the Last time I looked forward to it.
Players take BP everyday, the home run derby is basically extended BP, these are the best baseball players in the world. An extended round of BP will not ruin their season.
WRONG link to Manuel Rodriguez. I do not think he is only 19 as your link says. Very inaccurate reporting yet again!!