The New York Yankees continue to give Anthony Volpe starts despite the shortstop's shortcomings at both sides of the plate. Despite the criticism all around, Volpe seems to have the team's support and that could be an issue for the organization in the long run.
Recently, Yankees legend Derek Jeter appeared on Adam Schein's "The Schein Time" and shared Volpe's image within the organization.
"The Yankees are very high on Anthony," Jeter said. "I don't personally know him that well. We've had a couple of conversations. I don't know him well, but yeah, I think they're banking on a big upside and hopefully he can put it together here. They can put it together soon."
Before Schein could get on with his full-blown rant, he made it clear that Jeter shares no personal relationship with Volpe other than having conversations with the fellow shortstop a few times. The analyst believes that Jeter doesn't believe Volpe should be in the majors.
"A guy like that should not be in the major leagues. That's the interpretation of what Derek Jeter is telling me," Schein said.
The analyst claims Volpe is no good in any of the departments, including hitting, fielding, baserunning and other fundamentals. The Yankees' shortstop's stats support the argument. Over the last four years, he has been able to hit only .224 with an OPS of .662. It's below league-average production for an everyday player.
Schein also thinks that the only reason Volpe has the confidence of the team is that GM Brian Cashman picked him in the first round of the 2019 MLB draft. To rationalize his decision, Cashman & Co. are putting Volpe on a high pedestal.
"Brian Cashman is trying to save face and rationalize taking Volpe as high as he did in the draft and saying dumb things in the past like, 'We'll let it play out on the field, and I believe in this guy,'" Schein added. "No. Volpe is everything wrong with the New York Yankees, and that's a problem. So I think it's incumbent upon the Yankees to get rid of him so they can move on."
“He has no relationship with him? Hey Anthony, you wanna pick up the phone and call Derek Jeter? He’d return the call. He'd text you back. That's one red flag.”@adamschein has many an issue with Anthony Volpe remaining the starting shortstop for the New York Yankees. One of… pic.twitter.com/OwGZjj3Tw9
— New York Post Sports (@nypostsports) July 15, 2026
Braves emerge as trade deadline destination for Yankees' Anthony Volpe
The trade rumors between the Atlanta Braves and the Yankees have been going on for some time now. The NL East team wants a starting pitcher and a shortstop.
This could be a way for the Yankees to get rid of Anthony Volpe. TJ French of Heavy floated a proposal in which the Yankees would send the shortstop to the Braves in exchange for INF Jim Jarvis and RHP Garrett Baumann.
With Jose Caballero proving to be an upgrade over Volpe at shortstop, the Yankees may go ahead with the trade by trying to bargain for more draft/prospects capital.
Volpe has done little favor to himself at the plate. Aside from his defensive struggles, he has not been able to generate any momentum at the plate, only hitting .246 with one home run, six doubles, and an OPS+ of 89 over 138 at-bats this season.
Boxing legend Mike Tyson, boxer/influencer Jake Paul and music producer DJ Khaled announced Ohtani as the winner during the show. Ohtani was not in attendance.
Ohtani has played a key role in leading the Dodgers to back-to-back World Series championships.
He was the league's leading vote-getter but withdrew from the MLB All-Star Game this week due to inflammation and irritation in his left knee. The discomfort in the knee impacted his pitching mechanics, and he was recently pulled from a scheduled start for the Dodgers.
This season, he has 98 hits, 65 runs, 22 home runs and 58 RBIs in 88 games played. On the mound, he's produced an 8-2 record in 14 starts, allowing 55 hits, 21 runs (17 earned runs) and four home runs. He has struck out 95 and walked 26.
Boxer Mike Tyson presented the ESPY award for best single-game performance to Los Angeles Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani on July 15. Just don’t ask him who Shohei Ohtani plays for, what sport he plays, or even apparently what gender Shohei Ohtani is.
After (somewhat) correctly pronouncing Ohtani’s name, Tyson turned to co-presented Logan Paul to make sure he got it right.
“Shohei could not be here tonight,” Tyson said. “He sends his gratitude and appreciation to ESPN and everyone who voted for him,” Paul said.
“Shohei’s a guy?” Tyson said, turning to Paul.
Tyson, 60, certainly would be forgiven for not following MLB on a regular basis. He sparred with Ted Barrett before Barrett became a major league umpire. Other than that, the Tyson/MLB concentric circles are separate.
It’s at least somewhat surprising that Ohtani’s name never reached Tyson’s ears. Ohtani is at least the game’s best player today, if not ever. His single-game performance against the Milwaukee Brewers in Game 4 of the 2025 National League Championship Series was one for the ages.
Ohtani threw six shutout innings against the Brewers as the Dodgers’ starting pitcher, and went 3 for 3 with three home runs at the plate. Tyson said it himself: it was an award-winning performance.
The game basically clinched the NLCS MVP Award for Ohtani. Now it’s been honored across multiple sports.
Ohtani was also nominated for the ESPY award for best male athlete, an honor which might convince Tyson of Ohtani’s gender once and for all.
Baseball players rarely attend the ESPYs ceremony to receive their awards in person. The ceremony is traditionally held during MLB’s All-Star break, giving ESPN the night’s major live sports programming all to itself, but making it hard for the top MLB stars to attend.
Ohtani at least had no obvious prior obligations. He did not attend All-Star festivities in Philadelphia because of a irritation in his left knee. Perhaps he and Tyson can schedule a gentleman’s handshake down the road.
May 17, 2026; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Minnesota Twins designated hitter Ryan Jeffers (27) celebrates his solo home run against the Milwaukee Brewers during the fifth inning at Target Field. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
Now in his seventh MLB season, Minnesota Twins catcher Ryan Jeffers has carved out a significant role with the club, flashing immense potential throughout the 2026 campaign. The former second-round pick has posted career-best efficiency while providing notable fantasy production.
Jeffers has helped the Minnesota Twins to a 48-49 record on the season, but has garnered interest in the trade market from teams in need of a righty bat. The Twins are expected to emerge as sellers ahead of next month's trade deadline, with players like Jeffers, Byron Buxton and Joe Ryan racking up attention in the rumor mill.
Despite missing nearly 50 games due to injury, Jeffers has sustained encouraging production throughout the year. He returned to Minnesota's lineup on Friday and will likely continue that trend down the stretch of the season. He's racked up 38 hits in as many games, with 26 runs, 28 RBIs and seven home runs, slashing .292/.404/.538 from the plate.
Jeffers took a tumble in fantasy baseball rankings during his absence, but will likely make his way back up down the stretch of the year, currently sitting at No. 146 among hitters in fantasy.
By August's deadline, should Minnesota find itself outside the bubble of playoff contention, the front office will likely sell to garner future assets. Considering the team's depth at catcher, there's plenty of reason to believe Jeffers will be among those moved. Let's look at three clubs at could provide a solid fit for Jeffers, potentially bolstering his fantasy baseball outlook:
Boston Red Sox
Jul 11, 2026; New York City, New York, USA; Boston Red Sox designated hitter Masataka Yoshida (7) slaps hands with interim third-base coach Chad Epperson (81) after hitting a two-run home run during the eighth inning against the New York Mets at Citi Field. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
The Boston Red Sox are in the hunt for a postseason spot amid a 46-48 campaign, and could look to buy at the deadline. The offense is in dire need of another key contributor, with third-year catcher Carlos Narvaez facing a plethora of inconsistency throughout the season. Jeffers fills a position of need while presenting the Red Sox's offense with a righty power bat to join the lineup. Slotted into a starting role in Boston, Jeffers' fantasy projections could take a sizable leap. He's a reliable hitter with plenty of power behind his bat, and now in the final year of his deal, Jeffers could take another fantasy baseball leap as the Red Sox look to add controllable assets at the trade deadline.
New York Yankees
Jul 12, 2026; Washington, District of Columbia, USA; New York Yankees infielder Ben Rice (22) celebrates after hitting a two-run triple in the eighth inning against the Washington Nationals at Nationals Park. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
Entering the season with elevated expectations, the New York Yankees have posted an encouraging 54-42 record coming off the team's ALDS loss last season. As the trade deadline approaches, the Yankees will work to shore up weaknesses within the lineup and could look to add Jeffers to bolster the offense. The Yankees have already been linked to Jeffers in trade rumors, with starting catcher Austin Wells struggling mightily through the first half of the season. Jeffers' fantasy outlook will take a notable leap with a trade to New York, providing the team with a reliable bat and additional power at the plate.
Tampa Bay Rays
Apr 9, 2014; Kansas City, MO, USA; Tampa Rays first basemen James Loney (21) at bat against the Kansas City Royals during the first inning at Kauffman Stadium. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
After back-to-back postseason absences in 2024 and 2025, the Tampa Bay Rays have emerged as one of the MLB's top clubs this year. The team has managed an AL-best 56-38 record on the season thus far, and will look to improve its offense with the addition of an everyday starter at catcher. Like their AL East rivals, the Rays have already been linked to Jeffers and could greatly benefit from an upgrade at the position. Providing a valuable spark to Tampa's offense, Jeffers' fantasy ceiling likely elevates noticeably with a potential trade to the Rays.
The Toronto Blue Jays aren't totally in the hunt, but they're close enough to the playoff picture in a messy American League to consider being a buyer at the trade deadline.
And what if they wanted to get crazy and trade to get Bo Bichette back?
It wouldn't be impossible.
The New York Mets have been awful, and they're likely to be sellers.
While Bichette signed a three-year deal there in free agency, it does have an opt-out after each season, so there's no guarantee he'll be there for the length of the contract. That could make him a trade candidate, although the deal also has an annual average value of $42 million per year, which certainly isn't cheap.
Give me your craziest trade deadline prediction..
I’ll go first: Bo Bichette will be a Blue Jay again
It's certainly a fun concept, and one that would at least make one sense.
The simple case for the Blue Jays trading for Bichette would be that they'd know who they were getting. They watched him in the clubhouse and on the field for years. There'd likely be no surprises.
This is a guy who played through a brutal knee ailment during the playoffs just to be available during the World Series, and he hit a massive home run that was nearly the lasting memory of the whole postseason before the Dodgers spoiled it.
This season, Bichette started really slow, but he's up to .255 with 10 home runs through 380 at bats. He has looked more like himself the last couple of months.
The Blue Jays would have to figure out the positional stuff with Kazuma Okamoto at third base. Would Bichette be healthy and mobile enough to move back to shortstop? Or could he play second base and have Ernie Clement and Andres Gimenez split time at short?
It may not be the perfect pairing, particularly because of the money.
But if the Blue Jays get hot in the final couple weeks before the deadline, maybe they could really consider this trade that would've seemed quite far-fetched a few months ago.
The American League All-Stars dominated the National League yet again on Tuesday, July 14, winning 4-0 and earning their 11th victory of the last 13 Midsummer Classics.
With that out of the way, attention turns to the MLB trade deadline on Aug. 3. With less than a month away, the time has come for teams to decide whether they will buyers or sellers.
Some teams have obviously already fallen into one of those categories. The Colorado Rockies, San Francisco Giants and Los Angeles Angels are too far out of contention to be buying at this point, but each of those teams have great players that contenders would love to have for the remainder of the season.
Superstars such as Byron Buxton, back-to-back Cy Young Award winner Tarik Skubal and All-Star closer Mason Miller have all emerged as likely trade candidates. And of each them would instantly elevate any team they joined.
Here are our rankings of the top 10 MLB trade deadline targets:
Power ranking the ten best MLB trade deadline targets
Honorable mentions: 2B Luis Arraez, 3B Matt Chapman, RHP Casey Mize, SS CJ Abrams, RHP Sonny Gray, 1B Willson Contreras, LHP Josh Hader, RHP Jose Soriano, RHP Michael Wacha, LHP Robbie Ray, RHP Freddy Peralta
10. UTIL Casey Schmitt, Giants
Schmitt has burst onto the scene in 2026, offering solid offense and capable defense at a variety of positions. In just 2026 alone, the 27-year-old has played in the outfield and at every position on the infield. Couple that versatility in the field with 19 home runs and an OPS over .800 and that's a very solid player that any team would love to have.
Schmitt will enter his first year of arbitration in 2027, meaning he could be under team control for the next three years, albeit at likely increasing cost.
Even at 38 years old, Aroldis Chapman is showing that he can still be an incredibly valuable arm. Chapman is in the midst of his second consecutive All-Star season and has recorded a 2.20 ERA with 19 saves through the first half.
While Chapman's price tag is hefty, this is an arm that could be worth it for the postseason. Not only has Chapman won two World Series in his career, but he's boasted an outstanding 2.30 ERA in the playoffs since 2016.
Detmers' 4.38 ERA is not indicative of what he brings to the table. He is a great strikeout pitcher with a remarkable offspeed arsenal. His 3.35 FIP and 3.38 xERA point that he has been rather unlucky this year.
The biggest issue with a potential Detmers trade is the likely cost. Reports indicate that the Angels will be looking for a package similar to what the Tigers would get for Tarik Skubal, the reigning back-to-back American League Cy Young winner. That price could drive several teams away.
That said, Detmers still has two years of arbitration left, meaning he could be a top of the rotation arm that costs a fraction of what Skubal does.
2026 stats: 3-6, 4.39 ERA, 3.35 FIP, 10.2 K/9
7. OF Jung Hoo Lee, Giants
A classic top-of-the-lineup bat, Lee offers remarkable contact skills, serviceable outfield defense, and low but enough pop to the gaps to be worth his price tag of $21 million/year over the next three seasons. He's currently experiencing his best season in the bigs and is entering his prime at 27 years old.
His high batting average and low strikeout rate make for a combination that any team could use to produce runs, and moving him out of Oracle Park could see his offensive numbers improve.
An underrated arm in the big leagues for years now, Ryan is on a rather team-friendly contract with potentially another year under team control. The draw is obvious. Only six qualified pitchers have a better strikeout-to-walk ratio. His 2.85 ERA is far and away the best of his career, and he's still just 30 years old.
Ryan is a front-line starter on a team known for having enormous fire sales at the deadline. Ryan isn't just a likely candidate to be traded, he's a candidate that will draw numerous suitors and a hefty haul.
2026 stats: 6-5, 2.85 ERA, 2.77 FIP, 10.4 K/9
5. SS Jeremy Peña, Astros
Although Peña can be inconsistent when it comes to pitch selection, his plus defense and solid power/speed combo makes him an enticing option for any team struggling to find offensive production at shortstop. That said, there is a chance that the Astros hold onto Peña.
The Astros are still holding onto hope that they can contend for a World Series title despite lacking the roster to do so. Their farm system is also atrocious, meaning a trade of this magnitude could do their future good. Will they actually pull the trigger though? That's yet to be seen.
Any time a team can find value behind the plate, it provides them with a massive advantage over their opponent. The New York Yankees are the first team that comes to mind when considering who could be interested in grabbing Jeffers' services. After all, their catchers have combined for -1.1 Wins Above Average, per Baseball Reference, good for 27th in MLB.
Jeffers' .538 slugging from behind home plate would give the Yankees' offense a massive boost almost immediately. Well, it would give any offense a huge boost immediately.
When healthy, Byron Buxton is one of the best center fielders in baseball, providing an immaculate power-speed combo and incredible defense at one of the sport's toughest positions. The three-time All-Star may be 32 years old and carry a history of injury problems, but he has played in atleast 100 games in two straight years and is on pace to do so again in 2026.
At just over $15 million a year and with team control through the 2028 season, Buxton would be an absolute steal if he can remain healthy through the rest of his contract.
It's hard to determine a definitive best player at any position, but Mason Miller might be as close to a unanimous selection as anyone. Undeniably one of the premier closers in baseball, Miller boasts electric stuff. His Baseball Savant page is littered with deep red. He's in the upper echelon of pitchers in every single countable stat with a fastball averaging more than 101 mph.
Of course, the question is whether or not the Padres are going to be willing to sell Miller. The Padres have said that they are unlikely to ship their All-Star closer elsewhere, but they have admitted to being open to the idea. That alone will be enough to get a myriad of calls as the deadline approaches.
What needs to be said about someone who has won back-to-back Cy Young Awards? While Skubal will become an unrestricted free agent at the end of this season, he's done more than enough to prove how valuable he could be to a franchise looking to make a final push into the postseason. He's a pitcher that gives your team an indescribable advantage every time he steps onto the field.
While 2026 has seen Skubal deal with some injuries, he still boasts a remarkable 3.09 ERA and 3.06 FIP. He's also boasting the best strikeout-to-walk ratio of his career.
Though Fielder certainly carries notoriety, he wasn't among the Brewers' top prospects. The deal allows the Brewers to acquire pitching depth, particularly with potential starters, while Houston was able to trim costs from its roster. McCullers is in the final year of an $85 million extension over five seasons.
Though Fielder certainly carries notoriety, he wasn't among the Brewers' top prospects. The deal allows the Brewers to acquire pitching depth, particularly with potential starters, while Houston was able to trim costs from its roster. McCullers is in the final year of an $85 million extension over five seasons.
The 6-foot-4, 225-pounder is 27 years old and will turn 28 just before Christmas.
Where is Colton Gordon from?
He's a Florida native who attended the University of Central Florida, and the Astros selected him in the eighth round of the 2021 draft.
What are Colton Gordon's stats this year?
Gordon has pitched 14 games at AAA this year (13 starts) with a 6-3 record, 3.69 ERA and 1.17 WHIP. He last pitched July 10 in the minors, allowing no runs and four hits in six innings, with seven strikeouts. He's a former top-10 prospect in the Astros organization.
He's worked 9⅓ rough innings in the big leagues this year, all in April, allowing six home runs and three walks with an 11.57 ERA.
In 2025, when he made his big-league debut, he had a 5.34 ERA in 20 games (14 starts), with 72 strikeouts and 103 hits allowed in 86 innings.
He had a 3.38 ERA across 11 starts in 2025 and a 3.94 ERA over 24 starts in 2024. All of those appearances were with Class AAA Sugar Land. He also made six starts in 2023 for AAA, so he's a long-tenured Triple-A pitcher at this point.
Will Colton Gordon start with the Brewers in the majors or AAA?
It remains to be seen. At the time of the trade, he was in the minors, and Milwaukee's Class AAA Nashville squad has also been besieged by pitching injuries and call-ups, so he'll be a welcome addition wherever he winds up and will almost certainly see the mound in Milwaukee at some point this year, if not right away.
Gordon has one more option year remaining after this season and five years of team control.
What kind of pitches does Colton Gordon throw?
He's been heavy on four-seam fastball and sweeper at the big-league level, with a dash of sinker and changeup. He gets elite extension on the mound and gets good chase but isn't going to wow you with his velocity.
What else should you know about Colton Gordon?
Chandler Rome of The Athletic wrote a story in 2025 that chronicled how Gordon, bored and feeling isolated while he rehabbed from Tommy John surgery after he'd been drafted, walked into a pizza parlor, asked for a job and delivered pizzas for four months, even as a minor-leaguer.
He pitched for Israel in the 2023 World Baseball Classic.
He shares a birthday (Dec. 20) with another new Brewers pitching acquisition, Bryse Wilson (Wilson was born one year earlier).
The 6-foot-4, 225-pounder is 27 years old and will turn 28 just before Christmas.
Where is Colton Gordon from?
He's a Florida native who attended the University of Central Florida, and the Astros selected him in the eighth round of the 2021 draft.
What are Colton Gordon's stats this year?
Gordon has pitched 14 games at AAA this year (13 starts) with a 6-3 record, 3.69 ERA and 1.17 WHIP. He last pitched July 10 in the minors, allowing no runs and four hits in six innings, with seven strikeouts. He's a former top-10 prospect in the Astros organization.
He's worked 9⅓ rough innings in the big leagues this year, all in April, allowing six home runs and three walks with an 11.57 ERA.
In 2025, when he made his big-league debut, he had a 5.34 ERA in 20 games (14 starts), with 72 strikeouts and 103 hits allowed in 86 innings.
He had a 3.38 ERA across 11 starts in 2025 and a 3.94 ERA over 24 starts in 2024. All of those appearances were with Class AAA Sugar Land. He also made six starts in 2023 for AAA, so he's a long-tenured Triple-A pitcher at this point.
Will Colton Gordon start with the Brewers in the majors or AAA?
It remains to be seen. At the time of the trade, he was in the minors, and Milwaukee's Class AAA Nashville squad has also been besieged by pitching injuries and call-ups, so he'll be a welcome addition wherever he winds up and will almost certainly see the mound in Milwaukee at some point this year, if not right away.
Gordon has one more option year remaining after this season and five years of team control.
What kind of pitches does Colton Gordon throw?
He's been heavy on four-seam fastball and sweeper at the big-league level, with a dash of sinker and changeup. He gets elite extension on the mound and gets good chase but isn't going to wow you with his velocity.
What else should you know about Colton Gordon?
Chandler Rome of The Athletic wrote a story in 2025 that chronicled how Gordon, bored and feeling isolated while he rehabbed from Tommy John surgery after he'd been drafted, walked into a pizza parlor, asked for a job and delivered pizzas for four months, even as a minor-leaguer.
He pitched for Israel in the 2023 World Baseball Classic.
He shares a birthday (Dec. 20) with another new Brewers pitching acquisition, Bryse Wilson (Wilson was born one year earlier).
In a move rarely seen in the middle of a season, the Texas Rangers are changing streaming partners effective immediately.
According to a report by Dallas Morning News reporter Evan Grant, the Rangers will be dropping their streaming partnership with Victory+, which has offered a full-season streaming subscription for in-market Rangers fans since last season for a price of $100, and will switch to a startup platform called BZZR beginning with this Friday’s game against the Atlanta Braves. The move was reportedly made out of concern for Victory+’s ability to fulfill its financial obligations to the team.
Per Grant, all subscribers that had bought packages on Victory+ will have their accounts transferred over to BZZR. The move will not impact the linear distribution of Rangers Sports Network on cable and satellite services like DirecTV.
“It is unfortunate that this switch in direct-to-consumer distributors was necessary, but the decision was made in the best interest of both the Rangers and our fans,” Rangers Sports Media and Entertainment Company chairman Neil Leibman said in a statement.
The Rangers’ decision paints a grim picture for Victory+, a nascent streaming service that has staked its claim in an all-out effort to court MLB, NBA, and NHL teams to place local broadcasts on the platform. In most markets, Victory+ has introduced a free streaming model in which games are broadcast in front of a paywall and revenue is generated through advertising. The Rangers, with their $100 per season subscription, were an exception. The Dallas Stars, however, chose the free model. Per Grant, no changes have been made regarding the Stars’ local broadcast plans for next season.
Victory+ has reportedly been in the mix to secure local broadcast rights to some of the 13 NBA teams that were previously under contract with Main Street Sports Group, owner of the now-defunct FanDuel Sports Networks. So far, the streamer has not struck deals with any of those teams. Per Sports Business Journal, potential deals with the Orlando Magic, Charlotte Hornets, and Minnesota Timberwolves all fell through after Victory+ failed to secure new financing. The three former Main Street clubs that have already announced local broadcast arrangements for next season have all chosen to partner with over-the-air broadcast networks.
If Victory+’s finances are as dire as the Rangers seem to believe, it’s difficult to envision any of the 10 remaining NBA teams looking for local broadcast solutions to choose to partner with the platform.
Milwaukee Brewers pitcher Jacob Misiorowski (32) throws during the first inning of their game against the Arizona Diamondbacks | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
The MLB All-Star break ends tomorrow, and teams will head into the final stretch of the season. The break gave some injured players a chance to rest and hopefully get back on the field for the back half of the season fully healthy. This is our MLB injury report for pitchers coming out of the All-Star break.
SP Jacob Misiorowski, Milwaukee Brewers
The Miz is dealing with arm fatigue, and it is not awesome. He was scratched from his final start before the All-Star break and will not pitch in the first series coming off of the break. It is not clear if he will be ready to pitch next week or not. Fantasy owners need to monitor this situation and prepare as if he could miss another start.
SP Shohei Ohtani, Los Angeles Dodgers
Ohtani was not able to make his final start before the MLB All-Star Game due to knee inflammation and was held out of the Summer Classic. It's not clear if he will be available as a pitcher coming out of the break. He's not on the IL, so it would be a surprise if he doesn't at least DH, but we will have to keep an eye on him.
SP Max Fried, New York Yankees
Fried has been sidelined with an elbow injury, but head coach Aaron Boone has said that they expect him to begin his rehab assignment this week. Fantasy owners should be getting Fried back sooner rather than later.
SP Carlos Rodon, New York Yankees
Rodon is scheduled to throw every day this week as he works to recover from his elbow inflammation fully.
SP Jacob DeGrom, Texas Rangers
There is a chance that DeGrom lands on the IL due to a glute injury that caused him to miss his last start before the break. We should know more in the next couple of days. An IL stint would likely be retroactive to July 12, so he could be back before the end of the month if the injury isn't serious.
SP Zac Gallen, Arizona Diamondbacks
Gallen landed on the IL with elbow inflammation on July 12. Fantasy owners should prepare to be without him for the remainder of July.
SP Blake Snell, Los Angeles Dodgers
Snell has begun throwing BP sessions and should be starting a rehab assignment soon as he works his way back from an elbow injury. It looks like the rich will get richer in Los Angeles.
SP Chase Burns, Cincinnati Reds
Burns is dealing with right groin tightness, which held him out of the All-Star Game. It's not clear if this issue will impact him in the back half of the season, or if they just didn't want him pitching in an exhibition.
SP Max Scherzer, Toronto Blue Jays
Scherzer has begun his rehab assignment from back spasms during the All-Star break, and could be back as soon as next week at some point if all goes well.
SP Jameson Taillon, Chicago Cubs
Taillon had a strong rehab outing on July 11 and should be set to return when the Cubs get back on the field. Fantasy owners will hope that he gets his season back on track.
RP Edwin Diaz, Los Angeles Dodgers
Diaz has started his rehab assignment for his elbow injury and will hope to make it back as soon as possible. This is a situation for fantasy owners to monitor closely.
Baseball debates never truly have a finish line, especially when it comes to deciding the greatest players in history. Every generation has its legends, making it nearly impossible to compare stars across different eras. FanDuel recently took on that challenge by naming the best Major League Baseball player from every decade dating back to the 1930s. The list features Hall of Famers, record-breakers, and a current superstar who is still adding to his legacy. Here’s a look at FanDuel’s selections.
The Mickey Mantle statue is pictured in front of the Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark in Oklahoma City on Tuesday, March 22, 2022.
1930s: Lou Gehrig (New York Yankees)
1940s: Ted Williams (Boston Red Sox)
1950s: Mickey Mantle (New York Yankees)
1960s: Willie Mays (San Francisco Giants)
1970s: Joe Morgan (Cincinnati Reds)
1980s: Mike Schmidt (Philadelphia Phillies)
1990s: Barry Bonds (San Francisco Giants)
2000s: Albert Pujols (St. Louis Cardinals)
2010s: Mike Trout (Los Angeles Angels)
2020s: Shohei Ohtani (Los Angeles Dodgers)
The list is loaded with players who not only dominated statistically but also helped define their respective eras.
Plenty of Hall of Fame Talent
Aug 18, 2024; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Former Philadelphia Phillies third baseman Mike Schmidt during Phillies Alumni Weekend and the 20th anniversary of Citizens Bank Park before game against the Washington Nationals at Citizens Bank Park. Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports
It’s hard to argue against most of the selections. Lou Gehrig, Ted Williams, Willie Mays, Mickey Mantle, Joe Morgan, Mike Schmidt, and Albert Pujols are all considered among the greatest players to ever step onto a baseball field.
Barry Bonds remains one of the most dominant hitters in MLB history, despite the ongoing debates surrounding his career, while Mike Trout’s incredible run throughout the 2010s made him the face of baseball for nearly a decade.
Then there’s Shohei Ohtani. Although the 2020s are only halfway complete, Ohtani has already built a résumé unlike anything the sport has ever seen as both an elite hitter and pitcher, making him a logical choice for the current decade.
Which Pick Will Spark the Biggest Debate?
MLB Hall of Famer Joe Morgan waves to the fans during a pregame ceremony for the unveiling of Pete Rose’s bronze statue being installed outside the stadium before the MLB National League game between the Cincinnati Reds and the Los Angeles Dodgers at Great American Ball Park in downtown Cincinnati on Saturday, June 17, 2017.
As with any all-time ranking, there are sure to be disagreements. Some fans may argue that Hank Aaron deserved consideration for the 1950s or 1960s. Others will point to Rickey Henderson in the 1980s or debate whether another superstar belongs ahead of Joe Morgan in the 1970s.
The 2020s selection will likely generate discussion as well, simply because there are still several seasons left in the decade for Ohtani—or another superstar—to strengthen their case.
Regardless of where fans stand, FanDuel’s list serves as a reminder of just how fortunate baseball has been to feature so many iconic players across nearly a century of Major League history.
The 2026 MLB season has reached the All-Star Game. This season has shown many players and teams having sensational seasons. Following the All-Star Game, the second half of the season will be in full swing. Here are the top relief pitchers at the midway point of the season.
Jun 18, 2026; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Boston Red Sox relief pitcher Aroldis Chapman (44) pitches against the Toronto Blue Jays during the ninth inning at Fenway Park. Mandatory Credit: Eric Canha-Imagn Images
The veteran continues to be elite. He’s had hiccups, but he’s still as good as any Major League closer. By the trade deadline, he will find himself closing out games for a contending MLB team.
9. Trevor Megill, Milwaukee Brewers
Megill has been an exception for the first-place Milwaukee Brewers. He is heading for another season with 30+ saves. Megill’s career has aged like fine wine.
8. Tanner Scott, Los Angeles Dodgers
Save opportunities don’t come by often playing for a team featuring an elite offense. However, Scott has excelled when given the opportunity to close out ball games. He’s been one of the best closers in MLB.
7. Bryan Baker, Tampa Bay Rays
Jun 24, 2026; St. Petersburg, Florida, USA; Tampa Bay Rays relief pitcher Bryan Baker (47) throws a pitch in the ninth inning against the Kansas City Royals at Tropicana Field. Mandatory Credit: Jonathan Dyer-Imagn Images
The veteran has been exceptional in 2026. His numbers have earned him an All-Star selection. He is close to leading the league in saves.
6. Cade Smith, Cleveland Guardians
Smith has been fantastic. He currently leads MLB in saves. He is about as electric as it gets from the closer role.
Philadelphia continues to be one of the best spots for Duran. The team is winning, and he is nearly perfect in save opportunities. By the end of the season, Duran can lead the league in saves.
4. Jacob Latz, Texas Rangers
Latz has run away with the closer role in Texas. He has been sensational. A strong second half can see him finish in the top five in saves.
3. Louis Varland, Toronto Blue Jays
May 12, 2026; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Toronto Blue Jays relief pitcher Louis Varland (77) throws a pitch against the Tampa Bay Rays during the ninth inning at Rogers Centre. Mandatory Credit: Nick Turchiaro-Imagn Images
Varland continues to lock down games for the Blue Jays. He’s having a fantastic season. If the Blue Jays are sellers, Varland will be a hot trade commodity.
2. Josh Hader, Houston Astros
Hader has been fantastic since making his long-awaited season debut. He is perfect at saving chances. He will be vital to the team’s success following the All-Star Game.
1. Mason Miller, San Diego Padres
Mason Miller is the most electric relief pitcher in MLB. He’s been the best reliever since the first week of the season. If San Diego is a seller at the trade deadline, Miller will bring a king’s ransom back to the Padres.
The 2026 MLB season has reached the All-Star Game. This season has shown many players and teams having sensational seasons. Following the All-Star Game, the second half of the season will be in full swing. Here are the top 10 outfielders at the midway point of the season.
Still on the injured list, Judge is easily a top 10 outfielder. He was posting big numbers prior to injury. A strong return to the field can have him get back into the AL MVP race.
9. Brandon Marsh, Philadelphia Phillies
May 3, 2026; Miami, Florida, USA; Philadelphia Phillies center fielder Brandon Marsh (16) stands in the dugout against the Miami Marlins during the fourth at loanDepot Park. Mandatory Credit: Rhona Wise-Imagn Images
The Phillies are battling for the division, and Marsh is having a career year. He has been one of the most consistent hitters in Philadelphia’s lineup. He’s earned every accolade he will receive this season.
8. Michael Harris, Atlanta Braves
Harris is having a special season. In recent years, he’s started slowly. However, this season he hit the ground running out of the gate.
7. Andy Pages, Los Angeles Dodgers
Pages continues to stand out in a star-studded lineup. He has driven in many runs for the Dodgers. He can reach 100 RBI by the end of the season.
6. Bryan Reynolds, Pittsburgh Pirates
Reynolds is having one of the best seasons of his career. He’s hit for power and average. He’s always been a special hitter, but he’s staying healthy in 2026.
Jun 20, 2026; Phoenix, Arizona, USA; Minnesota Twins center fielder Byron Buxton (25) hits a grand slam against the Arizona Diamondbacks in the fifth inning at Chase Field. Mandatory Credit: Rick Scuteri-Imagn Images
Buxton has previewed his talent ahead of the trade deadline. He is currently second in home runs among MLB outfielders. Following the All-Star Game, his days are numbered before he is traded by the Twins.
4. Jordan Walker, St. Louis Cardinals
Walker is having a tremendous season. He’s hit for power and reached base often. He earned an NL All-Star spot and won the 2026 Home Run Derby.
3. Pete Crow-Armstrong, Chicago Cubs
A slow start is in the rearview mirror. Crow-Armstrong currently ranks tied for fourth in home runs among MLB outfielders. He has become the best hitter in Chicago’s lineup.
2. Juan Soto, New York Mets
Jul 3, 2026; Cumberland, Georgia, USA; New York Mets left fielder Juan Soto (22) acknowledges the bullpen after hitting a two-run home run against the Atlanta Braves during the third inning at Truist Park. Mandatory Credit: Jordan Godfree-Imagn Images
Soto continues to prove he’s a generational talent. He currently leads MLB outfielders in OPS. There isn’t anything he cannot do at the plate.
1. James Wood, Washington Nationals
Wood is having a great season. He’s blossomed into one of the best young power-hitting outfielders. His production earned him an NL All-Star spot.
The Detroit Tigers catcher, who is in his second full season in the majors, is the first Stark County player to be selected to the MLB All-Star Game since Thurman Munson in 1978.
The American League won the game 4-0, as two Cleveland Guardians pitchers — Parker Messick and Cade Smith — helped shut out the National League. The game featured 27 strikeouts and Dingler was among those to strike out.
Dingler struck out against Nationals 30-year-old rookie Foster Griffin in his lone at-bat, which came in the fifth inning.
Dingler replaced starting catcher Shea Langeliers of the A's in the fourth inning. Dingler left the game in the top of the eighth when the AL's third catcher, Adley Rutschman of the Orioles, pinch hit for him.
Dingler's first All-Star Game coincides with Justin Verlander being selected for his 10th and final All-Star Game. The future Hall of Fame pitcher recently announced he will be retiring at the end of the season. Verlander returned to the Tigers this year and Dingler stood next to him for the pregame player introductions.
Dillon Dinger's stats at the All-Star Break
Dingler entered the All-Star Break leading all AL catchers with a .262 batting average and 60 RBIs, while hitting 19 home runs, second most among catchers. His RBI total ranks him eighth overall in the American League, while he's tied for 14th overall in homers.
Dingler, who is hitting .320 since the start of June, also leads all AL catchers in doubles (19), triples (2), slugging percentage (.508) and OPS (.831), and is second in hits (85) and runs (48).
Credit: Emilee Chinn/Ronald Martinez via Getty Images
Los Angeles Angels star Mike Trout wants LeBron James to join the Philadelphia 76ers instead of considering a way to stay in LA.
Trout and LeBron have been two of the biggest athletes in the Los Angeles area for the last decade, with Trout leading the Angels of Anaheim since 2011 and James for the Lakers since 2018.
However, Trout would rather see LeBron help his childhood NBA team win a championship rather than stay in Los Angeles or California.
Mike Trout wants LeBron James to take his talents to the Philadelphia 76ers
Trout was asked by the media at the 2026 MLB All-Star Game on where he thinks LeBron should sign this offseason, with the former three-time AL MVP naming the 76ers.
“I definitely want him to go to the Sixers. Because I think he has the best opportunity to win. If he wants to play golf, I have a nice little golf course down south.”
Trout grew up in New Jersey and supported Philadelphia sports teams like the Phillies in the MLB and the 76ers in the NBA.
While he’s become a legend in LA, he hopes James can help bring an NBA Championship back to Philadelphia for the first time since 1983.
Three Sixers players will influence LeBron James’ decision
A recent report confirmed that the 76ers have had their three stars in Tyrese Maxey, Joel Embiid, and Jaylen Brown, all of whom have had individual conversations with James in an attempt to recruit him.
How those conversations/pitches went will be crucial, especially with other teams also using notable players to reach out.
Photo by Emilee Chinn/Getty Images
Giannis Antetokounmpo has reached out for a return to the Heat, while Draymond Green has publicly hung out multiple times with James and openly said he’s pitched him.
Embiid, Maxey, and Brown could play a larger role in this decision than they initially anticipated. Their conversations will help James ascertain if he can truly add the x-factor they need to get over the hump.
With Bob Myers publicly pitching on Rich Paul’s podcast and James’ childhood ties to new 76ers GM Mike Gansey, Trout’s pitch might be another boost that encourages James to move to Philadelphia.
Photo by Mark Cunningham/MLB Photos via Getty Images
The 2026 MLB All-Star game had a major impact on the pockets of baseball fans.
The MLB is undoubtedly the biggest baseball league in the world. But when it comes to their peers, the MLB is often viewed as a cheaper alternative to the likes of the NBA, NFL, and even NHL.
For years, even the MLB All-Star game, the get-in price for it has been very low. However, that trend changed this year amid the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
Photo by Brian Garfinkel/MLB Photos via Getty Images
MLB All-Star Game get-in price soared to above $1,100
This year, the MLB All-Star game was held in Philadelphia. But the part that shocked fans the most was the get-in price for the game.
According to Front Office Sports on X, the get-in price for the game was about $1,166. For comparison, the last three MLB All-Star games’ combined get-in price was $858.
In fact, the ticket prices were even higher than the France vs. Spain World Cup semifinal game, where the Spaniards advanced to the FIFA World Cup final, thanks to a 2-0 win.
Considering the US currently has a massive influx of soccer fans in the country, and many have fallen in love with baseball, it seems that this has impacted the get-in price for the MLB All-Star game.
The Philadelphia Phillies' beloved designated hitter was caught using profanity on a hot mic during the third inning of the 96th All-Star Game on July 14 at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia.
Schwarber was wearing a microphone for FOX during his second at-bat of the game in the third inning, with the National League trailing 3-0.
Schwarber, who was talking with FOX broadcasters Joe Davis and John Smoltz, swung at the first pitch, and the earpiece came out of his ear. Schwarber tried to locate and grab the earpiece and said, "Whatever, f--- it."
Athletics catcher Shea Langeliers then helped with the earpiece while Schwarber smiled.
Watching Kyle Schwarber attempting to take an at bat in the #AllStarGame with an earpiece in or a catcher trying to do the same was frustrating to see and a brain dead move by @FOXSports
I know miked up players during the game is controversial. I don’t hate it. But if you’re gonna ask Kyle Schwarber a question in the middle of an at bat, do you have to wait till the pitcher is in his wind up to ask him a dopey, “so how was the home run derby last night?”
Fox has Kyle Schwarber talking to the television audience on a microphone while he’s up at bat? The announcers are asking him questions (through an ear piece in his ear) while he’s facing pitches. Bizarre. 😳
Joe Davis: “Shoo how about that derby lasht night”
Kyle:
Joe Davis: “Sho that was some derby lasht night”
— Broox (Trent grisham bunted) (@BroHaver) July 15, 2026
Whoever thought it be a smart idea to have Kyle Schwarber do a live interview while he’s batting is an idiot. Especially when John smoltz is asking him questions 2 seconds before the pitch is thrown … pic.twitter.com/L4Y8zIzUu7
The American League pitchers combined to throw a three-hitter and limited the National League to just five baserunners. Overall, the NL went 3-for-30. It was the first All-Star Game shutout since the AL defeated the NL 3-0 at Citi Field in 2013.
The American League has won 11 of the last 13 All-Star Games.
The NL's three-hit performance almost tied an All-Star Game record for fewest hits in a game. The record is still held by the 1990 NL squad with two hits at another hitter's ballpark — Wrigley Field.
The American League pitchers also set a record, striking out 15 NL hitters.
"It's the game now. Guys' stuff is unbelievable," AL manager John Schneider said. "To see Luis Arraez strike out and Yandy Diaz strike out a couple of times is kind of like a — you never see it. So, it speaks volumes to how good these guys are."
The National League was held hitless until the bottom of the fourth inning, when New York Mets outfielder Juan Soto singled. Chicago Cubs outfielder Pete Crow-Armstrong (single in the eighth inning) and Miami Marlins shortstop Otto Lopez (single in the ninth) kept the NL from tying the record.
The National League wasn't alone in its offensive struggles. The American League was limited to just seven hits and nine baserunners. The AL also struck out 12 times.
The game featured only one extra-base hit — a homer in the eighth inning by Chicago White Sox third baseman Miguel Vargas.
Vargas' homer was the first scoring since the first inning, when New York Yankees outfielder Cody Bellinger hit a two-run single, followed by New York Yankees first baseman Ben Rice's RBI single.
"The pitching today was nasty," said Bellinger, who was named the game's MVP. "It was hard to score runs."
Bellinger watched the end of the game in the clubhouse and, around the fifth or sixth inning, decided to keep his jersey on because he thought he might be the MVP with just an RBI single.
Jul 6, 2026; Cumberland, Georgia, USA; New York Mets pitcher Freddy Peralta (51) pitches the ball against the Atlanta Braves during the fourth inning at Truist Park. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
The 2026 MLB season has been unkind to starting pitcher for the New York Mets, Freddy Peralata. In his first season in New York, after spending his first eight seasons of his career with the Milwaukee Brewers, Peralata is currently on pace to put forth the worst statistical season of his career, with a career-high 4.66 ERA.
With New York struggling with an overall record of 40-57, and their playoff hopes being slim to none, they could certainly decide to deal Peralata away before the MLB trade deadline on August 3. There have been rumors of that being a possibility. Here are two teams that would make sense for Perlata to get dealt to
Chicago White Sox
Jul 7, 2026; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Chicago White Sox pitcher Noah Schultz (22) pitches against the Boston Red Sox during the first inning at Rate Field. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
From ending the 2025 season with an overall record of 60-101 to now being at the top of the standings in the American League Central Division, the Chicago White Sox have been one of the best stories in the MLB this season. While the White Sox over the past few seasons have been a team trading away assets that do not fit their timeline for future draft capital and young prospects at the trade deadline, they can now flip roles and be the buyers of current talent to help bolster the level of their team. One area they need help with is their pitching department.
The White Sox only have two pitchers with a sub-4.00 ERA. While Peralata has a higher ERA, he is someone who is worth taking a chance on. Just last season, he had the best statistical season of his career. He had a 2.70 ERA.
Atlanta Braves
Jun 21, 2026; Cumberland, Georgia, USA; Atlanta Braves pitcher Bryce Elder (55) pitches against the Milwaukee Brewers during the first inning at Truist Park. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
The Atlanta Braves are also a team that should take a chance on Peralta. They have had some continued struggles from one of their starting pitchers and a couple of injuries as well to players in their starting rotation.
Bryce Elder has continued to be a below-average starter for Atlanta. In his first two seasons of the MLB, he was solid, posting a 3.17 ERA in his rookie season in 2022 and a 3.81 ERA in 2023. Since then, he has had an ERA above 4.00 in his past three seasons. This season, he currently has a 4.12 ERA, and his form is headed in the wrong direction. In three of his past four starts, he has allowed five or more runs, and in three of these starts, he only pitched four innings.
The Braves also have two starters currently injured, Martin Perez and AJ Smith-Shawver. Perez is on the 15-day injured listed and Smith-Shawver is on the 60-day injured list. Smith-Shawver on the season has a 3-2 win and loss record and a 3.86 ERA. Perez has a 6-6 win-loss record and a 3.54 ERA.
With the Braves holding a slim first-place lead in the National League East Division, they need all the help they can get now, and need to improve pitching-wise if they have any chance of making a deep postseason run.
New York Yankees outfielder Cody Bellinger holds the crystal bat after being named MVP of the 2026 MLB All-Star Game on Tuesday at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia. Photo by Laurence Kesterson/UPI
July 14 (UPI) -- American League pitchers combined to allow just three hits in a domination of the National League for the first All-Star Game shutout victory in 13 years Tuesday in Philadelphia.
New York Yankees teammates Cody Bellinger, who was named MVP, and Ben Rice were responsible for the game's first three runs in the 4-0 triumph at Citizens Bank Park.
Chicago White Sox third baseman Miguel Vargas logged the game's lone extra-base hit -- a 433-foot solo homer in the eighth inning.
"I don't have the words to describe this moment," Vargas said on the Fox broadcast. "It kinda felt like when I made my debut. It was an unbelievable experience. I'm glad to be here around all these superstars."
The American League reached base through five of the game's first seven plate appearances. Bellinger drove home Houston Astros designated hitter Yordan Alvarez and Athletics catcher Shea Langeliers with an RBI single to start the scoring in the first inning. Rice plated Kansas City Royals shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. two pitches later.
American League first baseman Ben Rice hits an RBI single against the National League in the first inning of the 2026 MLB All-Star Game on Tuesday at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia. Photo by Laurence Kesterson/UPI
National League starter Cristopher Sanchez, who had a 50 2/3 consecutive scoreless innings streak for the Philadelphia Phillies earlier this year, did not see another inning.
Meanwhile, American League pitchers Dylan Cease, Parker Messick and Michael Wacha kept the National League hitless and allowed just one baserunner through the first three innings of the 96th edition of the Midsummer Classic.
American League starting pitcher Dylan Cease throws against the National League in the first inning of the 2026 MLB All-Star Game on Tuesday at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia. Photo by Laurence Kesterson/UPI
New York Mets outfielder Juan Soto recorded the National League's first hit against Joe Ryan in the fourth. Fellow American League pitchers Nick Martinez, Cade Smith, Drew Rasmussen and Jacob Latz proceeded to continue the dominant outing, not allowing another National League over the next three innings.
Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Louis Varland teamed up with the Boston Red Sox's Aroldis Chapman and Tampa Bay Rays' Bryan Baker to keep the National League scoreless over the final two innings.
American League pitcher Parker Messick throws against the National League in the second inning of the 2026 MLB All-Star Game on Tuesday at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia. Photo by Laurence Kesterson/UPI
Vargas' blast came off a 2-0 slider from Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Justin Wrobleski. Miami Marlins shortstop Otto Lopez and Chicago Cubs outfielder Pete Crow-Armstrong joined Soto as the only players to record hits for the National league.
Langeliers, who went 1 for 1 with a walk, was the only player to reach base more than once. Alvarez, Bellinger, Vargas, Rice and Red Sox first baseman Willson Contreras also recorded one hit apiece.
American League infielder Miguel Vargas homers on a fly ball to left field in the eighth inning against the National League in the 2026 MLB All-Star Game on Tuesday at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia. Photo by Laurence Kesterson/UPI
With Tuesday's win, the American League secured its 11th victory over the last 13 editions of the Midsummer Classic. American League pitchers registered 15 strikeouts and issued just two walks in the lopsided triumph.
The MLB regular season will resume Thursday, when the Philadelphia Phillies host the New York Mets at 7:10 p.m. EDT in Philadelphia.
PHILADELPHIA – The evening had many unforgettable sounds and scenes, as any Major League Baseball All-Star Game should.
Phillies fans among the 43,916 in attendance at Citizens Bank Park July 14 regularly and eagerly showed their affection or their disdain, depending on the individual and the uniform he wore.
Yankees, Dodgers and NL East rivals, especially the Mets, were lustily booed during any introduction.
One band of fans earned extra credit for chanting “Overrated!” when the Mets Juan Soto came up to bat in the fourth inning, but promptly singled to center field for the National League’s first hit on a night it managed just three in a 4-0 loss.
“Everyone that was here this week,” Phillies first-time all-star Brandon Marsh said, “knew how Philly is. They come in and play here throughout the year, they know what they’re gonna get. That’s just Philly being Philly. I know us, being on this side, we love it.
“It’s just all part of it. They knew what was gonna happen, especially in-division opponents.”
Phillies, on the other hand, were greeted with enormous ovations befitting Philly fans’ penchant for expressing their devotion. Starting pitcher Cristopher Sanchez, warming up in the bullpen, patted his chest to express his heartfelt appreciation.
They also lauded American League all-stars with local roots, as South Jersey resident and Eagles season-ticket holder Mike Trout of the Angels and Delaware County native Kevin McGonigle were each extoled.
The crowd then roared when Hall of Famers Mike Schmidt and Steve Carlton came on to throw out ceremonial first pitches that were caught by former Phillies Cole Hamels and Hall of Famer Scott Rolen.
If that wasn’t enough to stir sentiments, Jimmy Rollins and Chase Utley appeared on the giant video screen in left field with microphones in hand, urging on the crowd.
With all that, the Phillies’ present and past, and those at the root of the franchise’s greatest moments, merged in beautiful synchronicity.
This was theatre, after all, culminating with Phillies reliever Jhoan Duran making his traditional entrance with the lights darkened and music blaring with one out in the top of the ninth.
In one of the game’s best creations, starters ran out and signed a large parchment with a long white feather on the quill, symbolically verifying their role, in Colonial style, in an event held in the city that hatched a nation 250 years before.
It gave Marsh chills, he said.
Then the baseball started, and it didn’t take long for some of that energy to evaporate on a night the National League’s best hitters, somehow, could not hit.
But a single and two walks set the stage for, with two outs, Cody Bellinger’s two-run single, which earned him game MVP, and Ben Rice’s run-scoring single. It was 3-0 and little changed after that.
Phillies starters Kyle Schwarber and Marsh each went 0-for-2 with Schwarber whiffing once and Marsh twice. Bryce Harper replaced Marsh as DH and also struck out in his lone plate appearance.
It was up to Jesus Luzardo to give Phillies rooters something to cheer about, as he pitched a 1-2-3 fourth inning.
But for first-time all-stars Marsh and Luzardo, the unhappy outcome did nothing to undermine their positive experience.
“It was a great experience,” Luzardo said. “Doing it at home is what makes it so special in my first one in front of a crowd that was obviously very passionate.’’
The National League didn’t get its second hit until the Cubs Pete Crow-Armstrong singled in the eighth and its third until Miami’s Otto Lopez singled in the ninth.
All-Star Game winners and losers have become much less important anyway since interleague play commenced in 1997 as the AL’s record went to 49-45-2 in the 96th game.
A better night for the Phillies and the NL certainly would have made it a more memorable night. But the games that actually matter resume July 16 when the Mets visit.
“That was some of the most fun I’ve had in a long time on a baseball field,” Marsh said.
Heck, Contreras did not find a man on the field he could not hug during the Tuesday, July 14 game at Citizens Bank Park. He engulfed home plate umpire Alan Porter in a hug. Ran directly at San Francisco Giants second baseman Luis Arraez after a force out – and then wrapped his countryman in a warm embrace.
And, perhaps most poignantly, shared the field with brother William – yes, they hugged at home plate – for the first time in an All-Star Game.
A night earlier, Contreras successfully met the challenge of the Philly fan, advancing past the first round of the Home Run Derby while hometown favorite Bryce Harper was eliminated. Come Tuesday night’s introductions, the crowd at the Bank roared thunderous boos on Contreras, who cupped his hand to his ear.
In short: A lot.
"Man, a lot of stuff. Hanging out with the guys, a bunch of new guys we’ve played against," says Contreras. "You don’t know them as a person. You meet them here. I’m glad to get the invitation to the All-Star Game to meet new guys, new faces.
"Having my family here. Playing with my brother. The Home Run Derby – the fans booing me. There’s a lot of memories I made in two days."
One could say few were as deserving. See, Contreras won’t be able to play in the Red Sox’s first game of the second half, serving the final game of a suspension imposed when he had an on-field tiff with Washington Nationals pitcher Cade Cavalli, who told Contreras, "Sit down, boy!" after striking him out.
Contreras did not take kindly. And he doesn’t miss much.
So this trip to Philly was like a professional respite, and a chance to reflect on a first half during which he slammed 20 home runs for the Red Sox. He plans to sleep in tomorrow, take his family to the beach, and then sit out the final game of his suspension.
And then, back at it, in the second game of a doubleheader against the Tampa Bay Rays at Fenway Park.
Contreras had one bit of unfinished business to attend to before leaving Citizens Bank Park. A countryman handed him a Venezuelan flag, and Contreras took a few minutes to sign it.
He has been, of course, perhaps the most outspoken and passionate Venezuelan ballplayer to speak on the devastating earthquakes that struck his homeland last month.
And so his message reflected the road ahead for his country, and, one would guess, words he’d live by as well.
Every summer, MLB pauses action in July, giving the majority of the league a break to rest up for the second part of the season. The league's best, however, get less time off because they participate in the annual MLB All-Star Game and related festivities.
Unlike the NFL's Pro Bowl, but similar to the NBA's All-Star Game, MLB holds its All-Star Game during the regular season. The Midsummer Classic pits the best of the American League against the best of the National League. Historically, the league that won the All-Star Game earned home-field advantage for that year's World Series. That was changed in 2017, and now the winners of the All-Star Game just get a nice bonus check.
The best player in the All-Star Game is awarded the All-Star Game MVP Award. In its history, it was known as the Arch Ward Memorial Trophy, honoring the inventor of the MLB All-Star Game, and the Commissioner's Trophy, although that became the name of the World Series Trophy in 1985. Since 2003, the MLB All-Star Game Trophy has been named the Ted Williams Trophy.
Here is a list of every player who has won the MLB All-Star Game MVP Award.
When it was first awarded in 1962, a player from each league won the award; however, since then, there has been only one winner per year, except for 1975. Five players — Willie Mays, Cal Ripken Jr., Gary Carter, Steve Garvey and Mike Trout — have won the MLB All-Star Game MVP Award more than once. Only one player — Derek Jeter — has won the All-Star Game MVP the same year that he won the World Series MVP Award. The White Sox, Tigers, Diamondbacks and Cardinals have never had an All-Star Game MVP. The Nationals technically haven't, but did when the franchise was still in Montreal as the Expos.
Here is a complete list of every player to win the MLB All-Star Game MVP Award, sorted by year.
Which players have won the most MLB All-Star Game MVPs?
No player has ever been named the All-Star Game MVP three times. There have been five players in history who have won the award twice.
Willie Mays: 1963, 1968
Steve Garvey: 1974, 1978
Gary Carter: 1981, 1984
Cal Ripken Jr.: 1991, 2001
Mike Trout: 2014, 2015
In 1963, Mays earned the Award, finishing 1-3 with two RBI and a walk. In 1968, the National League mustered only five hits. Mays led off for the NL and finished 1-4. He had a single in his first at-bat, took second on an error, third on a wild pitch and scored the lone run on a double play.
Garvey ripped a single in his first at-bat in the 1974 MLB All-Star Game and followed it up with an RBI double in the fourth inning. Despite striking out to Catfish Hunter and popping out to Rollie Fingers in his final two at-bats, he was named the NL's MVP. In 1978, Garvey walked in his first at-bat, drove in two runs with a single in his second, had a ground out and then a triple to end his day in the NL's 7-3 win over the AL.
Gary Carter launched two home runs in 1981 to earn the award. In 1984, he belted another homerun, and this one put the NL up 2-1 and helped them win the game 3-1 when it was all said and done.
Ripken Jr.'s first All-Star Game MVP Award came in 1991 when he hit a three-run home run. It took 10 years for him to earn his next All-Star Game MVP Award, but in 2001, he had a solo home run. Ripken Jr. wasn't the only one to hit one for the AL, but that was his final season in the major leagues.
Trout went 2-3 with a double, a triple and two RBI to win his first All-Star Game MVP Award in 2014. He followed it up in 2015 with a leadoff home run to earn his second ASG MVP Award. Trout is the only player to win the MLB All-Star Game MVP Award in consecutive years.
Which team has produced the most MLB All-Star Game MVPs
Not every team has had an All-Star Game MVP in their history. In fact, the White Sox, Tigers, Diamondbacks and Cardinals have never had an All-Star Game MVP. The Nationals technically haven't, but did when the franchise was still in Montreal as the Expo, thanks to two-time winner Gary Carter and Tim Raines.
While four franchises haven't had an All-Star Game MVPs, two franchises have had six winners of the award. Four other teams have had five players win the award. Four of the six teams with at least five winners have two-time winners, while two of the teams each have five individual winners of the ASG MVP Award, meaning you could argue that they technically have the most winners.
Team
Number (Players)
Orioles
6 (Cal Ripken Jr x2, Brooks Robinson, Frank Robinson, Roberto Alomar, Miguel Tejada)
Giants
6 (Willie Mays x2, Juan Marichal, Willie McCovey, Bobby Bonds, Melky Cabrera)
Angels
5 (Mike Trout x2, Garret Anderson, Fred Lynn, Leon Wagner
Dodgers
5 (Steve Garvey x2, Mike Piazza, Maury Wills, Don Sutton)
Reds
5 (Tony Perez, Joe Morgan, George Foster, Ken Griffey Sr., Dave Concepcion)
Red Sox
5 (Carl Yastrzemski, Roger Clemens, Pedro Martinez, J.D. Drew, Jarren Duran)
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. was named the MLB All-Star Game MVP in 2021, making him the youngest to win the award in history. He was 22 years and 119 days old at the time of winning. Guerrero Jr. helped the American League to a 5-2 victory over the National League. He launched a solo home run to deep left field off of Corbin Burnes that put the AL up 2-0. Guerrero Jr. later picked up another RBI on a groundout. While he wasn't the only American League player with a home run — Mike Zunino hit a solo shot in the top of the sixth inning — he was the only player with multiple RBI.
The oldest MLB All-Star Game MVP is Yankees legend Mariano Rivera. He was named to the American League All-Star team 13 times, but was only ever MVP once. It just so happened that it came during Rivera's final season of his career, likely leading to why he won. In the game itself, the American League won 3-0, but Rivera didn't even get the save. He got a hold in the eighth inning before getting the recognition deserving of a legend, leaving the mound and allowing Joe Nathan to get the save in the ninth inning. Rivera faced three batters, threw 16 pitches and had no strikeouts.
The All-Star Game MVP Award goes to the player who theoretically had the biggest impact on the game, but really, it is all a vote. 80% of the vote comes from the writers and broadcasters at the game, with the other 20% coming from an online fan vote. As of 2025, the National League has won the All-Star Game MVP Award 28 times, while the American League has had 35 winners.
The long road to the major leagues − even for the participants in this year's All-Star Game − always seems to begin with a couple of friends, an open field and a game of catch.
The joy of learning the game as a kid was celebrated at this year's Midsummer Classic following the end of the fourth inning with a nod to the classic baseball movie, "The Sandlot."
As several All-Stars took the field, they were joined by a group of kids on bicycles to represent the special part baseball plays in American history.
With actor J.K. Simmons providing the narration and the late Ray Charles' version of "America the Beautiful" serving as the soundtrack, the stars and fans paused briefly to honor the National Pastime.
PHILADELPHIA – The involvement from the team with the second-best record in baseball during the All-Star Game was sparse.
With Jacob Misiorowski not pitching and Brice Turang, despite being 10th in baseball in WAR, not selected, William Contreras was the lone representative from the Milwaukee Brewers to take the field July 14 at Citizens Bank Park.
Contreras entered the game on defense in the top of the fourth, replacing Braves backstop and Madison native Drake Baldwin.
His lone at-bat came in the bottom of the sixth against Cleveland closer Cade Smith. Contreras saw three pitches, swung at each of them and flew out to right.
Misiorowski did take the field as part of a segment between innings in which kids took the field on bikes and went to a spot on the diamond. Misiorowski was stationed at home plate, where he showed the kid he was paired with each of his pitch grips while Ray Charles' "America the Beautiful" played in the back.
Misiorowski did say he would like to pitch in the game in future years.
As far as the arm fatigue that kept Misiorowski out of this year's game, he told reporters he was ready to start whenever the Brewers ask him to out of the break.
America's 250th birthday has passed, but MLB was intentional about putting this year's All-Star festivities in Philadelphia.
The same city that brought about the founding of the nation was a natural choice to serve as the host of the All-Star Game 250 years later, and MLB acknowledged the anniversary Tuesday night with a moving tribute after the fourth inning.
Here's a look at the tribute at Citizens Bank Park, which included fireworks and a nod to "The Sandlot."
MLB paid tribute to the United States' 250th birthday ahead of the fifth inning of Tuesday's All-Star Game, first playing a video narrated by actor J.K. Simmons before shooting off fireworks and playing Ray Charles' iconic rendition of "America the Beautiful."
In a nod to famous baseball movie "The Sandlot," kids came out onto the field on bicycles and spent a few minutes with the All-Stars. Some kids exchanged baseball cards, others talked to the players, and Freddie Freeman was even seen playing catch with a young fan.
Many players came out onto the field to watch the firework show and held sparklers during as the fireworks were launched. The show made for a smoky fifth inning in Philadelphia, but no one seemed to mind.
"The Sandlot," released in 1993, is considered an iconic baseball movie, focusing on a youth baseball team in the 1960s. The movie includes a scene in which the kids play under the lights — and fireworks — on the Fourth of July, with Ray Charles' rendition of "America the Beautiful" overlaid with the images.
The Sandlot has the single greatest vision of American life ever put on film.
MLB's scene on Tuesday recreated that scene between the firework show and the playing of the song, and it also looped in another scene in which the kids ride their bicycles onto the field.
After the moment, Dodgers 1B Freddie Freeman discussed how he played catch with one of the young fans who "had an arm on him," explaining that he was told to bring out his glove just in case.
“They told me to bring a glove, just incase Noah had a glove. He had his glove, he asked to play catch, so we played some catch…he had an arm on him”
Jacob Misiorowski, Bryce Harper, Bobby Witt Jr. and Yordan Alvarez were among the other players who interacted with young fans on the field as fireworks lit up the sky.
The Atlanta Braves found a way to get quite creative with their savings during the 2026 MLB Draft.
They signed three players in the middle rounds to bonuses of just $500 apiece.
Not $500K. Just $500.
Because each MLB team has a pre-defined bonus pool, saving on some picks can create additional money to be spent to ensure other players sign.
In this case, the Braves saved $653,300 by dishing out $500 apiece to their picks in the eighth, ninth and tenth rounds.
Those picks? Jacob Jarrell, Parker Brosius and Ben Zeigler-Namoa.
The Braves signed each of their college seniors in rounds 8-10 as well. They used these picks to create $653,300 in savings for their overslot HS players:
8th round Jacob Jarrell, $500 9th round Parker Brosius, $500 10th round Ben Zeigler-Namoa, $500
Those three college seniors get a chance at professional baseball. That's why they'd take such a small bonus.
Jarrell is a catcher who played at Clemson and had a huge 2026 season, blasting 18 home runs in 54 games.
Brosius is an outfielder from Georgia Tech who hit 13 homers this season.
Zeigler-Namoa played at Hawaii and is more of a contact hitter who limited his strikeouts with a little bit of pop and a little bit of speed.
It's certainly an extreme example of moving bonus money around, but the Braves found a way to make it work, and they'll hope the entire draft class pans out in a collectively positive way.
While he was able to run off the field himself, Caminero underwent X-rays on his hand. Fortunately, X-rays came back negative, allowing him and the Rays to breathe a sigh of relief.
Good news for Junior Caminero! X-rays came back negative for the Rays slugger pic.twitter.com/TrmD1GCvag
Caminero is batting .279 with 28 home runs and a .927 OPS through 94 games this season, with 13 home runs in his last 19 games before the All-Star break. Even if he's in some pain in the days ahead, he doesn't figure to miss much time, if any, with no fracture in his hand.
What happened to Junior Caminero?
Caminero was hit by a pitch from Cardinals closer Riley O'Brien in the third inning of the All-Star Game on Tuesday and immediately went down in pain. He was replaced on the basepaths by Miguel Vargas and went back inside for X-rays.
Fortunately, X-rays came back negative for any fractures.
Junior Caminero 2026 stats
Games
AVG
HR
RBI
H
OPS
94
.279
28
59
99
.927
Caminero entered the All-Star break on a heater, having hit 13 home runs in his last 19 games. He's batting .279 with 28 home runs and a .927 OPS, closing in on 100 hits. With Aaron Judge out of the AL MVP race due to the time he's missed, Caminero is a contender along with Yordan Alvarez and Bobby Witt Jr.
PHILADELPHIA − The Yankees are making themselves known early on in Tuesday night's MLB All-Star Game.
Cody Bellinger and Ben Rice hit back-to-back singles in the top of the first inning at Citizens Bank Park, driving in a total of three runs against National League starter Cristopher Sanchez of the hometown Phillies.
The hits gave the American League a 3-0 lead to start the game.
For, Bellinger, it's another All-Star memory he won't soon forget.
Batting with the bases loaded and two outs, Bellinger came through with a two-run single off Sanchez for a quick 2-0 AL lead.
And in his first career All-Star at-bat, Rice also grounded an RBI single up the middle against Sanchez for the 3-0 lead.
Sanchez had yielded a single and two walks before Bellinger came to the plate and fell behind 0-2 in the count.
But, as Yankees fans well know, Bellinger hits lefties well, and he got the count to 2-2 before rapping a hard grounder to center, scoring Yordan Alvarez and Shea Langeliers.
Rice followed with a sharp grounder up the middle on an 0-1 sinker, scoring Bobby Witt Jr. from third base.
So, it's sort of Yankees 3, NL 0 to start things off.
Philadelphia fans embraced Mike Trout like one of their own at the 2026 MLB All-Star Game.
The event serves as a homecoming of sorts for the Los Angeles Angels star. The three-time MVP is a New Jersey native but has deep ties to Philadelphia, which is located 45 miles south of his hometown.
Trout received a loud ovation from the crowd as he was introduced before the Midsummer Classic.
"It's been everything," Trout said during a pregame interview on the broadcast. "... Philly is a special place, it's where I grew up and it's awesome."
He served as the American League's leadoff hitter but struck out against Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Cristopher Sanchez in his first at-bat.
Among those in the crowd cheering for Trout were his friends and family.
It was Trout's first All-Star Game appearance since 2019, allowing his two sons, Beckham Aaron and Jordy Michael, to watch him play in the event.
Trout was named as an All-Star for the 12th time in his career. He was selected eight consecutive times from 2012 through 2019.
A nice cheer for Mike Trout as he makes his return to the All-Star Game!
Jordan Walker of the St. Louis Cardinals defeated Philadelphia Phillies slugger Kyle Schwarber to claim the title of Home Run King on Monday night.
USA TODAY at MLB All-Star Game
The 2026 Midsummer Classic has arrived, and USA TODAY will have reporters on the ground in Philadelphia and at home eager to deliver the goods. From media day and the Home Run Derby, to the red carpet and All-Star Game, we'll have everything covered.
“Still to this day, he swears it just got away from him,” Duncan said after Bonds reflected on the incident, which was the only time he charged the mound in his MLB career.
“No it didn’t, it did not get away,” Bonds insisted. “He’s a good pitcher and he’s a good man. In that situation, it was part of the game of baseball during that time, and I accepted it.”
There was maybe one day where Bottalico swore it got away from him. But in just about every other day since, Bottalico has been open about the fact that he plunked Bonds on purpose.
“Wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong,” Bottalico responded to Elle Duncan and Netflix during his Tuesday afternoon show with co-host Bill Colarulo on 97.5 The Fanatic. “That is a bald-faced lie.
“I’ve told the story on this show, I’ve told the story on NBC Sports Philadelphia, I have told the story. I was told to go in and hit Barry Bonds. It’s that simple. When it happens, in the newspapers in the next day and all that back then, I had to say I didn’t do it on purpose or else I’m suspended for a month. It’s that simple. Yes, we had to lie back then!”
Bottalico explained that Bonds attempted to steal a base while the San Francisco Giants were already up by around seven runs on the Phillies. Shortly after that happened, manager Terry Francona phoned the bullpen and summoned an unnamed reliever to throw a pitch at Bonds. When that reliever allegedly declined, Bottalico was next man up, and he obliged with one pitch that garnered the only mound charge of Bonds’ career. Nearly three decades later, the story appeared to be news to Netflix.
PHILADELPHIA – Before his first All-Star Game since 2019, Cody Bellinger already had an unforgettable memory.
At Monday’s Home Run Derby, Bellinger told his two young daughters to run up to Yankees teammate Ben Rice and give him a hug on the field.
“However much they’re going to remember, who knows. But I’m going to remember it all,’’ Bellinger said before his third All-Star Game, at Citizens Bank Park.
Bellinger will be batting sixth for the AL All-Stars, with Rice batting seventh and teammate Cam Schlittler watching from the dugout.
Check back here throughout the night as we observe and analyze the Yankees at the 2026 MLB All-Star Game:
Cody Bellinger, Ben Rice come through
Well, Bellinger has another All-Star memory in tonight's first inning.
Batting with the bases loaded, Bellinger comes through with a two-run single off NL and Phillies starter Christopher Sanchez, for a quick 2-0 AL lead.
And in his first career All-Star at-bat, Ben Rice also grounded an RBI single up the middle against Sanchez for a 3-0 lead.
Sanchez had yielded a single and two walks before Bellinger came to the plate and fell behind 0-2 in the count.
But, as Yankees fans well know, Bellinger hits lefties well and he got the count to 2-2 before rapping a hard grounder to center, scoring Yordan Alvarez and Shea Langeliers.
Rice followed with a sharp grounder up the middle on an 0-1 sinker, scoring Bobby Witt Jr. from third base.
The MLB All-Star Game brings the best players in the game together for a friendly exhibition. But if the game is close as the end draws near, the pressure and the intensity rise to another level.
And if it goes down to the wire, there won't be any extra innings. Instead, if the game is tied after the bottom of the ninth, MLB has created a fun way to settle the score that borrows from the Home Run Derby the previous night.
And last season, a home-run tiebreaker was used for the first time since the new rule was implemented.
MLB All-Star Game tiebreaker rules
If the All-Star Game is tied after nine innings, the winner is determined by a home run swing-off. Here's how it works:
Each team selects three players from its active lineup to compete in a mini home run derby. Each player gets three swings to try to hit as many homers as possible, and the team with the highest total is declared the winner. If it's still tied, each manager selects one of the three participants to take three more swings. That process continues until one team hits more homers.
Last season, the National League prevailed in the tiebreaker when Kyle Schwarber cleared the fence with all three of his swings for a 4-3 victory. Not surprisingly, Schwarber was named the All-Star MVP.
The Chicago Cubs knew they had some work to do before heading to the All-Star Break. They were coming off a weekend where they lost the series to the St. Louis Cardinals, where they gave up 17 runs in Friday's loss.
They had to buckle down with a road series against the Baltimore Orioles and then another road series against the Cincinnati Reds.
The Cubs were able to get the better of the Orioles, winning the series 2-1, before doing the same thing to the Reds, winning both series and going into the All-Star Break on a high note.
Cubs jump a spot in the power rankings after another successful week
With a 4-2 record last week, that has helped the Cubs stay in the thick of things in the National League Central. They are just five games behind the Milwaukee Brewers, who lead the division.
Those wins helped push the team up a spot in the power rankings, going from No. 6 last week to No. 5 this week, per Bleacher Report's Kerry Miller.
"After starting out 7-9, the Cubs won 20 of their next 23, lost 22 of their next 29 and then closed out the first half with wins in 20 of their last 28 games. Whether they'll be Dr. Jekyll or Mr. Hyde in October remains to be seen. But for all the talk about the need to upgrade this pitching staff at the deadline, it's probably going to hinge on the offense. The Cubs have won 19 of the last 20 games in which they've scored at least five runs, including all four of their victories this week."
Now, this team is going to be an interesting one to watch after the break. Will they keep this momentum going, acquire another starting pitcher ahead of the deadline, and be a real postseason contender, or will they hit another rough patch, one that could take them out of the hunt completely?
Kingsburg High pitcher Jensen Hirschkorn has reportedly signed a record deal with the Atlanta Braves.
The video above is from an earlier story and will be updated.
According to MLB.com's Jim Callis, the Atlanta Braves have signed Hirschkorn to a $4 million signing bonus, making it the highest signing for a draftee after the second round.
3rd-rder Jensen Hirschkorn signs w/@Braves for $4 million, all-time @MLBDraft record for after 2nd rd (Brock Porter, $3.7 mil). Slot 84 value = $973,700. California HS LHP, 6-foot-7, easy mid-90s fastball, promising low-80s slider, feel for mid-80s changeup. @LSUbaseball recruit. pic.twitter.com/P9TxHgBx5f
The Kingsburg Viking was signed to play for LSU's baseball program next year but is now reportedly forfeiting his NCAA college eligibility to join the Braves' minor league system.
The Houston Astros are not likely to sell at this year's trade deadline.
Led by AL MVP favorite Yordan Alvarez, the Astros still have an opportunity to make a deep postseason run in a weak American League.
Also, general manager Dana Brown is in the final year of his contract. It's highly doubtful he will give up on the season by trading away the AL West club's top players.
The Athletic's Chandler Rome wrote Tuesday that the Astros have held trade discussions with other clubs, but nothing is imminent.
Rome added that there is a clear favorite as to who on Houston's roster is the most valuable trade chip.
"If we’re being truthful, shortstop Jeremy Peña is the most valuable trade chip the Astros have, but it’s difficult to imagine any scenario in which they move him before the offseason," Rome wrote.
Pena, an All-Star in 2025, is hitting .287/.347/.426 with six home runs and a .773 OPS in 51 games this season.
Almost certainly, there would be a handful of teams that call Brown about Pena if the Astros were to make him available.
"Isaac Paredes and Christian Walker would net interest, too, but Houston would be weakening an already top-heavy major-league team by moving them," Rome added.
Clearly, moving Alvarez is out of the question.
But the next few weeks could decide Pena's fate in Houston. The 28-year-old will become a free agent after the 2027 season.
PHILADELPHIA ‒ It's time for the 96th Major League Baseball All-Star Game.
Follow along for live updates from Citizens Bank Park, home of the Philadelphia Phillies, as the game's best face off in a battle between the American League and National League.
PHILADELPHIA ‒ It's time for the 96th Major League Baseball All-Star Game.
Follow along for live updates from Citizens Bank Park, home of the Philadelphia Phillies, as the game's best face off in a battle between the American League and National League.
The halfway point of the MLB season is here, as the All-Star Break is in full force. Tonight, the main festivity, the All-Star game, will be played, and then all teams get a couple days off to rest.
Going into this break, the hottest team in baseball was the Boston Red Sox. Before their run, they were supposed to be sellers at the deadline, but now, it seems the opposite may be true.
Before their run, the Red Sox were 32-46, and had just lost a series to the Colorado Rockies, the actual worst team in baseball. It seems that causes a snap in the team’s mentality, as they decided they were done losing for the most part.
From then on, they swept their eternal rivals, the New York Yankees, in a four game series. They then lost a series to the Washington Nationals, in which they finally decided losing wasn’t an option anymore.
They then went on a nine game road trip, against the Los Angeles Angels, the Chicago White Sox, and the New York Mets. They swept all three series, ending with a record of 14-2 and four sweeps. The craziest part is that two of the sweeps were against the second and third-best AL teams in the Yankees and White Sox
Selling isn’t likely
Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
With all that in mind, the idea that Boston will sell at the deadline doesn’t make sense. Even analysts and insiders don’t see it as likely; MassLive’s Chris Cotillo believes guys like Sonny Gray, Aroldis Chapman, and all the other candidates to be traded don’t seem like goners anymore.
Even MLB insider Ken Rosenthal believes the Sox have no chance of being sellers. He also points out that Boston’s GM Craig Breslow has been under fire for a long time, and if he were to sell, it might be the final nail in the coffin for his time as GM.
Who should they pursue?
Imagn Images
So, being buyers seems like the avenue they will take. The question is, who should they target? Jeremy Peña is a strong candidate, as he brings defense and a swing built for Fenway Park.
If Boston wants to upgrade the catcher position, which has been shaky this season, getting a guy like Adley Rutschman from a cracking division rival in the Baltimore Orioles might be good. They also already have a second franchise catcher in Samuel Basallo, so getting Rutschman might not be hard.
Hopefully, Boston uses this break to formulate some trade proposals, and get cracking on talking with other teams before the August 3rd deadline.
Three players heard their names called and another signed as a free agent at the close of the Major League Baseball Draft, which was held over the weekend in advance of Tuesday night’s All-Star Game.
Ryan Oshinskie, Reece Moroney and Patrick Clemmey were all selected over the course of two days in Philadelphia. Casey Wensley was among the first outside the event’s 20 rounds who agreed to a professional deal.
Oshinskie is a right-handed pitcher from Brown who was tabbed in the sixth round by the Milwaukee Brewers. The rising senior was the 192nd pick overall despite not appearing in a game for the Bears last season due to an undisclosed injury. Oshinskie’s suggested slot value is just north of $333,000.
Oshinskie was the 27th selection for the school – the first since Reid Anderson in 2018. His breakout came last summer in the Cape Cod League, as he dominated in a relief role with the Orleans Firebirds. Oshinskie posted a 1.93 earned-run average and a 0.96 WHIP over 28 innings, walking seven and striking out 38.
Moroney is an infielder from the University of Rhode Island who landed with the Philadelphia Phillies in the 10th round. The rising senior came off the board 309th overall after starting 57 games for the Rams in 2026. Moroney’s suggested slot value is $192,500.
Moroney was named the Atlantic 10 Defensive Player of the Year for his work at shortstop. He added a .370/.426/.494 slash line with 90 hits, 19 doubles and 24 walks. Moroney helped URI overcome a rough nonconference start and reach its league tournament title round against VCU.
Clemmey is a left-handed pitcher and Bishop Hendricken alum who was selected by the Phillies in the 14th round. He took a prep year in Connecticut with Avon Old Farms and is committed to take the mound in college with Georgia. There is no suggested slot value for Clemmey or any other pick outside the top 10 rounds.
Clemmey worked his way back from elbow surgery to help the Hawks win a state championship in 2025. He was initially committed to Vanderbilt before changing course and recovering the fastball velocity he’d flashed before suffering his injury. Clemmey is the younger brother of Alex Clemmey, another Bishop Hendricken alum and current Double-A prospect with the Washington Nationals.
Wensley needed just one year at Bryant to make an impression, signed by the Los Angeles Angels for an undisclosed amount. He’s a transfer from Wheaton who spent two seasons in the Division III ranks before making the jump to Division I. Wensley is a Massachusetts native who starred in high school at Bridgewater-Raynham.
Wensley started all 52 games for the Bulldogs in 2026, working primarily at first base and left field. He slashed .319/.424/.451 with 65 hits, 14 doubles, five triples and just 17 strikeouts against 34 walks. Wensley stole 30 bases for Bryant and was thrown out on only two attempts.
Oshinskie and Moroney both retain college eligibility while Clemmey would be entering his freshman year in the SEC. That gives all three some leverage to negotiate with their respective teams – or, in the modern college landscape, a chance to push schools for more name, image and likeness compensation. Draft picks and their clubs have until July 27 at 5 p.m. to sign contracts or seek alternatives.
Organizations operate with limited bonus pools for drafted prospects and are taxed for going a certain amount over their allotments. Free agents can sign deals in the upcoming days and weeks for up to $150,000, a number that doesn’t count against those bonus figures.
There was a comeback at MLB’s Home Run Derby on Monday night. And no, we’re not talking about Cardinals outfielder Jordan Walker’s rally to overtake Phillies slugger Kyle Schwarber. We’re talking about Netflix, which bounced back strongly following its critically panned coverage of MLB Opening Night.
The streaming giant’s coverage of Yankees-Giants from Oracle Park in San Francisco in March amounted to one big Netflix ad. There was shirtless comedian Bert Kreischer in a branded Netflix kayak in McCovey Cove, Little Brother star John Cena trying to explain ABS, Stranger Things teasers, etc.
Netflix has a three-year, $150 million deal with MLB to show Opening Night, the Home Run Derby, and a special event like the upcoming “Field of Dreams” game. Well, let’s give the sports team at Netflix credit for learning quickly and not making the same mistakes again.
During its debut coverage of the Home Run Derby at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia, Netflix let the event come to them. It focused on the action on the field; not itself.
Led by host Elle Duncan, I thought the streamer’s Home Run Derby coverage was light-years better than Opening Night. The studio team of Duncan, Barry Bonds, Anthony Rizzo, Albert Pujols, plus play-by-play announcer Matt Vasgersian was looser, funnier, more relaxed. They kept the focus on mechanics and the mindset necessary to pound baseballs into the distant stands. They let the event breathe—which is saying something given this was only its second MLB event ever.
Still, Netflix is going to Netflix. There was one big swing and a miss. Viewers rightly panned funnyman Will Ferrell, Luke Wilson, and Jimmy Tatro for their awkward attempt to tout their Netflix show The Hawk. Their jokes weren’t funny and their antics only took away from player introductions.
One viewer wrote on X/Twitter: “Ben Rice was in diapers the last time Will Ferrell was funny please don’t put him on my screen again.” As my Front Office Sports colleague Ryan Glasspiegel tweeted, “The only person who gets booked and ever says anything funny in these scenarios is Shane Gillis.”
Netflix also needs to improve its camera angles, which generated numerous complaints across social media. Again, a less-is-more approach is the way to go. Don’t try to reinvent something sports television has perfected over the decades.
Some other observations:
Duncan has proved she’s the right pick to host Netflix’s global sporting events. The former ESPN SportsCenter anchor can host any event with humor, smarts, and style. She had fun right from the beginning, declaring: “I like big bats and I cannot lie.” Duncan was able to get the normally sour Bonds to smile and share some war stories. As she previously predicted to FOS, MLB’s decision to eliminate timed rounds in the Home Run Derby proved to be a hit. As Duncan told me, Netflix is trying to reach casual, as well as hardcore sports fans, with its “eventized” sports. “We’re trying to get the people who are baseball-curious, who are sports-curious, and who are interested in the way Netflix can present something we’ve seen for a really long time,” she said.
The likable Rizzo had a big night. The former Cubs first baseman had one of the best lines of the night when he described the hulking Schwarber—who he played with in Chicago—as “every beer league softball player’s hero.” Rizzo is proving to be just as good at media as my sources predicted after charming the snarky New York press corps as a Yankee.
Little changes matter. It was more entertaining to have “Batting Stance Guy” impersonating the distinctive swings and stances of Bonds, Rizzo, and Pujols than Kreischer acting the fool.
With more than 325 million subscribers globally, Netflix is here to stay in big-time sports. Given its bounce-back performance last night, I will be curious whether it can keep up the momentum during the “Field of Dreams” game between the Phillies and Twins from the cornfields of Iowa on Aug. 13.
Again, it’s not rocket science. Keep the focus on baseball, not cross-promotion. Netflix mostly did that Monday night. It’s a promising sign for its future sports coverage.
Byron Buxton has already made it clear that he doesn't want to be traded.
He wants to play his entire career with the Minnesota Twins, which is certainly an admirable goal.
But for the past couple seasons, as the Twins have struggled, the thought has been raised, over and over: What about the Atlanta Braves?
Buxton is from Georgia, the thinking goes, so he must like the idea of playing for the Braves, right?
Well, maybe not any more than he would any other team.
Buxton pushed back on that logic in an interview before the All-Star Game.
"At the end of the day, Atlanta ain't home," Buxton said. "I'm five hours from Atlanta. People don't get that. I'm from the South. I'm closer to Savannah. I'm closer to Jacksonville than I am to Atlanta. That's not home."
Buxton is actually from Baxley, Georgia, in the southeastern part of the state.
He played high school ball at Appling County High School before being the No. 2 overall pick in the 2012 MLB Draft.
Injuries limited Buxton for much of his career, but he's always been one of the most talented players in the sport when healthy, and in recent years, he's been able to stay on the field more often to prove that.
Buxton clearly feels intense loyalty to the Twins for believing in him from the start and sticking by him even when it was bumpy.
Maybe they still end up trading him before his career is over. But if the Braves thought they had an inside path to Buxton, it appears that thinking would be wrong.
Alex Rodriguez had a rough go of it interviewing Justin Verlander ahead of the Home Run Derby.
Rodriguez appeared to be setting up some kind of underdog redemption angle for Verlander, asking him, “How do you explain being a late draft pick, being designated for assignment a couple of times with two different teams?”
Awkward moment for A-Rod, interviewing Justin Verlander saying we was designated for assignment by two different teams.
Neither half of that sentence is true. Verlander went second overall in the 2004 draft, one pick after Matt Bush, and was in the majors within a year. He’s also never been designated for assignment, not once, across 20 seasons and stops with the Tigers, Astros, Mets, and Giants. Being DFA’d is a process reserved for players a team is trying to get off its 40-man roster. It has never once applied to a 10-time All-Star and three-time Cy Young winner.
Verlander, understandably, did not know what to do with this.
“Me? No, you’ve got the wrong notes,” he said.
Rodriguez laughed it off and pivoted to asking how Verlander has pitched at a high level for so long, which, fine, is actually a reasonable question. It’s just not the one he’d spent the last thirty seconds building up to.
It was Bill James who famously said: "When baseball wanted to speak, The Sporting News cleared its throat.” And from its 1886 founding until today, “The Bible of Baseball” has provided a voice to every contour of the game.
But for all the game’s beauty and familiarity and evolution and symmetry and chaos, let’s face it — it’s about the players. It’s always been about the players.
In 1999, The Sporting News published its critically-acclaimed book, Baseball’s 100 Greatest Players, a defining resource of its kind. And now, as it celebrates 140 years, the collection expands to 140 players, organized in an entirely new way.
We researched and considered over 500 names, weighing not only fundamental changes to the game, but also factoring in modern metrics, recently uncovered Negro Leagues data, shifting league demographics and the evolution of today's stars. We stripped away preconceptions and applied objective, critical analysis to every player under consideration.
Once we landed on 140 names, we decided that traditional rankings simply don't work for baseball. How is one to honestly assess if Cy Young — a pitcher whose career began in the 19th century — is greater than Albert Pujols, a 21st-century slugger? How do you compare Josh Gibson in the Negro Leagues to Jackie Robinson in the National League?
Comparison is the thief of joy with rankings that run the risk of diminishing rather than celebrating.
Instead, we created 14 position-less rooms, each representing and articulating varying archetypes of greatness. From there, we slotted 10 players into each room with careers connected by defining common threads.
Every week through the end of the World Series, we'll unveil one room at a time — 10 players along with the numbers that define them — culminating in the Inner Circle, the 10 best to ever play, period.
Want to read about how Cy Young's 36-win season was covered in the moment in 1892? We've got you covered. Every week, we'll also republish stories exactly as they originally ran in print issues of The Sporting News, with every issue since 1886 now fully digitized and accessible for free via the online SN Archive.
Our “rooms” serve not only to honor the game’s greatest players, but to contextualize their standing in baseball history — for better or worse. Below is a short description of each room along with one player from each to whet your appetite.
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Baseball's Greatest Players: The 14 rooms
Immortals
They shattered barriers. They broke records. They captivated nations. They inspired millions. Their imprint endures.
They rendered baseball an art form. We swung like them, fielded like them, pitched like them and ran like them. Few matched their production; none matched their signature style.
Membership includes: Tony Gwynn
Unicorns
They broke the mold by redefining excellence. The rare legends for whom comparison is impossible. What made them different made them great.
Membership includes: Mariano Rivera
Juggernatus
They delivered season after season, authoring some of the game’s most storied chapters. Their prolonged excellence sets them apart.
Membership includes: Oscar Charleston
Supernovas
They reached the game’s highest level, if only briefly. Their greatness is defined by an extraordinary peak.
They are among the greatest players ever, though they aren’t remembered that way, if remembered at all. Overshadowed and underappreciated, history has dimmed their brilliance.
Membership includes: Lefty Grove
Showmen
They commanded the stage. Through bravado and spectacle, they performed when the stakes were highest.
Membership includes: Rickey Henderson
What-ifs
They were shaped by circumstance. Legendary careers whose legacies hinge on an overriding factor.
They went first. By reimagining who could play and how to play, they built the foundation for those who followed.
Membership includes: Juan Marichal
Prodigies
They captured our imagination from the moment we first saw them. They are best remembered for their youthful emergence and the dreams their talents inspired.
Membership includes: Bob Feller
Stalwarts
They made excellence routine. Careers defined not by peaks, but by the steadiness and certainty they embodied.
Membership includes: Justin Verlander
Beloved
They proved that if you embrace the fans, their love lasts forever. Their greatness was forged through that bond.
Membership includes: Ernie Banks
Pariahs
They cheated. They lied. They discriminated. Baseball has exiled them for defiling the game’s integrity, yet its record would be incomplete without them.
Membership includes: Mark McGwire
Inner Circle
They are the greatest baseball players who ever lived.
Membership includes: Willie Mays
The Sporting News Collection / Getty Images
Our process for picking Baseball's Greatest Players
There have been dozens of credible attempts to rank the greatest baseball players of all time.
Respectfully, we think all of them ignore a simple truth: Baseball has simply undergone too many iterations to fairly and objectively execute that exercise.
Consider these changes that have radically reshaped the sport:
From 1871 to 1892, the mound varied in distance before moving back to 60 feet, 6 inches, in 1893, where it remains.
The mound was lowered from 15 to 10 inches for the 1969 season after the “year of the pitcher.”
Until 1950, the strike zone went from the top of the batter's shoulders to the knees. It has since been modified six times.
Field conditions and equipment have improved dramatically. In 1886, the average game included 7.6 errors. In 2026, that number is 1.04.
The starting pitcher has been compromised as reliever usage has exploded. There were a total of 29 complete games pitched in 2025. Nineteenth-century pitchers would often complete that many individually in a single season.
Modern metrics have transformed the way we evaluate players. For most of baseball history, hitters strived to lead their league in batting average and pitchers in wins. We now know those stats are fairly meaningless measures of one’s contribution to their team.
Most importantly, baseball’s demographics have changed. For the first three-quarters of a century, the National and American Leagues were almost exclusively composed of white players. The year Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier (1947), 98.3% of the league was white. That figure now hovers around 60% amidst baseball’s international boom.
Further, projects like this have been created by baseball historians, not researchers. Thus, until now, the top such lists and the players that comprise them have practically been carbon copies of one another with minor updates as time has passed.
What we discovered is that, especially in baseball’s early days, a handful of writers wielded disproportionate power and influence in framing player reputations. And those framings have been largely unchecked by those who subsequently chronicled baseball history. We challenged ourselves to take a fresh look at every player under consideration, stripping away preconceptions and applying objective, critical analysis.
In all, how many players did you consider?
We researched, at least cursorily, more than 500 players.
Which statistics carried the most weight in your evaluations?
Wins Above Replacement (WAR) is the most important stat in baseball today, though our position on that metric is that it is most effective as a conversation starter (rather than a conversation-ending trump card). It is a highly reliable way to approximate the total value a player produced over an extended period of time and takes into account every way in which a player can impact a game (hitting, fielding, baserunning, pitching, etc.). Baseball Reference’s career leaderboard was the first place we visited when creating our player pool.
Baseball Reference’s OPS+ is a player’s adjusted batting line for which 100 is average (150 is great, 50 is awful, etc.). It is an especially useful metric because it accounts not only for scoring environments of a particular season/span of seasons, but for ballparks as well. And so, it provides the best way to compare hitting performance across eras. For example, Jimmie Foxx (played 1925-1945) and Mark McGwire (played 1986-2001) both produced a career OPS+ of 163.
Baseball Reference’s ERA+ is a pitcher’s adjusted pitching line for which 100 is average (125 is good, 75 is bad, etc.). Like OPS+, it accounts for scoring environments and ballparks, providing the best way to compare a pitcher’s run prevention across eras. For example, Grover Cleveland Alexander (pitched 1911-1930) and Randy Johnson (pitched 1988-2009) both produced a career ERA+ of 135.
Though modern metrics were an invaluable resource for us, we relied on more traditional and rudimentary standards as well. One of those was MVP voting, which has been the responsibility of the Baseball Writers’ Association of America since 1931. Those results provide an illuminating snapshot of player perception at the time they played. For example, in the seven seasons spanning 1950-1956, Yogi Berra finished in the top four of American League MVP voting in every one of them (3 wins, 2 runner-ups, 1 third, 1 fourth). This is a good illustration of his perception amidst a stretch of dominant Yankee baseball.
Certain conventional stats, like batting average and RBI and pitcher wins, have become popular punching bags as the baseball intelligentsia continues to get smarter. But in reality, sabermetrics are a new phenomenon. For the first 130-some years of baseball history (during which the vast majority of players in our collection played), player evaluations were made using traditional box-score, back-of-the-baseball-card stats. And as such, we elected not to discount achievements now considered outdated because of breakthroughs in math and data interpretation in the interest of fairness to those players.
What about Negro Leagues players?
In December 2020, Major League Baseball “corrected a longstanding oversight by officially elevating the Negro Leagues to 'Major League' status.” Functionally, the accomplishments of about 3,400 Black players in seven leagues spanning 1920-1948 were put on equal footing to their white counterparts in the American/National League. Though we did not need affirmation from the Commissioner’s Office to affirm the legitimacy of the Negro Leagues, it is our position, backed by data, that the quality of competition in Black baseball was comparable — and certainly not worse — than that in white baseball.
According to Robert Peterson’s 1970 book Only the Ball Was White, Black teams went 315-282-20 in exhibitions against white MLB teams during the first half of the 20th century. Over that same period of time, white MLB teams won 71 percent of exhibitions vs. white minor league teams, which underscores the chasm in quality between the minor leagues and the Negro Leagues. When playing white major leaguers head-to-head, Black teams won 53 percent of decisions.
Jackie Robinson, who broke the color barrier in 1947, was by no means considered the greatest player in Black baseball at that time. And yet, he won NL Rookie of the Year in 1947 and MVP in 1949. In fact, from 1949-1962, 11 of 14 NL MVPs were Black players (Robinson, Roy Campanella 3x, Willie Mays, Don Newcombe, Henry Aaron, Ernie Banks 2x, Frank Robinson, Maury Wills). If the best Black players could dominate white baseball, it only stands to reason that good ones and average ones would have experienced production comparable to their Negro Leagues’ performance.
The greatest challenge is the fact that Negro Leagues statistical data is incomplete, and very likely always will be. Thanks to painstaking research by Seamheads (Negro Leagues database) and Baseball Reference, which displays their data, we have more readily available statistics than ever with which to evaluate Negro Leagues players. And though the lack of historical record-keeping will not allow apples-to-apples counting stat comparisons to white players, enough information exists to effectively use rate stats and per 162 game stats to paint the picture of a player’s standing in the Negro Leagues.
And what about active players? Are they included?
Yes. Baseball historians who have attempted similar projects have disproportionately focused on long-past eras when celebrating baseball’s greats. We took care to ensure that players of all eras were represented, including active players and those who are top of mind for current baseball fans. Many players we are watching today on our televisions and devices have already earned their place among nostalgic legends, and we have done them justice.
We have included a number of players who could retire today and still deserve a place in our collection. A few more boast strong bodies of work in/through their twenties, and with conservative projections of performance through their mid-thirties, we are exceedingly confident they will eventually be deserving. We are also monitoring a small “watch list” of players who project as strong candidates and could be added to this collection over time.
What inspired this project?
Our many visits to the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown revealed both its magic and its shortcomings. One cannot possibly peruse the plaque gallery — baseball’s holy of holies, where its deities are immortalized — without being moved. It is a place every fan should visit to soak in the incomparable history of a game considered our national pastime for more than a century-and-a-half.
The Hall of Fame’s stated mission is “to preserve the sport's history, honor excellence within the game and make a connection between the generations of people who enjoy baseball.” But even its most ardent supporters must acknowledge it has fallen short, especially of late.
In recent years, the election process — a democratic one that has been practiced since 1936 — has shut out arguably the greatest position player (Barry Bonds) and pitcher (Roger Clemens) of the last 100 years because of their connections to performance-enhancing drugs. Meanwhile, various committees have lowered the Hall of Fame standard considerably, electing players such as Harold Baines and Jack Morris, among a number of objectively lesser players in relation to many still excluded. The result is an institution annually under siege.
We made it our devout mission to get right what the Hall of Fame does not and perhaps cannot. Our 140-player collection means we feature baseball’s veritable cream of the crop (by comparison, the Hall of Fame includes more than 270 players).
This sounds awesome. Are you going to make it a book?
The Los Angeles Dodgers will once again be one of the most heavily represented teams at the Midsummer Classic, sending a star-studded group to the 2026 MLB All-Star Game as they continue to pace the National League.
The defending World Series champions have six All-Stars heading to Philadelphia: Shohei Ohtani, Freddie Freeman, Max Muncy, Andy Pages, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, and Justin Wrobleski.
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Ohtani, Freeman, Muncy, and Pages were voted into the National League starting lineup, while Yamamoto earned a pitching selection after another dominant first half. Wrobleski was later added as a replacement, giving the Dodgers one of the largest All-Star contingents in baseball.
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The Dodgers enter the All-Star break with the best record in Major League Baseball, and their strong showing in Philadelphia reflects another impressive first half on both sides of the ball. With multiple starters taking the field and manager Dave Roberts leading the National League, Los Angeles will once again have a major presence on baseball’s biggest summer stage before turning its focus to another postseason run.
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The New York Yankees are expected to be among the busiest buyers at this year’s MLB trade deadline, and a new report suggests they have identified their biggest target. According to MLB insider Jon Heyman, the Yankees have their sights set on San Diego Padres All-Star closer Mason Miller, one of the most dominant relief pitchers in baseball. If New York can pull off the blockbuster deal, it could dramatically reshape an already talented bullpen for the second half of the season.
Oct 1, 2025; Chicago, Illinois, USA; San Diego Padres pitcher Mason Miller (22) delivers during the seventh inning against the Chicago Cubs during game two of the Wildcard round for the 2025 MLB playoffs at Wrigley Field. Mandatory Credit: Matt Marton-Imagn Images
Miller has elevated himself into the conversation as the best reliever in Major League Baseball in 2026. Through the All-Star break, his numbers have been nothing short of extraordinary:
0.91 ERA
0.78 WHIP
72 strikeouts
25 saves
38 appearances
39.2 innings pitched
While every statistic is impressive, the strikeout total is perhaps the most eye-opening. Recording 72 strikeouts in just 39.2 innings is a remarkable feat and highlights why Miller is so difficult for opposing hitters to solve. In today’s game, swing-and-miss stuff is the most valuable weapon a late-inning reliever can possess, and few pitchers miss bats as consistently as Miller.
Why the Padres Could Listen
Sep 26, 2025; San Diego, California, USA; San Diego Padres relief pitcher Mason Miller (22) celebrates during the eighth inning Arizona Diamondbacks at Petco Park. Mandatory Credit: David Frerker-Imagn Images
Trading a reliever of Miller’s caliber would normally seem unthinkable. However, San Diego’s position in the standings has changed the equation.
The Padres have fallen well behind in the National League West and are barely hanging onto contention in the NL Wild Card race. If the front office determines that the team isn’t built for a deep postseason run this year, moving Miller while his value is at an all-time high could bring back a significant package of young talent.
It’s never easy to part with an elite closer, but relievers often command massive returns at the trade deadline when contenders become desperate for bullpen help.
A Dream Scenario for the Yankees
Adding Miller would give New York arguably the most intimidating back end of any bullpen in baseball. Pairing him with current closer David Bednar would allow manager Aaron Boone to shorten games to eight innings, creating matchup nightmares for opposing offenses in the postseason.
With the Yankees expected to contend for another American League pennant, strengthening the bullpen has become one of the organization’s top priorities.
If Jon Heyman’s report proves accurate and Mason Miller truly is at the top of New York’s wish list, the Yankees could be preparing to make one of the biggest moves of the trade deadline—and one that could significantly improve their World Series chances.
The 2026 MLB season has reached the All-Star break. This season has shown many players and teams having sensational seasons. Following the All-Star Game, the second half of the season will be in full swing. Here are the top 10 second basemen at the midway point of the season.
Jun 7, 2026; Bronx, New York, USA; New York Yankees second baseman Jazz Chisholm Jr. (13) hits a three run home run in the eighth inning against the Boston Red Sox at Yankee Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images
Chisholm is hitting for power and stealing bases. His batting average has struggled, but he’s doing damage at the plate. The question remains whether he will be a Yankee in 2027.
9. Chase Meidroth, Chicago White Sox
The White Sox are competing for the division, and their second baseman is having a strong season. He has shown the ability to reach base at a high clip. He has produced borderline All-Star numbers.
8. JJ Wetherholt, St. Louis Cardinals
The rookie is having a strong season. He’s put his bat-to-ball skills on display and hit for power. He will be a finalist for the NL Rookie of the Year Award.
7. Luis Arraez, San Francisco Giants
Arraez is arguably the best hitter in MLB. He currently leads MLB second basemen in hits. His name can be among those available at the trade deadline.
6. Ernie Clement, Toronto Blue Jays
Apr 6, 2026; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Toronto Blue Jays second baseman Ernie Clement (22) hits an RBI single against the Los Angeles Dodgers during the first inning at Rogers Centre. Mandatory Credit: Nick Turchiaro-Imagn Images
The veteran is having the best season of his career. His production led to him being named the starting second baseman for the AL All-Star team. There isn’t anything he can’t do in 2026.
5. Xavier Edwards, Miami Marlins
Edwards is having an underrated season. Miami is competing, and its second baseman continues to produce. He is second in hits among MLB second basemen.
4. Ozzie Albies, Atlanta Braves
Albies has put his power on display this season. He is producing, and the Braves are leading the NL East. He continues to be one of the game’s best second basemen.
3. Ketel Marte, Arizona Diamondbacks
May 21, 2025; Los Angeles, California, USA; Arizona Diamondbacks second baseman Ketel Marte (4) reacts after hitting a home run during the fourth inning against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Dodger Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images
Another season, and Marte is among the best players at the position. He is currently second in home runs among MLB second basemen. He can reach 30 home runs by the end of the season.
2. Brandon Lowe, Pittsburgh Pirates
Lowe has been better than advertised in his first season with Pittsburgh. He currently leads MLB second basemen in home runs. He can reach 40 home runs by the end of the season.
1. Brice Turang, Milwaukee Brewers
Turang has blossomed into one of the game’s top second basemen. He is among the second base leaders in home runs and stolen bases. His production has Milwaukee leading the NL Central.
On Monday night, Kevin McGonigle was all smiles taking in the Home Run Derby, even though that's not really his game — and it almost certainly never will be.
McGonigle entered the All-Star break with more walks (60) than strikeouts (56), and he has reached base 162 times, most by any rookie before the All-Star break since New York Yankees star Aaron Judge reached 164 times in 2017.
"The biggest thing that helped me growing up was the people I surrounded myself with," McGonigle said in an interview with MLB Network on Monday. "I never really had a hitting coach growing up. It was always just my dad and I. Growing up, my dad was like, 'Don't let anyone touch that swing,' so I've had the same swing growing up and kind of the same mind set of the game growing up, and I'm never gonna let that change. I think that's what got me here, and I think that's what's gonna help me succeed in my career."
It's that mindset that certainly has helped him become an All-Star so quickly in his career.
McGonigle was a first-round pick by the Tigers in 2023, and he's just 21, becoming the first Tiger to make an All-Star at 21 or younger since Mark "The Bird" Fidrych 50 years ago (also in Philadelphia, interestingly).
The only other Tiger to make an All-Star Game at 21 or younger was Mr. Tiger Al Kaline, in 1954 and 1955. McGonigle is the first Tigers rookie to be an All-Star since Matt Nokes in 1987, and the first Tigers rookie to be an All-Star in his first major-league season since Fidrych in 1976.
"It's gonna be like, you know, a bunch of faces that I grew up watching, a bunch of faces that are stars of the game," McGonigle told MLB Network, speaking of soaking in the All-Star experience. "The biggest thing I want to do is pick their brains and try to get better.
"It's just unbelievable I'm here in this stadium with this group of guys."
Kevin McGonigle's fantastic rookie year with the @tigers has gotten him all the way to the #AllStarGame! 🐯
McGonigle was particularly interested in seeing Mike Trout, who like McGonigle is a Philadelphia-area native, and Bryce Harper, a star slugger for the team he grew up rooting for, the Philadelphia Phillies. McGonigle also was hoping to run into his idol growing up, retired Phillies second baseman Chase Utley, whose game he modeled his after.
McGonigle said he expects to have 35 family members and friends in attendance for Tuesday's All-Star Game, which is set for 8 p.m. at Citizens Bank Park. Fox will broadcast the game.
"It means the world, man," said McGonigle, who entered the break hitting .283/.392/.420 with eight homers, 34 RBIs and 11 stolen bases. "I did not think my first game at The Bank would be an All-Star Game.
The MLB All-Star Game is scheduled to begin at 5 p.m. MST (8 p.m. ET) on Tuesday, July 14, 2026. Pregame coverage is scheduled to begin at 4 p.m. MST (7 p.m. ET).
The 2026 Home Run Derby was as memorable as they come. Jordan Walker of the St. Louis Cardinals and Kyle Schwarber of the hometown Philadelphia Phillies dueled in a thrilling final round, with the former coming out on top.
Schwarber hit 11 home runs in the final round, then Walker put himself into a position where he needed six consecutive bombs to win. The math and crowd were not on his side. Slowly but surely, though, Walker inched closer. Walker unlocked the bonus round after three straight home runs, and he unleashed three more for a miraculous win that silenced the Philadelphia crowd.
It was an electric scene at Citizens Bank Park as Walker, who remained calm and composed throughout the competition, rejoiced upon his win.
Walker tied for the most home runs of the first round with 13, then eliminated Tampa Bay Rays third baseman Junior Caminero with six homers in the semifinals. Schwarber punched his finals ticket by finishing just one home run above Willson Contreras' eight in Round 2.
The 2026 MLB season has reached the All-Star break. This season has shown many players and teams having sensational seasons. Following the All-Star Game, the second half of the season will be in full swing. Here are the top 10 catchers at the midway point of the season.
May 17, 2026; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Minnesota Twins designated hitter Ryan Jeffers (27) celebrates his solo home run against the Milwaukee Brewers during the fifth inning at Target Field. Mandatory Credit: Matt Krohn-Imagn Images
Jeffers missed a few months of the season but is back in action. Before the injury, Jeffers was leading MLB catchers in OPS. A strong second half of the season can see him finish with career highs across the board.
9. Adley Rutschman, Baltimore Orioles
Rutschman is having a turnaround season. He lowered his strikeout rate and hit the ball with authority. This is great news for the Orioles.
8. Carter Jensen, Kansas City Royals
The Kansas City rookie is having a strong season. His power gives the team an easy transition from Sal Perez at the catcher position. He has allowed Kansas City to give Perez more at-bats at DH.
7. Samuel Basallo, Baltimore Orioles
The rookie continues to produce for Baltimore. He is currently fourth in home runs among MLB catchers. His name is in the race for the AL Rookie of the Year Award.
6. Drake Baldwin, Atlanta Braves
May 15, 2026; Cumberland, Georgia, USA; Atlanta Braves designated hitter Drake Baldwin (30) hits a home run against the Boston Red Sox during the first inning at Truist Park. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-Imagn Images
In two seasons, Baldwin has become one of the game’s best catchers. He is currently fifth in home runs among MLB catchers. He will be a mainstay in Atlanta’s lineup for years to come.
5. William Contreras, Milwaukee Brewers
The Brewers lead the NL Central and are receiving great production from their catcher. At the All-Star Break, Contreras leads all MLB catchers in hits. He is having one of the best seasons of his career.
4. Liam Hicks, Miami Marlins
Hicks’ season isn’t receiving enough praise. He’s producing for a Miami team in the hunt for a playoff spot. He is currently tied for sixth in home runs among MLB catchers.
3. Shea Langeliers, Athletics
Apr 28, 2026; West Sacramento, California, USA; Athletics catcher Shea Langeliers (23) reacts after hitting a double against the Kansas City Royals during the seventh inning at Sutter Health Park. Mandatory Credit: Dennis Lee-Imagn Images
Langeliers has blossomed into one of the best-hitting catchers in MLB. He continues to produce while hitting at the heart of the Athletics’ batting order. In a few more seasons, his power will be on display in Las Vegas.
2. Dillon Dingler, Detroit Tigers
Enough can’t be said about the Detroit catcher’s season. He’s hit for power throughout the season. He is the leading MLB catcher in RBI.
1. Hunter Goodman, Colorado Rockies
Goodman is having a sensational season. He is leading MLB catchers in home runs. A strong second half can see him finish the season with the most home runs from the catcher position.
For the 96th time, the National League and American League will square off in the MLB All-Star Game, which will be played at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia, as part of the ongoing America 250 celebration.
First pitch is scheduled for 8 p.m. ET on Tuesday, July 14.
The NL won last year's Midsummer Classic 7-6 after Kyle Schwarber went 3-for-3 in the home run swing-off tiebreaker. It hasn't beaten the AL in back-to-back All-Star Games since winning three in a row from 2010 through 2012.
Here's what to know:
What TV channel is the MLB All-Star Game on today?
Fox will broadcast Tuesday's MLB All-Star Game. Joe Davis and Hall of Famer John Smoltz will call the game from the booth at Citizens Bank Park, with Ken Rosenthal and Tom Verducci serving as field reporters.
Streaming options include the Fox Sports Go app (with a TV login) and Fubo, which carries Fox.
The first pitch for the 2026 MLB All-Star Game is set for 8 p.m. ET on Tuesday, July 14.
MLB All-Star Game location
The 2026 MLB All-Star Game will take place at Citizens Bank Park, home of the Philadelphia Phillies, in Philadelphia. It is the fifth time that the Midsummer Classic has come to the 215, and the first since 1996.
The 2026 MLB Draft is wrapped up, with scouting teams trying to sleep off the copious amounts of coffee and Red Bull they consumed over the last several weeks.
And on deck? The trade deadline and then the final home stretch of the regular-season playoff races.
The Guardians (51-46) enter the 2026 All-Star break in a virtual dead heat with the Chicago White Sox (50-45) in the American League Central. The Minnesota Twins (48-49) and Detroit Tigers (44-52) might not be completely buried yet, but both could be heading the other direction in terms of the moves those teams might make at the trade deadline.
Here are the top questions facing the Guardians in the second half of the season.
Can Parker Messick match his All-Star first half?
Arguably the Guardians’ MVP of the first half of the season, Parker Messick earned an All-Star nod while posting a 2.73 ERA in 19 starts. And after being one of six starting pitchers to open spring training camp vying for five spots, Messick pitched his way onto the rotation and has been that group’s best in 2026.
Tanner Bibee and Gavin Williams have each had some poorer moments. Joey Cantillo has largely been solid, if a touch inconsistent. Slade Cecconi was great over the last several weeks, but it came after a painful start to the season. Messick, meanwhile, has been the best of the bunch, to the point of flirting with a few no-hit bids. He’s one of three Guardians All-Stars — along with Cade Smith, Travis Bazzana — and he’s one of the most important players on the roster in the second half.
Can Steven Kwan return to All-Star form?
It’s been a dreadful season for Steven Kwan at the plate, at least by his standards.
Through June 22, a span of 71 games, Kwan was hitting .206 with a .572 OPS, concerning enough that he was sent tumbling to the No. 9 spot in the order after acting as the club’s lead-off hitter for four seasons.
But there might be some hope on the horizon for the Guardians. Since June 23, a span of 18 games, he’s slashing .309/.387/.418 for an .805 OPS with four extra-base hits, three RBIs, five runs scored and three stolen bases.
The Guardians seem stuck in a continuous search for more offense. With a few rookies holding down the top of the lineup and some others returning from injury over the next few weeks, Kwan returning to form would alleviate some of that offensive pressure on others.
Cleveland trading Kwan was one of the biggest decisions of the winter. They opted to hang onto him, and his poor first half has complicated matters on that front.
When will Jose Ramirez, Angel Martinez return from injury?
Guardians fans will roll their eyes when they hear this but, effectively, the Guardians will look at the returns of star third baseman Jose Ramirez and outfielder Angel Martinez as trade deadline additions.
The rest of the division had a great opportunity to put some space between them and the Guardians with Ramirez out of the lineup but weren’t able to do it, which sets up Cleveland well in the second half once he’s able to return to the lineup from a hamate bone injury.
The original estimated timeline put that somewhere around the end of July, but these injuries can vary. Few players, if any, are more important to their lineup than Ramirez is to Cleveland’s.
Martinez, who fractured his foot at the same time Ramirez hit the injured list, was given a similar timetable for a return and could be back within the next 2 to 3 weeks, barring any setbacks.
The Guardians have been holding their head above water and could get both Ramirez and Martinez back around the same time, leaving them in a favorable spot at the All-Star break if they can get through the next couple weeks.
Can Chase DeLauter, Travis Bazzana or Parker Messick win Rookie of the Year voting?
Chase DeLauter was the story of the first week of the regular season. Bazzana and Messick are All-Stars, with the former doing so without starting the year in the major leagues. All three have a shot at being a Rookie of the Year finalist, although it’ll be an uphill climb to take it away from two AL Central rival rookies.
Detroit infielder Kevin McGonicle and Chicago White Sox infielder Munetaka Murakami were leading the Rookie of the Year race at the All-Star break. Sportsbooks have McGonicle as the favorite, Murakami firmly as the second favorite and a group of about seven players — including Bazzana, DeLauter and Messick — in the running.
What will the Guardians do at the 2026 MLB trade deadline?
The Guardians have a pretty standard operating procedure when it comes to the trade deadline, and it’s likely they’ll follow it in 2026. All avenues can be explored, and some minor, sensible additions are more likely than a home run swing as the front office carefully takes stock of available resources. It isn't often the calculated Guardians front office deviates from its internal values assigned to players.
The Guardians made a huge splash at the 2016 deadline by acquiring elite reliever Andrew Miller. But aside from that big swing, the Guardians have tended to target smaller additions to round out the roster at the deadline.
In 2026, that likely means an outfielder or a reliever. The Guardians will also point to the trade that brought in catcher Patrick Bailey as an addition that simply came well before the deadline. Ramirez and Martinez will also provide a potential boost, albeit from within.
If the Guardians target an outfielder to bolster their mix, Colorado’s Mickey Moniak, Baltimore’s Taylor Ward and the Los Angeles Angels’ Jo Adell could all be on the market. Milwaukee’s Garrett Mitchell could also be in that conversation simply because of the Brewers’ depth in the outfield, if that price tag can be reached. Ward and Adell being right-handed hitters might make them the best fit for one of the most left-handed lineups in recent history.
Just about every contending team at every trade deadline could use a reliever or two for the stretch run and postseason. The Guardians could certainly add a high leverage reliever or two ahead of Smith as an All-Star closer.
He is 10-4 this season and has struck out a video-game-like 167 hitters in his 18 starts in the first half, which is the most strikeouts for a pitcher before the All-Star break since Gerrit Cole (170) and Max Scherzer (181) in 2019.
If all that wasn't impressive enough, opponents are hitting just .148 against him in 2026.
Misiorowski, however, won't be pitching in Tuesday's MLB All-Star Game at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia, despite being named to the National League roster. So what gives?
Here's what to know about why Misiorowski won't be pitching in the 2026 Midsummer Classic:
MLB rules state a pitcher who starts on the final Sunday of the first half is ineligible to pitch in the All-Star Game two days later. Therefore, if Misiorowski had made his scheduled start on the final day before the All-Star break, he would have been ineligible for that reason. However, his ineligibility is strictly medically related, as Misiorowski is dealing with a small bout of fatigue, according to Curt Hogg of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, part of the USA TODAY Network.
"A little forearm stuff," Misiorowski said. "Nothing crazy. Just didn’t bounce back. A little quick on the days off between but nothing crazy. We also have this long break."
Added Brewers manager Pat Murphy: "He didn’t recover well. His arm doesn’t feel great. His body doesn’t feel great. There’s no imaging or any of that stuff going on. Just giving him a rest. We need some time away from throwing right now.
"He’s had a big load. We’re making that decision to give him a break. His throwing program today was a little clunky. We didn’t like what we saw and we’re going to hold him out."
Jacob Misiorowski stats
Misiorowski finished the first half of the season with a 10-4 record and a 1.62 ERA in 18 starts and 111 innings pitched. He leads all MLB pitchers with 167 strikeouts on the season.
Verlander was almost in utter disbelief that someone could seriously ask him the question.
“Justin, have you ever been pulled out of a perfect game or no-hitter in your career?"
Are you kidding?
“No,’’ he said. “It was never even a conversation. No!"
How could someone ask?"
This is a man who has pitched for 22 years, won three Cy Young awards, two World Series championships, an MVP award, been selected to 10 All-Star teams, and will have his plaque mounted in Cooperstown in six years.
Do you actually believe that he would allow a manager to pull him out of a game when he has the opportunity to make history?
“It's very hard," Verlander said in disgust, “for me to watch."
There was not a single pitcher who ever had a perfect game through six innings who was ever pulled from a game from 1901-2015.
In the last 10 years, it occurred three times.
It happened twice in four days last week.
Verlander can’t comprehend it, but then again, he has difficulty understanding how people actually believe that wins are overrated for starting pitchers, knowing the impact of individual victories.
‘‘I know that wins is a stat that people kind of are poo-pooing now,’’ Verlander says, “but you look around. Starting pitchers definitely don't go as deep in the game. They don't throw as many pitches. And because of that, wins are coming way down.
“I think maybe on a given year or a given day, the win isn't a great stat. But over time, if you consistently win baseball games, you're doing all of the things that you want as a starting pitcher. You're going deep. You're limiting runs. You're giving your team a chance. And if they start winning more often than not, then you're doing a good job.
“So maybe short term, I get it, but macro view, I think wins tell you a much larger picture.’’
Verlander, who won at least 15 games in 12 seasons, pitching more than 200 innings 12 times, badly wanted to win 300 games before he retired. He knew he could be the last 300-game winner in baseball history. Now, even with 266 victories, he wonders if anyone will ever win 250 again.
He’ll fall short of 4,000 strikeouts, but with 3,554, it’s still the eighth-most all-time, with only two current pitchers within 1,000 strikeouts of him.
Verlander, 43, the oldest athlete in North American team sports, doesn’t want to sound like he’s Bob Feller, and that the game stinks compared to how it was when he broke in on July 4, 2005, but man, are times different.
He worries about the game, too, particularly with the potential of a lengthy lockout on the horizon threatening the integrity of the 2027 season.
“Obviously, I want the players to to get what they're deserved," Verlander says, “but I think you want the game to just be in a great place. That's it.
“But I'm really worried about it, to be frank, because the game is, in my opinion, in a really great place. Its viewership is doing great. The fan bases are responding. ..Ultimately, the game's in a good place, and I would hate to see that get disrupted and lose momentum that we have, and the opportunity that we have to continue to grow the sport.
“There are so many reasons why I think a real work stoppage in losing games would be detrimental."
Simply, if the system ain’t broke, Verlander claims, why fix it?
“This current system must be working OK if the game is as popular and rising as it is, right?" Verlander says. “I don't see any shortage of people wanting to buy a MLB team, so it must be a decent investment, right? You know, people are fighting for the chance to buy an MLB team, so it can't be that bad."
Then again, Verlander says, nothing is like it used to be upon his arrival. When he came up and made his first All-Star Game at the age of 24, he was too scared to say a peep in the American League clubhouse, intimidated by the sight of Derek Jeter, Ichiro Suzuki, David Ortiz and Alex Rodriguez, and not worrying about his brand or silly social media accounts.
Even today, he politely declines to talk about his future entrance into the Hall of Fame, or what cap he’d wear on his plaque.
When he came up and developed into one of the most dominant right-handed pitchers in the last 50 years, he never forgot to praise Nolan Ryan for being his all-time idol and the impact Kenny Rogers made on his career, even recommending the purchase of a designer bed to reduce his back woes.
“He just taught me how to be a professional," Verlander said. “He’d been in the game so long, and I just always admired the older players. Whenever I had a chance to speak to them, All-Star games or whatever, trying to absorb information, I would do it."
Well, here we are 20 years later, and Verlander is that man.
Verlander announced last week that he would retire after the season, and since the decision became official, Verlander has everyone from Bryce Harper and Mike Trout requesting autographed jerseys and balls, with others seeking advice.
“Looking forward to talking to him these next few days," Trout said. “He’s one of the toughest pitchers I ever faced. I was messing with him the other day when he said he’s retiring.
“I said, 'Bro, you threw me a slider, and I hit in in our bullpen. And the next 48 or 50 at-bats, I didn’t see one slider. And if he did, he bounced it.
“He’s just a competitor, one of the toughest I’ve ever faced. He’s going out strong.’’
This is why Verlander, who has made just one start this season, desperately wants to pitch again this year. He wants to step on that Comerica Park mound at least one more time. He still dreams of being on the mound in October, helping the Tigers win their first World Series since 1984.
“Look, it’s not like I'm sitting here saying like this is going to be it for the season," Verlander confidently says. “I wholeheartedly believe that I can come back and pitch, and hopefully pitch well on a team that has a chance to be in the playoffs. So, it's something I'm still working daily at.
“I got agonizingly close there. I made my like final rehab start, and then had my hamstring pop on me. You know, it's just like really frustrating. I'm trying to do everything I can and take the big picture.’’
He really didn’t want to retire, hoping to pitch until he’s 46 and he had those 300 wins, but his body simply wouldn’t cooperate. It was his hip that put him on the IL. Then, his hamstring.
“You know, I feel like I've been like plugging holes in a leaky boat," Verlander says. “I think the one thing I've done really well in my career is be objective about myself, and that's allowed me to adapt when I need to and be successful on the mound. I know what I need to do mechanically to be healthy and compete at this level, but my body's not letting me do that.’’
He also believes this might be the ideal time to leave, with the collective bargaining agreement expiring Dec. 1.
“Nobody knows what's going to happen at the beginning of next season,’’ Verlander says. “There's a lot of conversation about that. I just feel like it's the right time. And if I want to control my own destiny, which I do, I don't want to leave a game when I'm ready to go and not have the game force me out.’’
Now that he’s been sidelined since the first week of the season, selected to the All-Star Game by Commissioner Rob Manfred as one of his legend picks, it has allowed him time to reflect, knowing the end of a fabulous career and glorious era is ending.
“I think the game has changed a lot," Verlander says. “When I first came in, I think the average length of game wasn't long enough that the pitch clock was an issue. But I saw it evolve into games that were taking routinely three hours, 40 minutes, and the pitch clock has resolved that. That's been a great addition.
“I think the advent of analytics has positives and negatives. I have definitely benefited from it, but it it can become a crutch for people and organizations. ... That’s made a dramatic difference in the game."
And now, here he is, wondering where time has gone, while knowing his time is near.
“You know, it's such a blur while you're in it,’’ Verlander says, “and then you know you get towards the end and say, “Man, I wish I had enjoyed X, Y, and Z a little bit more. So, to have the opportunity to come back in this situation and really absorb it and know it's your last time, it's a really special feeling.
“I think it's cool for the game. Seeing some of the greats that I played against and admire for a long time. Just get the opportunity on a national stage to be sent off and be involved in the game again in a big way is a cool thing the commissioner did.’’
Now, for perhaps the final time on the national stage, Verlander has a chance to say good-bye, perhaps even getting an ovation to remember Tuesday night from the sellout crowd at Citizens Bank Park. He pitched in the American League all but two seasons but baseball fans know he played the right way, always respecting the game, with the game respecting him right back.
“It's hard for me to look back in hindsight and change anything," Verlander says. “I honestly believe that. I made some mistakes for sure, but that really is what led me to being where I am today, and I don't regret those things.
PHILADELPHIA — They will flock to Citizens Bank Park from both sides of the Delaware River, a contingent from Millville, New Jersey, taking I-76 over the Walt Whitman Bridge, another coming from the other direction on the interstate, or simply on surface streets from the proud territory the locals simply call Delco.
Mike Trout has secured 20 tickets for friends and family and knows many more will flock to Philly, intent on seeing the surefire Hall of Famer in what he acknowledges might be his goodbye to the All-Star Game.
Kevin McGonigle didn’t put a number on his ticket count, the Detroit Tigers’ outstanding rookie simply describing the entry fee to his inner circle for this, the first of what the baseball industry expects will be many Midsummer Classics for him.
“I want everyone here that helped me get here. I wouldn’t be in this seat without them,’ McGonigle said one day before the Tuesday, July 14 All-Star Game.
“I think they should take the whole experience in with me.”
This Brotherly Love All-Star Game will mark both joyful beginnings and wistful remembrances, the circle of baseball life connecting a first-time Tiger and a long-time Angel playing in his 12th, yet humbled by injury and the feeling of athletic mortality.
“I never take anything for granted in this game. You never know when your last game is, or when an injury can pop up,” says Trout, the three-time MVP with 422 career home runs yet with three seasons of 82 or fewer games played in his last five.
“Especially these last few years, it’s been tough for me. But I’m just excited. I’m honored to put on the jersey every day.”
It is also an ode to the Philly guy, a specimen typically brash and unyielding, their fandom for the Phillies and Eagles and Sixers and Flyers often crass, occasionally cruel.
Trout, he of the $427 million contract, has sat in the finest seats at Lincoln Financial Field for Eagles games, his 6-foot-4, 225-pound frame hard to miss in the end zone viewing area.
McGonigle? Heck, just four years ago, he was that Philly bro in the stands at the World Series in Citizens Bank Park, heartily heckling the Houston Astros alongside his high school buddies.
This week, he is American League teammates with one of those Astros – slugger Yordan Alvarez.
In their All-Star journeys, Trout, 34, and McGonigle, 21, each show how quickly life can come at you.
The ties that grind
The top prospects and showcase ponies of the modern era are usually bred in the Sun Belt, where high school ball starts in February, rainouts are infrequent and exposure is high.
This was not the life Trout and McGonigle lived.
An area scout had to convince the Angels to spend the 25th pick on Trout in 2009. McGonigle played tons of ball growing up, of course, but he says it was the buddies around him, not the reps, that made him who he is.
Trout has noticed the shared traits.
“He’s a stud,” says Trout of McGonigle. “I think being from the East Coast, we’re not playing year-round like the guys in Florida and Texas. I think that has something to do with it.
“You look at high schools, now they’re playing a lot of games. I just found out there’s kids in California that don’t even really go to school. They’re just home schooled and straight play baseball.
“That’s extreme to me. I went to class every day. After school day, had lunch and played games. It was a lot different.”
McGonigle comes from an almost entirely different baseball generation. But he can relate.
When he landed in Philly on Sunday after the Tigers finished the first half in Detroit, he was picked up at the airport by a friend and headed straight to Michael Anderson’s house.
McGonigle and Anderson are thick as thieves, and this was a big weekend. Not only was McGonigle arriving a conquering hero, but Anderson, who went on to play baseball at Penn State, was drafted that day, fifth round, Texas Rangers.
“I gave him a big hug,” says McGonigle. “He’s a big part of why I’m here today, the way we pushed ourselves growing up. To see him get drafted after everything he’s been through, is truly an inspiration to me.
“Hanging out and getting better with him was the biggest thing, growing up.”
It wasn’t just structured ball, but silly competitions: Whiffle ball, bike rides, or simply racing each other back to the car on the frequent occasions Anderson’s mother, Ellen – “She’s like a second mom to me,” says McGonigle – gave him a lift to a baseball game.
Now the dream is to “share a field one day” in the big leagues, says McGonigle.
They’re all part of the fabric that makes up Delaware County, a land just west of Philly proper that’s taken on a sense of place and pride all its own.
Former Phillie Mickey Morandini cuts promo adds for Delco, whose credo is that it’s “not just a location, it’s a lifestyle.” One of its unincorporated communities is Wawa, the actual home of the gas and convenience store synonymous with Philly.
The Delco flag can be spotted on tents and easy-ups dotting the Jersey shore; one ambitious tattoo artist, Roddie Cooper, once hoisted the flag in triumph at the top of Mount Kilimanjaro, saying he had to “rep Delco for the rest of the world.”
Bryce Harper can relate. He and many Phillies have a T-shirt with the words “Clearwooder” on them, or how a Delco accent might pronounce the name of their Florida spring training site.
Harper’s a Philly guy going on seven seasons now and appreciates where the region's favorite sons came from.
“McGonigle,” says Harper, “has had a great career thus far. I said it the other day: I wish he was a Phillie just because he was from here and everything else. But he’s an amazing player.
“The other day, I asked him, ‘Where were you at in (the) ’22 (World Series)? You were in high school, still?’
"He said 'yeah, we were up in the stands yelling at all the other people for you.'"
It is something of a rite of passage. Athletics first baseman Nick Kurtz, also a first-time All-Star, hails from Lancaster County, about 75 miles away, earning him the “Big Amish” nickname from teammates. But he considers himself a Philly bro, growing up going to a bevy of Phillies games, the most memorable a 2008 NL Division Series battle against Milwaukee.
“I was young,” says Kurtz, who was 5 years old at the time. “CC Sabathia was pitching against the Phillies, and the whole crowd was chanting, ‘CC sucks!’ and I started chanting it.
“And my dad said, ‘This is a bad word.’ That’s a moment I’ve come to remember right away.”
Now 6-5 and 240 pounds, Kurtz was a baseball prodigy, on the Team USA pipeline as a youngster and he eventually attended boarding school in Tennessee to get more ball in. But he knows the kind of player it takes to get out of Philly and its surrounding environs.
“You gotta be grindy,” he says. “There’s bad weather, you don’t know what you’re getting that day. It’s kind of part of who we are growing up here.
“It’s not a clean, nice city. It’s gritty and grindy and that’s the reasons you love it.”
McGonigle attended a parochial school in Delaware County, playing in a league where there was “a lot of trash talking, a lot of stuff like that, but that’s what made it fun.”
With 99 hits in 93 games for the Tigers, along with an .812 OPS and an absurd 4.7 WAR, McGonigle, an infielder, can work out with whomever and wherever he wants. Yet for now, he still stays on his grind in the area, and believes there’s something in the, um, wooder where he grew up.
“I think the East Coast guys, with the winter, being stuck inside training – I think it helped me,” he says. “It gave me a little more edge to get better, surrounding myself with the right group of guys from this area – Delaware County area. Blue collar as everyone knows.
“It took me a lot to get to where I am today. And Delco helped me a lot.”
An appointment at the Bank
Trout grew up on the Jersey side of things, coached by his dad Jeff, a minor leaguer from Millville who raised his family there. While Harper was the anointed superstar from the time he was 16, Trout was a bolt out of the Mid-Atlantic, debuting at 19 like Harper.
They played in their first All-Star Games in 2012, several children and a few baseball lifetimes ago.
“I love Mike, man. We played Fall League together, became friends. It’s great to see him back and healthy,” says Harper of Trout, who has avoided serious injury but recovered from a hamstring hiccup to make the AL squad. “We all pull for him in the league, because we know how talented he is, and how good he is.
“So anytime he’s able to get on a national stage – he’ll probably go deep tomorrow, I’d imagine, because that’s who he is – and it’s a lot of fun to see a guy like that be able to do it in his hometown of Philly.”
McGonigle was 8 years old when Trout made his first All-Star Game. This week, they will share a clubhouse, and McGonigle has not forgotten the example Trout long ago provided.
“Seeing that inspired me to get better each day,” says McGonigle. “The work ethic he puts in and being from this area is really cool.”
He has already passed the torch in some ways. During Trout’s early, electric years with the Angels, fans from Millville and surrounding areas would invade nearby ballparks, largely Baltimore’s Camden Yards and Citizens Bank for the rare Angels appearance in Philadelphia.
The Trout 27s would be impossible to miss.
Now, it is McGonigle’s No. 7 that could be seen in the seats of Camden Yards or on the streets and nearby pubs surrounding the stadium. Life goes on.
Trout said scoring 20 All-Star tickets is “a lot,” given that other players will almost certainly use their allotment. In a sense, it’s fortuitous this date in Philly and Trout’s health and performance – he has 18 homers and an .863 OPS – aligned.
“I know a lot of people that are coming,” he said. “It’s been on the calendar a while.”
Not so much for McGonigle. He debuted with three hits on Opening Day and has only turbocharged his rookie season since. Suddenly, the hometown All-Star Game was on the horizon and then an almost certainty.
Now, the kid who idolized Chase Utley will take to his infield grass, surrounded by the greatest players in the world, a group he now counts as peers.
“First game in the Bank is gonna be an All-Star Game?” he asks.
The crew filmed the players enjoying the game on June 30 and July 8, and the footage will be part of a video highlighting the "spirit of baseball" in players from communities nationwide, according to a news release.
The teams featured are the H-League Cubs and H-League Rubber Ducks, which are in the 9- to 10-year-old league, said Mike Dies, public relations and communications officer for the league.
The pregame video will debut before the first pitch of the Major League Baseball All-Star Game Tuesday, July 14, in Philadelphia, Dies said.
The game airs on Fox at 8 p.m. Pregame coverage begins at 7 p.m.
"This is an incredible opportunity for our players," West Akron Baseball League President Matt Timbrook said in the release. "To know that kids from our league will be represented during the pregame festivities of the Major League Baseball All-Star Game is something they will remember for years to come."
What is the West Akron Baseball & Softball League?
The West Akron Baseball & Softball League is a nonprofit organization consisting of youth baseball, youth softball and co-ed T-ball teams.
Its goal is to teach players the skills they need to move up to the best competitive levels of their sport, according to the league's website.
The league, which was founded in 1957, is open to West Akron children ages 5 to 14.
"We are proud to have WABL and our community be part of this national celebration of baseball," Timbrook said.
PHILADELPHIA — For many power hitters, aging often brings a decline in their swing.
For Kyle Schwarber, it has brought the exact opposite: improvement.
Since joining the Philadelphia Phillies in 2022 as a free agent, Schwarber has refined his swing and produced some of the best numbers of his career, cementing his place among baseball's premier power threats.
"I hope so," Schwarber told USA TODAY Sports on Monday at Citizens Bank Park ahead of the MLB Home Run Derby when asked if he’s beating Father Time with his swing.
So what’s been the key to success for Schwarber, who was non-tendered by the Chicago Cubs after the 2020 season before reviving his career with the Washington Nationals and Boston Red Sox, and ultimately finding sustained success in Philadelphia?
He mentioned adapting his swing as baseball continues to adapt itself as a game, as well as trying to "stay the same guy every year" by sticking to his routines, which begins with hitting off the tee.
"Being able to address different things and feeling that if you can look at your season from top to bottom at the end of the year and try to address things that you need to get better at and not just be okay with it," Schwarber said. "... The game's changed from 2015 when I first came in to where it's at now."
Schwarber has hit 219 homers in five seasons with Philadelphia, second only to Aaron Judge's 227 during that span. He sits 16 shy of Babe Ruth's MLB record for most home runs in a player's first five seasons with a team, with only Mark McGwire's 220 with the St. Louis Cardinals in between Schwarber and Ruth.
"You can go back 20 years, you can go back to Babe Ruth, what he is doing now is unbelievable," former Phillies shortstop and manager Larry Bowa told USA TODAY Sports back in May.
To further underscore Schwarber’s dominance with the Phillies, he hit just 153 homers across his first seven MLB seasons. He’s already launched 66 more in less time in Philadelphia, as he has reached at least 45 home runs in three of his four seasons.
"Think it helps to take the glove away from him and all he has to do is carry his bat. We joke with him about that a lot," Phillies first baseman Bryce Harper joked Monday about Schwarber’s transition from the team’s left fielder in 2022 to a full-time designated hitter in recent seasons.
Phillies interim manager Don Mattingly didn’t necessarily agree with Harper’s assessment and the notion being an everyday DH has made hitting easier for him.
"You still have to be able to hit,” Mattingly said on Monday. "DHs are better, it seems, when they get older because now they know they're swinging, they know what they do, they know how to get ready."
Schwarber credits that success to working with Phillies hitting coach Kevin Long, who helped revitalize his career in Washington in 2021, and the assistant coaches he’s had at both stops.
"They do such a great job of making sure that I just stay with what I need to do and keep me on track," said Schwarber, who added that Long and his staff have also helped him avoid wanting to "go reach" and make mechanical changes during inevitable slumps.
Schwarber crushed left-handed pitching and fastballs last season. He hit 23 home runs against southpaws in 2025, which were the most in a single season by a left-handed hitter against left-handed pitching in MLB history. So far this season, Schwarber has hit 11 home runs against southpaws.
He finished with a career-high and National League-leading 56 home runs in 2025, which was two shy of tying Ryan Howard’s record for the single most home runs in a season among Phillies hitters.
The former Indiana Hoosier is already on pace to outplay the five-year, $150 million contract he received from the Phillies in free agency this offseason — and has done so at a historic rate.
"Glad we didn't let him walk after last year because he is one of the best power bats in the game," Phillies pitcher Aaron Nola told USA TODAY Sports in May. "... When he comes up, you know you could possibly see something special, which has been a privilege to see over the years since he came over here in 2022."
Catalyzed by a stretch during which he hit nine home runs in eight games, Schwarber reached 20 home runs in the Phillies' first 45 games, making him the first player since 2006 to reach that feat — and only the 10th in MLB history. That stretch had him on pace for 72 homers.
He has 32 home runs at the All-Star break, which leads the majors. He hit the 30 home run mark in just 80 games, which set a new franchise record as he did it two games quicker than when Jim Thome reached the mark in 2004.
"It's almost indescribable to do what he's doing. They can throw balls down in the middle, you still have to hit him. He's one of those power hitters that might strike out three times, and the fourth time he's hit one in the upper deck,” Bowa said.
"He's that prolific of a home run hitter."
Another key statistic in Schwarber’s success has been his ability to barrel baseballs, a statistical metric for batted balls with an optimal combination of exit velocity and launch angle on Baseball Savant.
His barrel rate last season was a career-best 20.8% barrel rate, just the second time he’s exceeded 20% in a season, according to MLB.com. He’s at 19.6% this season, which is good for the 98th percentile amongst MLB hitters.
While the Phillies certainly appreciate the homers that Schwarber provides, Mattingly said he values Schwarber’s team-first approach at the plate. Schwarber recorded a team-leading 59 RBIs in the first half to go along with a .254 batting average, which is third best on the team. He is tied for third with Harper for hits with 89.
"What I really like is that Schwarbs is really all about the team and us winning, and I think when you stay in that mode of doing something to help your team win," Mattingly told USA TODAY Sports last month in a separate interview. "From a leadership position guy, that's huge because then everybody's in that mode."
Schwarber nearly made more history on Monday in the MLB Home Run Derby, as he came one home run short of becoming the fourth player to win the event in his home ballpark, eventually losing to the Cardinals' Jordan Walker.
He’ll now look to lead the National League to a second straight All-Star Game win on Tuesday, July 14 at 8 p.m. ET at The Bank, where he’ll be hitting leadoff after moving into the lineup following Shohei Ohtani’s scratch from the lineup.
"It's an honor to be here," Schwarber said. "It's definitely an honor for it to be here in Philadelphia to represent your organization and to go out there and throw on this great spectacle."
As the Mets face-planted into the All-Star break with another troubling implosion in their first-half finale, it was impossible for the members of the club to complete any positive spin.
In Francisco Lindor's eyes, the Mets' performance, which finds them at 17 games under .500 at the season's intermission, is "unacceptable."
From interim manager Andy Green's perspective, they are lacking execution.
It has amounted to one of the Mets' worst opening halves in franchise history.
"There's going to be a message walking out the door here today, but in general, I think everybody understands what needs to happen going into the second half," Green said. "There's cleaner, better baseball for us to play. We all bear a measure of responsibility for it, and this organization, the fan base deserves better baseball."
Some players have performed better than others down the stretch in the first half. Here are those who have outperformed the mean and those who have struggled entering the second half:
Mets players trending up:
A.J. Ewing is catching fire this summer
Green made the move that everyone saw coming on July 2 when he moved Ewing into the leadoff spot, and the 21-year-old rookie has filled that role seamlessly. In eight games in the top spot in the lineup, Ewing is 10-for-33 (.303) with two home runs, four RBI, eight runs and two doubles.
Ewing caught fire in the month of June, slashing .300/.379/.478 with three home runs, seven doubles, 13 RBI and 10 runs. He enters the break with a .276 batting average and .789 OPS in 57 games, and his 1.9 bWAR is second on the team behind Soto.
Juan Soto is the brightest spot
The superstar outfielder forced his way on to the National League All-Star team, where he will bat second in the starting lineup, with a dynamic offensive finish to the first half.
In the month of June, Soto slashed .286/.429/.500 with four home runs, 10 RBI and 11 runs. In 11 games in July, Soto has packed a punch with four home runs, 12 RBI and six runs. Soto is second in the NL to the Nationals' James Wood in OPS (.967) and on-base percentage (.405). He has 21 home runs and 51 RBI and 55 walks to 43 strikeouts in 78 games.
Nolan McLean has been strong down the stretch
After some rocky starts in May saw McLean's ERA drift up to 4.40, the rookie right-hander has had only one hiccup in seven starts since the calendar turned to June. Aside from a start where he allowed six earned runs in six innings, McLean has allowed two earned runs or fewer in six of his last seven outings.
The 25-year-old closed out his first half with three straight quality starts, including two with no earned runs and six innings as he chiseled his ERA to 3.52. In 19 starts this season, McLean is 6-6 with a 1.12 WHIP and 125 strikeouts in 107⅓ innings.
Luke Weaver has been a dream for bullpen
There might not be a more desirable bullpen arm at the trade deadline than Weaver, who stretched his run of scoreless innings and outings to 27 and 25, respectively, with another perfect frame on Sunday. Weaver gave up his first run when an automatic runner crossed on July 6 against the Braves but ended up registering his first save of the season.
The right-hander, who is 2-1 with a 1.85 ERA, 0.82 WHIP and 43 strikeouts in 39 innings, will be sought after by contending teams, but the presence of another year of team control at $11 million could make his cost interesting.
Mets players trending down:
Freddy Peralta has not been as advertised
The Mets continue to fail to get the top-of-rotation production they had hoped to from Peralta. The 30-year-old right-hander has struggled to put batters away and issuing walks or coming over the plate, and is suffering damage in the process. Peralta has not lasted beyond five innings in any of his last six starts. In those outings, he has given up a combined 19 earned runs on 35 hits and 12 walks.
Peralta continues to strike out batters - he has 104 strikeouts in 104⅓ innings - but his 4.38 FIP is the highest of his career and 1.44 WHIP is his highest since 2019.
Francisco Lindor hasn't come alive yet
It appeared Lindor had finally supplied the offensive spark that the Mets had been looking for, but then the veteran shortstop committed a costly error in the ninth inning of Sunday's 3-2 extra-inning loss.
Since Lindor returned from the injured list with a calf injury, he is slashing .200/.273/.400 with three home runs, seven RBI and eight runs in 16 games. It's not total non-productive from one of the core members of the Mets offense, but it is another key slow ramp-up for a lineup that sorely needs his explosive bat.
Tobias Myers riding minor-league shuttle
There had been high hopes about the lift Myers could provide when he was acquired as part of the offseason trade that also brought over Peralta from the Brewers, but the 27-year-old has not been able to regain his form after a strong start in April.
Myers, who can provide length out of the bullpen or another starting option, hasn't been able to get a foothold in the Mets system and has been optioned back and forth three times. Since being called up for the second time in mid-June, Myers has allowed 17 earned runs on 22 hits and six walks in 12⅔ innings.
PHILADELPHIA — Kyle Schwarber was scripted to be the homecoming king of this Home Run Derby. Instead, he was powerless to stop a little magenta baseball from sailing out of Citizens Bank Park, again and again and again.
And Jordan Walker joined Bryce Harper in the very exclusive club of pulling the rug out from Schwarber in a Home Run Derby.
Walker, the St. Louis Cardinals slugger enjoying a breakthrough season, put on one of the greatest clutch displays ever in this Derby, needing to cash in on his last swing – and then two more after that – to match Schwarber’s 11 home runs in the final.
Instead, Walker hit four in a row to win it, becoming the first Cardinal to win a Home Run Derby after future Hall of Famer Albert Pujols failed in three tries to do so.
Ever hear the sound of 43,000 ticked-off people?
It sounds like nothing at all, and that was perhaps Walker’s greatest accomplishment on this Monday, July 13, hearing the thunderous boos of Citizens Bank Park, turning on an electric smile, relaxing and pasting baseballs easily into the crowd.
The throng grew quieter with every moon shot. And Walker couldn’t get mad at the hate, because he knew it was just love for their guys.
“My first thought was, Philly’s brutal,” says Walker. “I think it’s pretty special because they love all their players. That’s what you want from your home crowd. I’d never heard people cheer so loud for Schwarber and Harper. Those guys did their thing.
“I can’t hate ‘em. I just gotta play the game.”
That he did, with every home run in the finals traveling between 407 and 452 feet. Absolute bombs, more than enough to get the attention of Schwarber, who’s blasted 88 home runs, most in the major leagues, since the start of the 2025 season.
“He was hitting some laser beams. I’m hitting these little fly balls out,” says Schwarber, “and he’s hitting laser beams.”
It wasn’t supposed to be like this. Schwarber and Harper, the two Phillies, were practically anointed to win this thing. They were announced last when the streaming service announced the participants. The crowd roared. It was all setting up.
Instead, Harper flamed out in the first round.
In the final, Schwarber put up 11. And then, powerless, as Walker finished his round with four straight homers and five in his final six swings.
“I didn’t ever think I had it won,” says Schwarber, “because I know anything can happen. Especially when it gets down to that last ball, right?
“You get to that last ball. It was three to tie, and he went four to win. You tip your hat to him.”
Not unlike 2018, when Harper, then a Washington National, unleashed a furious rally as the clock counted down to nudge Schwarber by one home run in the finals. So Schwarber was on the wrong side of the equation as both the visiting villain and the hometown hero.
Tough beat.
The scenario salvaged what was a generally underwhelming Home Run Derby. The format change – a limited amount of swings instead of batting against a clock – had its upside, but also drained the tension from most of the competition.
If a guy needs seven homers to tie and has eight swings left, well, we know how that round is gonna end, right?
And the streaming service that took over broadcast rights was only a little better than its opening-night abomination. They trotted out Will Ferrell and Luke Wilson and a Third Guy that perhaps the youth were more familiar with, adding a dash of humor and a sea of schlock to the pregame.
Had Schwarber and Harper both bowed out in the semifinals – and that nearly happened – this would have been a disaster, a finals playing out while most of the 43,000 fans filed out disgruntled.
Instead, Schwarber and Walker added some spice to it, and Walker actually did hit three and then four in a row to win.
“I think I just had fun, no matter what. Every round I said, have a good time,” says Walker. “As a kid growing up, my favorite thing to do is hitting home runs. There’s a competition dedicated to it.
Major League Baseball is taking a brief but star-studded break to embark on another rendition of the midsummer classic. The 96th annual All-Star Game, held this year at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia, will bring the best and brightest in the sport to screens nationwide.
Major League Baseball is taking a brief but star-studded break to embark on another rendition of the midsummer classic. The 96th annual All-Star Game, held this year at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia, will bring the best and brightest in the sport to screens nationwide.
In what was a highly entertaining final matchup against a hometown star – Philadelphia Phillies' designated hitter Kyle Schwarber – the St. Louis Cardinals outfielder mashed a flurry of home runs at Citizens Bank Park on Monday, July 13 to overcome Schwarber in the final. Walker hit three do-or-die home runs off the final magenta ball to tie Schwarber's 11 home runs before hitting a fourth to win the event.
And he made some history, becoming the first Cardinals player to win the MLB Home Run Derby.
Schwarber and Phillies teammate Bryce Harper were the headliners in this year’s derby at their home ballpark. Harper, who was a "legacy pick" for the All-Star Game by MLB commissioner Rob Manfred, did not make it out of the first round.
Next up in Philadelphia will be the 96th edition of the Major League Baseball Midsummer Classic at 8 p.m. ET on Tuesday.
Where to watch the 2026 MLB All-Star Game
The festivities continue in Philadelphia on Tuesday, July 14 with the 2026 MLB All-Star Game.
The 2026 Midsummer Classic has arrived, and USA TODAY will have reporters on the ground in Philadelphia and at home eager to deliver the goods. From media day and the Home Run Derby to the red carpet and All-Star Game, we'll have everything covered.
PHILADELPHIA — The young upstart beat the veteran hometown hero in MLB’s Home Run Derby.
Cardinals outfielder Jordan Walker upset Phillies slugger Kyle Schwarber in the league’s home run contest before a raucous crowd at Citizens Bank Park, prevailing by a 12-11 score in the final. Walker completed a closing rally with six straight home runs on his final six swings to overtake Schwarber.
The 24-year-old Walker, a fourth-year player in the midst of a breakout season for the resurgent Cardinals, will gain a $1 million prize for winning the Home Run Derby—the largest part of the league’s $2.5 million prize pool for the event. Those winnings for Walker more than eclipse his entire 2026 salary of $799,400.
He is also the first Cardinal to win the Home Run Derby, despite a storied franchise history that includes former stars such as Mark McGwire and Albert Pujols.
Schwarber will get the $500,000 runner-up prize.
Bryce Harper, the other Home Run Derby competitor from the All-Star Game host club Phillies, did not advance beyond the first round.
Harper and five other Home Run Derby competitors—the Rays’ Junior Caminero, the Red Sox’ Willson Contreras, Royals’ Jac Caglianone, White Sox’ Munetaka Murakami, and Yankees’ Ben Rice—earned $150,000 each. Caminero also had the longest home run of the night, at 491 feet, to garner an additional $100,000.
Despite a move to an untimed competition format for the first time since 2014, this year’s Home Run Derby still moved with crispness and was complete before 10:40 p.m. ET. Instead of going by batter outs, as had been the case before the use of a timer, this year’s structure went by the number of swings.
Cheering on Schwarber’s run to the finals, the Philadelphia fans, meanwhile, are giving an even more definitively local feel to an All-Star Game missing MLB’s two biggest stars and many top pitchers.
Similar to the migration of sports content to streaming that has sparked governmental outcry elsewhere, Netflix carrying the derby prompted a predictable run of complaints from fans.
“I miss when the hardest part of watching sports was finding the remote,” read one typical fan complaint on social media. “Now I need a flowchart, six streaming services, QR codes, two-factor authentication, and blood samples just to watch guys hit the long balls us chicks dig so much.”
MLB’s strategy with placing the Home Run Derby on Netflix, though, was getting in front of a younger group of fans, and a larger collection of people as well. Netflix has a domestic reach of about 90 million homes, and has more than 325 million subscribers globally, and both measures are still growing. ESPN’s linear channel, by comparison, is in roughly 60 million U.S. households—down by 40% from a peak seen 15 years ago.
The Home Run Derby production itself alternated between two different crews of talent. That collection of personalities was highlighted in part by MLB legends Barry Bonds and Pujols, MLB’s Nos. 1 and 4 all-time home run hitters.
Nobody could touch the magenta ball, until the end of the night.
Through the first two rounds of the Home Run Derby on Netflix on Monday night, not one of the 12 hitters homered on the T-Mobile Magenta Ball, according to the broadcast. The magenta ball is the new bonus ball that hands a player extra swings if he goes deep on the last cut of his round.
That ball was like a Paul Skenes' splinker all night, confounding hitters, until Kyle Schwarber hammered the last one he saw during the finals. It was a 435-foot homer as he was down to his final swing.
Jordan Walker hit the magenta ball out four times to, not only stay alive, but beat Schwarber with 12 home runs. Walker homered on his last six swings.
While it started out as a dud, it set up an exciting walk-off at the Home Run Derby.
The ball is new this year. It's white and magenta with red stiches. It comes into play on the final swing of each round, and a home run on it keeps the hitter alive until he makes an out. All night, it was the prize nobody could catch.
Or maybe they just couldn't see it.
The Netflix analysts kept coming back to one theory: The two different colors made it harder for the players to track. It was darker on one side, meaning it wouldn't show up as well as regular white baseballs against the batter's eye in center field. Hitters use the red stiches against the white leather to track the pitches as they are released from the pitchers.
It's a small detail that probably wasn't as well thought out as it should have been before the derby, but it is definitely something that would bother hitters.
Where to watch the 2026 MLB All-Star Game
The festivities continue in Philadelphia on Tuesday, July 14 with the 2026 MLB All-Star Game.
The 2026 Midsummer Classic has arrived, and USA TODAY will have reporters on the ground in Philadelphia and at home eager to deliver the goods. From media day and the Home Run Derby, to the red carpet and All-Star Game, we'll have everything covered.
Netflix’s second crack at live baseball came with a built-in advantage: the Home Run Derby doesn’t need much help to be entertaining. Strip away the ceremony, and it’s just batting practice with stakes, and this year, MLB handed the streamer a genuine upgrade by scrapping the countdown clock in favor of a format that lets hitters keep swinging as long as they’re producing. It’s the best change the event has seen in years, and it deserved a broadcast that didn’t get in its own way.
For long stretches, Netflix delivered that. For other stretches, it seemed determined not to.
Start with the good, because there’s a lot of it. Untethering the Derby from a timer was an easy, obvious improvement, and it’s the rare format tweak that generated no real pushback. Well, besides maybe Jeff Passan. The new setup rewards hot streaks instead of racing a clock, and it made for a night with a noticeably different rhythm than derbies past. Whatever else went wrong Monday night, the league deserves full credit for finally fixing this.
The picture itself, in the moments the broadcast let you see it clearly, backed that up. The image was sharp, the graphics package was clean and legible — almost to a fault — and this was a clear step forward from Netflix’s Opening Night broadcast back in March, if only because the network mostly resisted the urge to remind viewers every few minutes that they were watching Netflix.
Mostly.
But before the swinging started, Netflix leaned on Will Ferrell, Jimmy Tatro, and Luke Wilson to open the broadcast, and the segment landed with a thud. The audio made it hard to hear what anyone was saying, the comedy felt manufactured rather than spontaneous, and the whole bit doubled as an ad for a Netflix original. It’s the same instinct that dragged down the network’s Opening Night pregame in March — a reflexive need to cross-promote the platform’s other content — just in a smaller dose this time.
Oh my God, the three guys doing supposed comedic commentary on the Home Run Derby player intros are the least funny people to be given such a national stage, without question. They. Are. Brutal. Who wrote these godawful lines for them? Embarrassing, Netflix. Utterly embarrassing.
Elle Duncan’s aside about the 1996 Derby being a topic of enduring conversation in Philadelphia, which Philadelphia sports fans were quick to note isn’t actually true, was a minor unforced error in the same vein.
Elle Duncan on Netflix’s Derby broadcast: The 1996 Home Run Derby is something “Philadelphians talk about to this day.”
But the pregame, promos, and all were never going to be the story of the night. Once the players stepped in and the swings started counting, the broadcast had to stand on its own, and that’s where the real test began.
The lounge pairing of Duncan, Barry Bonds, and Albert Pujols had the makings of the better booth, and the set itself worked. But calling live swings wasn’t where Bonds and Pujols were comfortable, and the commentary came out vanilla and subdued — pleasant, but not adding much to what was already on screen. Duncan held her own despite not being the one expected to call the action, and the read on her was fair: this wasn’t a knock on her so much as a format that didn’t play to the group’s strengths.
There’s an easy fix sitting right there, too, as The Athletic’s Andrew Marchand noted. Instead of parking the lounge as a standalone set, Netflix could use it as a between-batters destination, where they bring a hitter over for a quick conversation with Bonds and Pujols once his round wraps, rather than sending Lauren Shehadi or CC Sabathia to chase an interview down mid-swing. It would give the lounge a job beyond commentary and solve the in-game interview problem in the same move.
The preference, when the ball was actually in the air, ran toward the crew of Matt Vasgersian, Anthony Rizzo, and Hunter Pence. Rizzo was the standout of the group, sharp and insightful whenever the conversation turned to mechanics, which is exactly the kind of expertise a Derby booth should lean on. Hunter Pence brought real energy too — he was clearly locked in and into the moment, and that enthusiasm read as one of the booth’s better qualities. Where the group as a whole stumbled was in occasionally tipping past that energy into over-the-top territory during routine swings, something that applied to Rizzo, Pence, and Vasgersian alike at various points.
Chris Berman spent decades hollering his way through this exact event and never once sounded like he was performing enthusiasm rather than feeling it; the swings earned the volume. Monday’s booth hadn’t figured out that distinction yet, and by the third round of manufactured hysteria, the excitement had started to cancel itself out.
Neither booth had a poor showing. One added insight and energy but occasionally ran hot; the other was pleasant and composed but rarely had much to say. A happy medium between the two was exactly what was missing.
If there’s one throughline in how this broadcast will be remembered, it’s the camera work, and not in a good way.
I like this new format for watching on TV, I just need them to stop switching the camera angles so many times.
The Home Run Derby has one job: show the ball leaving the bat and show where it lands. Netflix, with its cinematic ambitions, treated that job as optional. Tight close-ups on hitters’ faces during their swings repeatedly cost viewers the actual moment of contact, and the broadcast leaned on those close-ups instead of following the ball in flight. On at least one stretch, the camera stayed locked on the pitcher through consecutive swings from Jordan Walker, which is about as far as you can get from what anyone tuned in to see.
they literally had the camera on the PITCHER for two straight swings by Walker
It wasn’t a matter of a broadcast finding its footing over the course of the night, either, as the same complaint kept surfacing swing after swing. The frustration turned into something close to a consensus among viewers: a Home Run Derby doesn’t need much more than a shot behind the pitcher and a shot on the ball’s landing spot, and Netflix kept finding ways to use neither. There was no shortage of suggestions for a fix, either, with multiple viewers noting that simply holding the camera on the hitter through contact and then following the ball would solve the entire problem. It’s a two-camera fix for a production with far more cameras than that at its disposal.
Dear @netflix production team and director: for the love of God, leave the camera on the batter until he hits the ball then just follow the ball. You only need two cameras for this. #homerunderby#mlb
The absence of exit velocity data compounded the issue. Between the missing numbers and the wrong camera angles, a broadcast built around a single visceral moment — bat meets ball — kept finding ways to obscure that exact moment.
Alright I’ve been silent about the @netflix Home Run Derby experience, but not having exit velocity and launch angle in a literal home run derby is akin to an attack on my life.
Then there was the non-call. Junior Caminero’s final swing of the round sent a ball down the left field line, and by the look on his face, he thought it was fair — which would have kept his turn going. Netflix never showed a replay, so nobody watching ever got to find out if he was right. A broadcast that spent the night favoring close-ups over the ball’s flight ran into the one moment where that habit actually cost something.
So Netflix, you have a just down the line fair or foul ball that Caminero clearly thinks was fair on his last swing (where if he gets a HR he keeps swinging).
This was a broadcast pulling in two directions. The format Netflix inherited from MLB was close to perfect, the picture was frequently excellent, and the network mostly avoided the self-promotional bloat that weighed down its Opening Night debut. But the actual job of a Home Run Derby broadcast — showing the swing, showing the flight, showing where the ball lands — kept getting lost to close-ups, ill-timed interviews, and a director seemingly more interested in mood than information. Netflix has the format and the infrastructure. What it still needs is the discipline to point the camera at the baseball.
Philadelphia Phillies first baseman Bryce Harper and designated hitter Kyle Schwarber took center stage July 13 at the MLB Home Run Derby.
Schwarber seized the moment, advancing to the finals before putting on a show with 11 homers in 15 swings, but it wasn't enough as St. Louis outfielder Jordan Walker hit 12 home runs, including homers on his last six swings.
Harper failed to get out of the first round, hitting eight homers to finish sixth.
Here's a look at how people reacted to Schwarber and Harper during the Derby.
Wow! Cardinals’ Jordan Walker just stuck it to all the Philly fans under the boos raining down on him. Ice water in his veins to come back against Kyle Schwarber. Great Home Run Derby.
The MLB Home Run Derby isn't just a contest for bragging rights across the league, there's some serious cash involved in the event too for the winner and the participants.
On Monday, the 2026 Home Run Derby kicked off to much fanfare in Philadelphia to begin the MLB All-Star festivities. Last year, Cal Raleigh charmed baseball fans with his thrilling final bout over Junior Caminero to capture the top prize. While Raleigh wasn't a contestant this year, fans in Philadelphia got to see two Philadelphia Phillies take the stage in Bryce Harper and Kyle Schwarber among other sluggers like Willson Contreras and Ben Rice.
The derby is certainly the most fun aspect of the All-Star festivities by far, but if the excitement of hitting dingers isn't enough to tempt players, the prospect of some money might be. Especially if they're a younger player not raking in the dough yet in their careers, winning the Home Run Derby could be quite the pay bump!
So, how much do the participants and overall winner get at the 2026 Home Run Derby? Here's how it breaks down:
Philadelphia Phillies slugger and former Middletown High School standout Kyle Schwarber was trying to do something in the 2026 MLB Home Run Derby that only former Cincinnati Reds fan favorite Todd Frazier and two others have done: winning the derby in their home park.
And Schwarber was one homer away from beating the St. Louis Cardinals' Jordan Walker in the final, on the 11th anniversary of Frazier's derby win at Great American Ball Park on July 13, 2015.
Walker refused to send Phillies' fans home happy, knocking off Schwarber.
The other two to accomplish Frazier's feat were former Chicago Cub Ryne Sandberg in 1990 at Wrigley Field, and Schwarber's current Philly teammate, Bryce Harper, in 2018 at Nationals Park when Harper played for the Nats.
Harper also participated in the 2026 derby, but didn't make it out of the first round. Schwarber was with the Cubs when he finished as the runner-up to Harper in the 2018 derby.
Earlier, Schwarber appeared on "Pat McAfee Show" talked about how the Home Run Derby reminds him of growing up as a Reds fan and pretending he was Reds Hall of Famer and former Moeller High School standout Ken Griffey Jr.
Schwarber has hit 28 home runs against the Reds, more than he's homered against any opponent.
When Schwarber homered July 7 off of Reds starter Andrew Abbott in the third inning of the Reds' 4-1 loss in their series opener, Schwarber did something he hadn't done previously against Cincinnati and has rarely done throughout his MLB career: homering on a 3-0 count.
Philadelphia Phillies slugger and former Middletown High School standout Kyle Schwarber was trying to do something in the 2026 MLB Home Run Derby that only former Cincinnati Reds fan favorite Todd Frazier and two others have done: winning the derby in their home park.
And Schwarber was one homer away from beating the St. Louis Cardinals' Jordan Walker in the final, on the 11th anniversary of Frazier's derby win at Great American Ball Park on July 13, 2015.
Walker refused to send Phillies' fans home happy, knocking off Schwarber.
The other two to accomplish Frazier's feat were former Chicago Cub Ryne Sandberg in 1990 at Wrigley Field, and Schwarber's current Philly teammate, Bryce Harper, in 2018 at Nationals Park when Harper played for the Nats.
Harper also participated in the 2026 derby, but didn't make it out of the first round. Schwarber was with the Cubs when he finished as the runner-up to Harper in the 2018 derby.
Earlier, Schwarber appeared on "Pat McAfee Show" talked about how the Home Run Derby reminds him of growing up as a Reds fan and pretending he was Reds Hall of Famer and former Moeller High School standout Ken Griffey Jr.
Schwarber has hit 28 home runs against the Reds, more than he's homered against any opponent.
When Schwarber homered July 7 off of Reds starter Andrew Abbott in the third inning of the Reds' 4-1 loss in their series opener, Schwarber did something he hadn't done previously against Cincinnati and has rarely done throughout his MLB career: homering on a 3-0 count.
Paul Skenes is a long way off from free agency, and the Pirates have something to play for after entering the All-Star break. Still, the speculation about his future won't go away.
Representing the Pirates at the All-Star Game in Philadelphia, the reigning NL Cy Young Award winner was predictably popular at Monday's media availability -- and he found himself on the receiving end of one awkward comment.
When one reporter called Skenes a "future Yankee," the Pirates ace was as confused as everyone around him.
Paul Skenes reacts to reporter calling him a future Yankee
While listening to a question from another reporter at Citizens Bank Park on Monday, Skenes heard a reporter awkwardly say, "Just got the best interview of all time with Paul Skenes. Future Yankee."
Reporter: "Just got the best interview of all time with Paul Skenes. Future Yankee."
"Who's that?" a baffled Skenes said, smiling. Known to be a man of few words, that was all he had to say on the subject, but Skenes' visible confusion summed up the moment.
All-Star media availability is known to attract some unusual questions, with players getting a few days off from meaningful games and able to have fun during the break, but this reporter's comment raised a few eyebrows on Monday.
Who was the reporter that called Paul Skenes a future Yankee?
The identity of the reporter who called Skenes a "future Yankee" still isn't known, though a woman's voice can be heard making the comment.
When is Paul Skenes a free agent?
Skenes is set to become a free agent after the 2029 season, so he has three more years under contract with the Pirates beyond 2026.
Skenes was called up in May 2024 and would have been under team control through 2030 if not for his Rookie of the Year win in 2024, as a top-two finish under current rules guarantees that a player's rookie season counts as a full year of service time.
Skenes' future has been the subject of speculation since he debuted because the Pirates rarely hand out sizable contracts and, as one of the best pitchers of this era, he might simply price the franchise out.
While Skenes could leave as early as the fall of 2029 as a free agent, his future is such a popular talking point because the Pirates would have to trade him even earlier than that if they wanted to recoup some value for their ace.
Jordan Walker, one of the top sluggers in baseball, was cool, calm, and collected as he battled and beat Kyle Schwarber and a hostile Philadelphia crowd to win the Home Run Derby.
Schwarber started the opening round of the HR Derby, which no longer had a timer, with ten home runs, outlasting teammate Bryce Harper to advance. He beat Willson Contreras in the semifinals and hit eleven in the finals.
It was thought Schwarber had the trophy and chain in the bag.
Unfortunately for him, Walker did not falter under pressure.
Walker, with 22 home runs this year, tied Contreras for the lead in the opening round with thirteen home runs. He hit six to beat Junior Caminero. And then, with Schwarber’s wide lead and the fans booing his every move, except for when he missed a home run, Walker went to work.
Six of Walker’s last swings were home runs. With one out away from losing, Walker hit the game-tying shot and then hit the last shot out of the park for the win. The crowd was shocked by what they saw as Walker remained stone-faced.
Walker wasn't the first player to represent the Cardinals. Albert Pujols, on commentary, appeared three times (as a member of St. Louis). Jim Edmonds, Matt Holliday, and Carlos Beltran also participated in the HR Derby. But Walker was the first to win.
Walker’s win wasn’t the only highlight from the Derby. Outside Schwarber vs. Harper, Contreras hit a ball 490 feet, while several players had key highlights in a short time.
Below are the full results and best highlights from the 2026 Home Run Derby.
Home Run Derby 2026 results
Total home runs
Player
Home Runs
Jordan Walker, Cardinals
31
Kyle Schwarber, Phillies
30
Willson Contreras, Red Sox
21
Junior Caminero, Rays
17
Munetaka Murakami, White Sox
9
Jac Caglianone, Royals
8
Bryce Harper, Phillies
8
Ben Rice, Yankees
7
Round 1 results
Player
Home Runs
Willson Contreras, Red Sox
13
Jordan Walker, Cardinals
13
Jac Caglianone, Royals
8
Munetaka Murakami, White Sox
9
Ben Rice, Yankees
7
Junior Caminero, Rays
12
Kyle Schwarber, Phillies
10
Bryce Harper, Phillies
8
Round 2 results
Willson Contreras vs. Kyle Schwarber
Seed
Player
Home Runs
1
Willson Contreras
4
Kyle Schwarber
9
Jordan Walker vs. Junior Caminero
Seed
Player
Home Runs
2
Jordan Walker
6
3
Junior Caminero
5
Final results
Jordan Walker vs. Kyle Schwarber
Seed
Player
Home Runs
2
Walker
12
4
Schwarber
11
Home Run Derby 2026 live updates, highlights
10:40 p.m. ET: He hit number ten. Oh my. One to tie, two to win. Walker with the tie! And Walker with the win!
10:38 p.m. ET: Walker had five home runs with five swings left. He looked calm. He had eight home runs with one swing left. Walker hit one to center for number nine. Things are getting interesting.
10:35 p.m. ET: The crowd was booing Walker, except for when he missed. He had three home runs with ten swings left. The fans got louder with each miss.
10:28 p.m. ET: Walker time!
10:26 p.m. ET: Schwarber had eight with three swings left. He crushed number nine. And he crushed number ten. He was the first to home run in his "final swing." With the extra swing, he hit number eleven. It ended there to a loud ovation!
MVP chants for Kyle Schwarber as he homers his last swing 🔥
10:24 p.m. ET: Schwarber with a monster shot over 444 feet to start. He had five home runs with eight swings left. Number six went to the second deck. Number seven went 436 feet. Harper is heard saying "It's over."
10:20 p.m. ET: Schwarber up first.
10:17 p.m. ET: Bobby Abreu and Ryan Howard presented the trophy and chain that will be awarded to the winner. Michael Buffer came out again to announce the finals.
10:11 p.m. ET: Contreras had one swing left and eight home runs. He almost got hit by his own pitcher. His night ended, Schwarber advanced. It's Schwarber vs. Walker in the Finals.
10:08 p.m. ET: The fans in Philadelphia were booing Contreras except for when he didn't get a home run. Contreras started to get hot. He hit one 461 feet. Oh he's feeling it. He had six home runs with three swings left.
10:04 p.m. ET: Contreras, Schwarber's former teammate with the Cubs, was up next.
10:03 p.m. ET: Schwarber's shots were getting some distance. He started reaching for home runs. With a loud crowd pulling for him, Schwarber ended the round with nine home runs.
10 p.m. ET: Schwarber tried going all over the field to hit a home run, but to no avail. He hit one with twelve swings left. Schwarber hit one 440 feet. He then started getting hot.
9:56 p.m. ET: Willson Contreras vs. Kyle Schwarber is next. Contreras could be the ultimate villain if he takes out Schwarber.Schwarber is up first.
9:51 p.m. ET: Walker already had three with ten swings left. He hit number five with eight swings. It didn't take long to hit six to take Caminero out and advance to the finals.
Jordan Walker punches his ticket to the Home Run Derby final, eliminating Junior Caminero in the process 👏
9:46 p.m. ET: Caminero started things off with fifteen swings. He hit shots over 400 feet to start. Caminero ended with five home runs. 491 was the longest.
9:41 p.m. ET: Contreras will take on Schwarber, while Caminero faces Walker.
It will be Contreras, Caminero, Walker and Schwarber in contention for the trophy.
9:34 p.m. ET: After making things interesting, Harper ended his night with eight home runs. He is out.
9:31 p.m. ET: Harper hit one over the batter's eye. He then hit his fourth 482 feet. With ten swings left, he had four home runs. It's looking unlikely he can beat Schwarber.
9:28 p.m. ET: Harper is up next. Looks like only one member of the Phillies will make it to the next round.
9:26 p.m. ET: Schwarber continued to hit massive shots. He had nine home runs with two swings left. He ended the first round with ten. Will he survive, or will Bryce Harper take his teammate out?
9:23 pm. ET: After missing a few, Schwarber started mashing home runs. They were short and sweet. He then hit a monster shot 414 feet, and another 451.
9:20 p.m. ET: Phillies slugger Kyle Schwarber is next to a loud ovation.
9:18 p.m. ET: Caminero ended his night with twelve home runs.
9:17 p.m. ET: Caminero started crushing the ball over 470 feet. Some were line drives. He had eight home runs with eight swings left. One went 487 feet. He hit his tenth home run 479 feet. And his eleventh 478.
WHAT A GRAB FROM THIS FAN ON A 487 FOOT JUNIOR CAMINERO HOME RUN 👏
9:12 p.m. ET: Junior Caminero, the runner-up from last year, is up next.
9:09 p.m. ET: Rice struggled to start, with four home runs with seven swings left. His dad was not helping his cause. He ended his night with seven home runs.
9:04 p.m. ET: Compared to normal Home Run Derby's, where the crowd cheers everything, the crowd in Philadelphia, majority Phillies fans, only cheer for Harper and Schwarber. Fascinating.
9:02 p.m. ET: Ben Rice of the Yankees is next.
8:56 p.m. ET: Murakami started slow, just like Caglianone. He did start landing big shots to right. Murakami passed Caglianone with nine home runs. His run ended there.
8:47 p.m. ET: With his dad pitching to him, Caglianone struggled at first. With eleven pitches and only one home run, Caglianone started getting hot. He hit one to right field over 477 feet! He hit one over the batter's eye. Oh my!
8:44 p.m. ET: Young royals player Jac Caglianone is up next.
8:41 p.m. ET: After a slow start, Walker started crushing the balls. He was tinkering with his swing, which affected his performance. With two swings left, he hit two home runs. With the new rules, the round did not end. But he failed to keep the at-bat going. Walker tied Contreras with 13 home runs.
Not Philly fans booing after this kid didn’t make the catch 😭
8:37 p.m. ET: Jordan Walker was up next. The Cardinals hitter hit a few lasers to left field to start. Walker was patient with his swings to start.
8:32 p.m. ET: With one swing left, Contreras had 13 home runs. His last shot didn't make it over the wall.
8:29 p.m. ET: Contreras barely missed a shot on his second pitch. Contreras made up for it with a second-deck shot. He hit his second shot over 440 feet. One shot went over 482 feet! Another one went 487 and then one went 470 feet. One went 490!
8:06 p.m. ET: Willson Contreras came out to massive boos and he embraced it.
8:03 p.m. ET: Boxing's Michael Buffer kicks things off, getting the crowd hyped for the expected action.
8 p.m. ET: Here we go! The Home Run Derby has begun!
6 p.m. ET: Here is the official order for the first round of the Derby. Willson Contreras kicks things off on Netflix, while Bryce Harper will go last.
Updated batting order for tonight's @TMobile Home Run Derby:
Netflix’s maiden Home Run Derby telecast came with plenty of hype. The field of participants included stars both familiar (Bryce Harper, Kyle Schwarber) and new (Junior Caminero, Munetaka Murakami), from the east (Ben Rice, Willson Contreras ) and midwest (Jac Caglianone, Jordan Walker).
In the end, the July 13 exhibition at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia was remarkable not for who was or wasn’t on the field, but how the streaming giant mastered the details.
Judging by the early reviews of the event, mastery remains out of reach.
Some online commentators criticized Netflix’s maximalist camera cuts, which seemed bound by law not to hold a single shot for more than 2 seconds at a time.
Despite the many angles available to the director, a number of viewers noted that the act of the bat hitting the ball was often ignored.
“If a camera angle doesn’t show me the bat coming off the ball, I don’t want to see that angle,” Jason Foster of MLB.com wrote on Twitter/X.
“Netflix knows the worst part of the Derby is watching that moment of impact where the bat meets the ball,” Pirates beat writer Alex Stumpf wrote on Twitter/X. “The people yearn for close ups of faces and then cuts to balls mid-flight.”
Some criticized the new format, which eliminated the countdown timer for the first time in 11 years.
Others criticized the lack of numbers on the screen. Besides each player’s remaining number of swings and the distance (in feet) of each home run, the cameras and commentators were left to tell the story.
Others criticized Netflix’s choice of entertainment personalities — Jimmy Tatro, Will Ferrell and Luke Wilson — who warmed up the broadcast.
“Oh my God, the three guys doing supposed comedic commentary on the Home Run Derby player intros are the least funny people to be given such a national stage, without question,” longtime Atlanta Braves beat writer David O’Brien wrote on Twitter/X. “They. Are. Brutal. Who wrote these godawful lines for them? Embarrassing, Netflix. Utterly embarrassing.”
Considering many fans of the Home Run Derby likely subscribed to Netflix just to watch the one event, it was an underwhelming debut.
KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI - JULY 12: Juan Soto (R) of the New York Mets celebrates his two-run home run with Francisco Lindor #12 of the New York Mets in the fourth inning against the Kansas City Royals at Kauffman Stadium on July 12, 2025 in Kansas City, Missouri. (Photo by Ed Zurga/Getty Images) Getty
Juan Soto and Francisco Lindor are in their second season as teammates with the New York Mets and remain the two most notable players on the roster.
However, the two stars have yet to share an All-Star Game appearance as Mets teammates. Lindor made the team in 2025, while Soto missed out. This year, Soto earned a spot on the roster, but Lindor did not.
Soto Makes Prediction for Lindor
During All-Star interviews on Monday as players arrived in Philadelphia, Soto was asked which of his teammates he believes could make the All-Star team next season after missing out this year. He made sure to guarantee that Lindor will be make it again.
“All of them. I think Benge, Ewing, they have so much talent. I know Lindor is going to be back up again.
“We have a real All-Star team over there,” he added. “I just hope we can get healthier and get more experience for the young guys, and we’re all going to be here next year.”
.@mmargaux8 asks Juan Soto which Mets young player he thinks will be at the All-Star Game next year:
“All of them. I think Benge, Ewing, they have so much talent. I know Lindor is going to be back up again.” pic.twitter.com/tATl6SBDB4
Rumors have circulated about the relationship between Soto and Lindor at times this season, with speculation recently fueled by comments from Mets owner Steve Cohen.
During an interview with the New York Post several weeks ago, Cohen was asked about the reported tension between Lindor and Soto. He suggested those issues were mostly a thing of the past, implying there may have been some friction previously.
“Frankly, I think that’s a story that was last year’s issue,” Cohen said. “Actually, I’m told and believe strongly that these guys are getting along much better.”
Soto, however, pushed back on those claims, saying there were never any issues between the two stars.
“There were no issues last year — at all,” Soto told The Athletic. “We didn’t have any beef or anything. Definitely, our relationship is getting better because it takes time. When you meet a girl, you don’t start kissing her right away.”
Mets’ Team Struggles
Ultimately, speculation about Soto and Lindor’s relationship likely would not be a topic of conversation if the Mets were winning.
However, New York has struggled throughout the season. After missing the playoffs a year ago, expectations were much higher, but the team has failed to turn things around. Even after firing manager Carlos Mendoza following a 34-47 start, the results have remained the same.
After getting swept by the Boston Red Sox over the weekend, the Mets sit at 40-57 overall and remain firmly in last place in the NL East.
The 2026 MLB Home Run Derby is on Netflix, and quite predictably, that’s led to Netflix going all in to promote its additional current and future content offerings. And with The Hawk — a Netflix comedy series starring Will Ferrell as Lonnie “The Hawk” Hawkins — set to premiere on July 16, Netflix even had the show’s stars on hand to provide commentary during the Home Run Derby player introductions.
Ferrell, Luke Wilson, and Jimmy Tatro sat at a desk on the field offering random commentary as Home Run Derby participants were introduced on Monday night at Citizens Bank Park. And for much of this time, legendary ring announcer Michael Buffer was introducing players at the same time, so the commentary clashed.
It was hard to even understand what Ferrell, Wilson, and Tatro were saying at times, with the commentary basically just serving as racket for Netflix viewers.
Even for fans of Ferrell and friends, this was a hard listen that felt very forced as an obvious promotional tactic for an upcoming Netflix series.
Here’s a look at how Netflix viewers reacted to the commentary from Ferrell, Wilson, and Tatro to open the Home Run Derby:
Maybe I’m way off, but I don’t think the Will Ferrell-Luke Wilson thing is working at all. (Honestly, I get the sense that *they* also know it isn’t working.)
This is the first Home Run Derby broadcast for Netflix (in year one of a three-year media rights agreement with MLB), and it didn’t get off to a great start.
Derek Jeter may never let Colin Cowherd off the hook.
After Jeter’s first appearance on The Herd around the All-Star Game in 2024, the veteran radio host went viral after misremembering the timeline of Jeter’s legendary career. During the interview, Cowherd asked Jeter what it was like to face Hall of Famer Nolan Ryan on the mound, only for Jeter to hilariously correct him in real time that their careers did not overlap.
“I never faced Nolan, slow down,” Jeter laughed. “No, I was way after Nolan.”
In fairness to Cowherd, Jeter’s rookie season came just two years after Ryan’s retirement.
But Jeter got another opportunity to rib Cowherd about the mistake on Monday, as the former New York Yankees star once again joined The Herd to promote Fox’s coverage of the All-Star game. And he did not pass it up.
“Before we get started, I just want to remind you … you just said, ‘Smart people make mistakes,'” Jeter said. “Last time I was on your show, you asked me about facing Nolan Ryan, so let’s just hope you got your facts straight this time.”
“Last time I was on your show, you asked me about facing Nolan Ryan. Let’s just hope you got your facts straight this time.” – Derek Jeter sets some ground rules before his appearance with Colin Cowherd https://t.co/CqKJgftqZepic.twitter.com/ERwA1TdqHH
Philadelphia Phillies slugger and former Middletown High School standout Kyle Schwarber appeared on "Pat McAfee Show" ahead of Schwarber taking part in the 2026 MLB Home Run Derby, and talked about how the derby reminds him of growing up as a Reds fan and pretending he was Reds Hall of Famer and former Moeller High School standout Ken Griffey Jr.
"I grew up in Cincinnati (as a) Reds fan," Schwarber said. "Griffey, hat backwards. Like growing up playing tee ball. I've got a wood bat. There's a picture of me. It's funny. … I've got my hat backwards, wood bat. And I'm trying to hit the Griffey tilt. And that was just another cool moment of just thinking about the Home Run Derby. We always played that growing up in the backyard. We had an above-ground pool. And then we had a short fence in left (field)."
Schwarber's Phillies teammate, Bryce Harper, also is participating. Schwarber was with the Chicago Cubs when he finished as the runner-up to Harper in the 2018 derby.
Schwarber has hit 28 home runs against the Reds, more than he's homered against any opponent.
When Schwarber homered July 7 off of Reds starter Andrew Abbott in the third inning of the Reds' 4-1 loss in their series opener, Schwarber did something he hadn't done previously against Cincinnati and has rarely done throughout his MLB career: homering on a 3-0 count.
Schwarber has hit 372 MLB home runs, including an MLB-leading 32 this season.
Philadelphia Phillies slugger and former Middletown High School standout Kyle Schwarber appeared on "Pat McAfee Show" ahead of Schwarber taking part in the 2026 MLB Home Run Derby, and talked about how the derby reminds him of growing up as a Reds fan and pretending he was Reds Hall of Famer and former Moeller High School standout Ken Griffey Jr.
"I grew up in Cincinnati (as a) Reds fan," Schwarber said. "Griffey, hat backwards. Like growing up playing tee ball. I've got a wood bat. There's a picture of me. It's funny. … I've got my hat backwards, wood bat. And I'm trying to hit the Griffey tilt. And that was just another cool moment of just thinking about the Home Run Derby. We always played that growing up in the backyard. We had an above-ground pool. And then we had a short fence in left (field)."
Schwarber's Phillies teammate, Bryce Harper, also is participating. Schwarber was with the Chicago Cubs when he finished as the runner-up to Harper in the 2018 derby.
Schwarber has hit 28 home runs against the Reds, more than he's homered against any opponent.
When Schwarber homered July 7 off of Reds starter Andrew Abbott in the third inning of the Reds' 4-1 loss in their series opener, Schwarber did something he hadn't done previously against Cincinnati and has rarely done throughout his MLB career: homering on a 3-0 count.
Schwarber has hit 372 MLB home runs, including an MLB-leading 32 this season.
The Major League Baseball season is approaching the All-Star Break, and baseball is seeing strong viewership midway through the season.
NBC is leading the way in terms of baseball viewership, as it replaces ESPN for the rights to Opening Day and Sunday Night Baseball. Games on NBC are averaging 2.25 million viewers according to Nielsen through 11 games, rising to 2.51 million when including additional Peacock streaming measured by Adobe Analytics. That is up 51% from games on ESPN in the same period last year, which averaged 1.66 million through the All-Star Break.
However, there are some factors tilting the scale in NBC’s favor. Switching the package from ESPN, a cable network, to NBC, a broadcast network, will naturally increase viewership. Not to mention, NBC has aired fewer games to this point than ESPN did last season. Nielsen’s updated methodology likely also contributes to higher measured audiences.
The New York Yankees-Boston Red Sox game on Sunday, June 28, leads the way so far for both NBC and baseball at large. The game averaged 3.27 million viewers according to Nielsen, rising to 4 million when including streaming. The game went into extra innings, but coverage joined the game in progress in the fourth inning due to a golf overrun.
Fox is averaging 2.24 million viewers according to Nielsen with 13 Baseball Night in America windows so far this season. A regional window on the 4th of July featuring the New York Mets against the Atlanta Braves and the St. Louis Cardinals against the Chicago Cubs, leads the way with 3.34 million viewers for Fox. That is up 7% from 2.09 million for the same period last year. That is within the range that could be explained entirely by Nielsen’s new Big Data methodology, which has generally increased sports viewership numbers, in extreme cases by as much as 15%.
ESPN’s games, including two games on ABC, have combined to average 1.12 million viewers. On ABC, Yankees-Red Sox on June 27 leads the slate with 1.99 million viewers. ABC did not air any regular-season games last year. Yankees-Kansas City Royals on the afternoon of Memorial Day is ESPN’s top game so far this season, averaging 1.63 million viewers.
ESPN’s lower viewership average this season, 1.12 million compared to 1.66 million at the same point last year, comes as a result of the shift of ESPN’s games from weekends to weeknights. ESPN aired three weekday games last year, which combined to average 1.23 million viewers, much more in line with this season’s average.
Finally, MLB Tuesday on TBS and truTV is averaging 466,000 viewers before the All-Star Break. Unlike games on the other platforms, games on TBS are generally blacked out in local markets, forcing in-market fans to watch via their regional sports network (though TBS is allowed one “co-exist” with local broadcasts). Los Angeles Dodgers-Toronto Blue Jays on April 7 leads the way for TBS, with a 708,000 viewership average. That was good enough to be the most-watched MLB Tuesday game since a Yankees-Blue Jays game during Aaron Judge’s home run chase in 2022.
TBS viewership in 2026 is up 21% from 2025, when the network averaged 385,000 viewers. Notably, according to TNT Sports, viewership among women is up 41% versus 2025.
With the 2026 NBA Finals and FIFA World Cup hitting recent viewership highs during the MLB season, it seems especially impressive that baseball is still seeing such strong viewership so far. With much of July and August not facing such competition, it will be interesting to see if MLB can build more on its viewership success.
Major League Baseball's All-Star Week will take over Philadelphia starting Friday — from July 10-14 — with the Philadelphia Phillies serving as hosts for the All-Star Game and related events at Citizens Bank Park.
The action-packed celebration offers something for every baseball fan — from the All-Star Futures Game and the MLB Draft to the Home Run Derby and the 96th MLB All-Star Game.
Philadelphia is hosting Tuesday's All-Star Game for the first time since 1996 — when current Phillies' stars Bryce Harper and Kyle Schwarber were both just 3 years old.
This year's All-Star Game features no shortage of storylines. The Phillies have five representatives on the National League roster, including Brandon Marsh, who earned his first career starting nod in the outfield. Meanwhile, injuries to fan favorites Aaron Judge and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. have opened the door for a new generation, with 26 players making their first All-Star appearance.
With another unforgettable weekend on tap, the American League will look to bounce back after last year's dramatic loss, which featured the first home run swing-off in All-Star Game history following a 6-6 tie after nine innings. Schwarber launched home runs on all three of his swings to secure the National League victory while earning All-Star Game MVP honors, setting the stage for another memorable Midsummer Classic in Philadelphia.
What time and channel is the All-Star Game on?
Watch the MLB All-Star Game on Tuesday, July 14, at p.m. ET. The game will air live on FOX and Fox Deportes, with streaming available via the FOX Sports app.
Home Run Derby: Monday, July 13, at 8 p.m. ET streaming exclusively on Netflix.
All-Star Red Carpet Show: Tuesday, July 14, at 2 p.m. ET on MLB Network and MLB.com.
All-Star Game: Tuesday, July 14, at 8 p.m. ET on FOX
How to stream MLB All-Star game, home run derby
DirecTV: The $90 Entertainment package gives you access to NBX and Fox, allowing you to watch the first hour of the MLB Draft, the All-Star Futures Game, and the All-Star Game.
Fubo: The $56 Sports plan gives you access to Fox, but you'll need the $84 Ultra package if you want the MLB Network to view Day 1 of the MLB Draft in full.
Hulu: The ad-supported, $90-per-month live TV package lets you stream Fox, MLB Network, and NBC. This allows you to watch the MLB Draft, All-Star Futures Game, and All-Star Game.
MLB+ or MLB.TV: If you absolutely need to watch the full MLB Draft, MLB+ will grant you access to the MLB Network for $5.99 per month. MLB.TV will also let you stream MLB Network for $30 per month.
Netflix: Beginning in 2026, Netflix will broadcast the Home Run Derby. It costs $9 for the ad-supported plan.
Peacock: For $11 per month, Peacock Premium will grant you access to all the MLB Draft and All-Star Futures Game on NBC.
YouTube TV: The streamer's Sports Plan includes Fox and NBC for $65 per month.
The offensive offseason additions have really paid off for the Pittsburgh Pirates this season. While they struggled with the bats last year, it's a whole different story as we head into the All-Star break this season.
Not only do they have the best team batting average across MLB, but they also hold the top spot in runs batted in, runs scored, and hits. Nick Gonzalez leads the way with his .308 batting average, while Brandon Lowe leads the team in home runs and runs batted in.
That has really helped a pitching staff that has not pitched up to expectations, but is still doing enough to get over .500 headed into the All-Star Break.
Pirates climb power rankings after impressive sweep of division rival
Last week, Pittsburgh did not have an easy stretch of games, to say the least. They took on the NL East-leading Atlanta Braves before taking on their division rivals, the NL Central-leading Milwaukee Brewers.
They couldn't get much going against the Braves, losing the series 1-2, but they were able to rebound against the Brew Crew. They swept Milwaukee in the three-game series at home.
This has led Bleacher Report's Kerry Miller to bump them up a few spots in his latest power rankings, from No. 16 to No. 11.
"The Pirates were dealt a major blow this week with rookie Konnor Griffin suffering a torn tendon in his ring finger. They've already placed him on the 60-day IL, so the earliest he would be eligible to return is roughly Labor Day. But a different rookie, Esmerlyn Valdez, had one heck of a week with four home runs to ensure Pittsburgh entered the All-Star Break with a winning record for the first time since 2016. He now has a 1.084 OPS in 28 games played and could be a massive piece of their puzzle the rest of the way."
Now, the Pirates did lose Konnor Griffin for quite some time, but that doesn't sting as bad with newcomer Esmerlyn Valdez putting on a show. He's going to have to continue to be a presence if the team wants to fight hard during the second half.
PHILADELPHIA - Luis Arraez is fully prepared to get dealt by the time the Aug. 3 trade deadline comes around. But he'd also like potential suitors to know any deal involving him comes with an expectation: He's now a second baseman, and doesn't expect that to change after joining a new team.
Arraez, the three-time batting champion who's been the lone bright spot on a 41-55 San Francisco Giants team, has remade himself into a Gold Glove-caliber second baseman under the tutelage of infield guru Ron Washington, enhancing his value significantly as he once again tests the free agent market this winter.
He's once again elite with the bat, hitting .330, but now he's no longer dinged for being a first baseman or designated hitter with little power. And Arraez would prefer to maintain his rediscovered identity at second.
"It's going to be second base," Arraez said when asked about potential destinations and scenarios. "I don’t like to go back to first base. I prepared my mind, I prepared my body only to play second base."
It's easy to see why, and perhaps acquiring teams will understand it as well. Arraez has already accrued 3.0 WAR in this slightly more than half season, more than his prevous two seasons, when he banged out 381 hits for Miami and San Diego yet amassed just 2.6 WAR.
Why? Most of that damage came as he played himself off second and was relegated to first or DH. He was traded from Miami to San Diego in 2024, and the Padres reached the playoffs both seasons.
He and the Giants had high hopes for a similar outcome in 2025, but the first year under manager Tony Vitello has gone awry in several fashions. The Giants finished the symbolic first half winning three of four against Colorado, but it would take a July miracle for them to avoid being sellers come trade deadline time.
"This past week, we’ve played good baseball as an organization. But I just need to stay focused and I don’t want to think about a trade," says Arraez. "It’s tough, especially mentally. When you feel like a family and you’ve got Willy (Adames), Raffy (Devers), Heliot (Ramos), Logan (Webb) – those guys seem like family. They open the door for me.
"It’s hard to leave, you know? But it’s a business."
As he and his new team may soon find out next month.
PHILADELPHIA, P.A. —Prepare for blasts, bombs and big flies at the Bank.
On Monday night, Citizens Bank Park will play host to the 2026 Home Run Derby, MLB's crown jewel event of All-Star weekend. This year's event, featuring eight top sluggers, stands out for multiple reasons — including some changes.
Not only will Netflix be the exclusive home of the Home Run Derby for the first time, but new rules are also being implemented. While a similar bracket style remains, instead of a running timer for each hitter, they'll have a finite number of swings available to maximize their homer total.
This year's Derby field is also loaded with star power. Bryce Harper and Kyle Schwarber will both be attempting to win the trophy in front of their home fans, while White Sox rookie sensation Munetaka Murakami, mighty Rays third baseman Junior Caminero and breakout Yankees slugger Ben Rice pose some of the top threats. Jordan Walker, Willson Contreras and Jac Caglianone round out the field, which will aim to put some dents in Citizens Bank Park's bleachers.
The Sporting News is tracking live updates, highlights and more from the 2026 MLB Home Run Derby. Follow along below for the latest from Philadelphia.
Home Run Derby results
Total home runs
Player
Home Runs
Willson Contreras, Red Sox
13
Jordan Walker, Cardinals
13
Junior Caminero, Rays
12
Kyle Schwarber, Phillies
10
Munetaka Murakami, White Sox
9
Jac Caglianone, Royals
8
Bryce Harper, Phillies
8
Ben Rice, Yankees
7
Round 1 results
Player
Home Runs
Willson Contreras, Red Sox*
13
Jordan Walker, Cardinals*
13
Jac Caglianone, Royals
8
Munetaka Murakami, White Sox
9
Ben Rice, Yankees
7
Junior Caminero, Rays*
12
Kyle Schwarber, Phillies*
10
Bryce Harper, Phillies
8
*Advanced to second round
Round 2 results
Willson Contreras vs. Kyle Schwarber
Seed
Player
Home Runs
Jordan Walker vs. Junior Caminero
Seed
Player
Home Runs
Final results
TBD vs. TBD
Seed
Player
Home Runs
Home Run Derby live updates, results, highlights from 2026 MLB HR contest
All times ET.
9:42 p.m. — It will be Contreras vs. Schwarber and Walker vs. Caminero in the second round.
Round 1
9:33 p.m. — Bryce Harper will not advance. He had some long ones to juice up the home crowd, but ultimately, Harper finishes with eight homers. That trails Schwarber's 10 to make the next round.
It will be Contreras, Caminero, Walker and Schwarber in contention for the trophy.
9:21 p.m. — Kyle Schwarber starts off cold, needing a collection of swings before even putting one over the fence. But he's up to four homers with 10 swings left.
9:18 p.m. — Caminero finishes with 12 home runs in Round 1, which puts him at third on the leaderboard. The top-four will advance, but the two hometown Phillies are coming up.
9:15 p.m. — Junior Caminero, as anticipated, is making himself a clear contender to win it all. He's already at 10 home runs with a few swings remaining, the longest being 487 feet. The Rays have themselves a superstar slugger.
9:08 p.m. — Rice finishes with seven homers. He's at the bottom of the leaderboard, with Junior Caminero due up next.
Ben Rice’s dad pitching to him at the Home Run Derby is what it’s all about ❤️
9:04 p.m. — The Yankees' Ben Rice steps up next, taking in some boos from the Philly crowd.
8:57 p.m. — Murakami finishes with nine Round 1 homers. Halfway through the round, he could finish in the middle of the pack.
8:54 p.m. — Munetaka Murakami, fresh off the injured list and in his first MLB season, is having a similar round to Caglianone. Very long blasts when he's gotten ahold of them, but he doesn't look like he'll challenge for the new lead.
8:48 p.m. — Jac Caglianone showed off some ridiculous power, hitting the second and third deck in right field, but he was a bit inconsistent. He settled for eight home runs and will have to hope for lower totals from the remainder of the Round 1 batters.
8:38 p.m. — Jordan Walker is second in Round 1. He starts out hot, but trails off with his final swings. Some of them were complete lasers into left field, though.
Walker finishes with 13 homers to tie Contreras.
8:29 p.m. — Contreras totals 13, and almost all of them were into deep parts of left field. He opened with a show.
8:26 p.m. — The Red Sox slugger is destroying baseballs, putting them in the left field seats. He's off to a great start in Round 1, reaching 490 feet.
7:59 p.m. — The Derby participants are being introduced. It got very, very loud in CBP for Kyle Schwarber and Bryce Harper, while every non-Phillies player was booed just as loudly.
5:48 p.m. — Kyle Schwarber also has a big opportunity tonight, looking to finally secure a Derby title after two unsuccessful tries.
Kyle Schwarber will be the first player to participate in the MLB Home Run Derby in his home park while leading the league in home runs since Albert Pujols did so in St. Louis in 2009. pic.twitter.com/RMoPt0lAmK
5:46 p.m. — Here is the official order for the first round of the Derby. Willson Contreras kicks things off on Netflix, while Bryce Harper will go last.
Updated batting order for tonight's @TMobile Home Run Derby:
5:43 p.m. — Plenty of star power on display in The City of Brotherly Love, including a reunion between Bryce Harper and Mike Trout, two long-affiliated former hyped prospects.
MLB's 2026 Home Run Derby will begin at 8 p.m. ET on Monday night.
The event is being held at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia.
What channel is the Home Run Derby on today?
TV channel: N/A
Live stream: Netflix
For the first time ever, the Home Run Derby will be available exclusively as a streaming event. Netflix will be streaming MLB's event on Monday night, with no TV broadcasts available.
Matt Vasgersian, Barry Bonds, CC Sabathia, Anthony Rizzo, Hunter Pence, Elle Duncan and Lauren Shehadi are among the names who will appear on Netflix's coverage.
Major League Baseball’s annual celebration of dingers has arrived with the 2026 Home Run Derby at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia.
Eight of the game’s top sluggers will swing for the fences on Monday night, all hoping to be crowned the 2026 champion.
The Phillies’ Kyle Schwarber and Bryce Harper are the headliners in this year’s derby at their home ballpark. Schwarber has never won the derby but Harper did back in 2018, his last year in Washington, at Nationals Park. This is the two-time MVP’s first appearance since.
The other hitters in the field are Ben Rice (Yankees), Junior Caminero (Rays), Jordan Walker (Cardinals), Wilson Contreras (Red Sox), Munetaka Murakami (White Sox) and Jac Caglianone (Royals).
Stay tuned for live updates:
How to watch 2026 MLB Home Run Derby
This year's Home Run Derby is not available on broadcast or cable TV, only via streaming on Netflix.
Date: Monday, July 13
Time: 8 p.m. ET
Location: Citizens Bank Park (Philadelphia)
Streaming: Netflix
Who is in the Home Run Derby?
(Home run totals at the All-Star break in parenthesis)
This year's Home Run Derby will feature several format changes, most notably the removal of the timer. Instead, each of the eight participants will be allotted a set number of swings, with every swing counting. Hitters will get 20 swings in the first round and 15 swings in both the semifinals and finals. If a player homers on the final swing of any round, they can continue hitting until a swing does not result in a home run. — John Leuzzi
The Seattle Mariners slugger who hit 38 home runs before the All-Star break – the second-most in MLB history – dispatched the Tampa Bay Rays’ 22-year-old Junior Caminero in the final, and is the first catcher to win the Home Run Derby.
With his dad pitching and younger brother catching, Raleigh became the second Mariner to be crowned Derby champion, joining Hall of Famer Ken Griffey Jr., who won it three times. — Jesse Yomtov
NEW YORK – Luke Pettitte’s pinstriped bloodlines suggest that his path to Yankee Stadium might be as a pitcher.
Yet, the son of Yankees’ lefty legend Andy Pettitte possesses “big power’’ as a right-handed hitter.
An eighth-round selection by the Yankees in this past weekend’s MLB Draft, Luke Pettitte was “one of the bigger power bats in this draft,’’ said Yankees scouting director Damon Oppenheimer.
Yankees scouts liked Pettitte as a right-handed pitcher at Dallas Baptist, but when he underwent Tommy John surgery last year, “we followed him as a hitter.’’
Luke Pettitte stats
In 42 games as a designated hitter for Dallas Baptist this spring, the 6-foot-2, 220-pound Pettitte posted a 1.096 OPS, and a .337 batting average, with 16 home runs.
What's next for Luke Pettitte?
At this point, the Yankees aren’t sure which direction Pettitte will take, but they’re willing to allow him to pursue a two-way avenue to begin his pro career.
Eventually, Pettitte’s path “will become a player development decision,’’ said Oppenheimer. “But I think his performance will allow us to decide whether he does both or not.’’
Pettitte is still rehabbing from elbow surgery as a pitcher, but he’ll continue to hit this year (the Yanks are confident about signing him).
If the hit-tool remains encouraging, “we’ll stay with that, and keep the pitching (element) alive,’’ said Oppenheimer, providing the organization’s wait-and-see view.
“Let’s let Luke and the game tell us which way we’re going to like him most.’’
Leading up to the draft, Oppenheimer said he did not have any discussions with Andy Pettitte, a current Yankees special advisor, about potentially drafting his son.
“This was pretty organic scouting (and) this kid did his stuff on his own… without the assistance of Andy pushing it or talking about it,’’ said Oppenheimer, who only spoke with Pettitte about his 21-year-old son after the draft’s conclusion.
“They were probably surprised we were actually the team that took him,’’ said Oppenheimer, adding that the elder Pettitte “was excited that…we liked (Luke) enough to take him more than other teams.’’
CC Sabathia's son selected in MLB Draft
In the 20th round (No. 611 overall), the Milwaukee Brewers chose right-handed power-hitting first baseman Carsten Sabathia III, the son of Yankees' Hall of Fame lefty CC Sabathia.
Pettitte's No. 46 is retired by the Yankees. Sabathia will have his No. 52 officially retired by the team in September.
Philadelphia Phillies DH Kyle Schwarber GettyNEW YORK, NY - JULY 15: Bryce Harper of the Washington Nationals gets a hug from his father Ron Haper during the Chevrolet Home Run Derby on July 15, 2013 at Citi Field in the Flushing neighborhood of the Queens borough of New York City. (Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images)ST PETERSBURG, FLORIDA - JULY 07: Ben Rice #22 of the New York Yankees reacts after hitting a three-run home run in the third inning against the Tampa Bay Rays at Tropicana Field on July 07, 2026 in St Petersburg, Florida. (Photo by Julio Aguilar/Getty Images)
One of the most popular, fun, and entertaining events on Major League Baseball’s calendar each season is the T-Mobile Home Run Derby, which is a fan-favorite All-Star break festivity that features eight of MLB’s top sluggers duking it out for a prize of $1 million. The All-Star game (and Home Run Derby) is being held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in the Phillies’ home ballpark, Citizens Bank Park.
MLB.com’s Thomas Harrington provided some insight on the new Home Run Derby format, which is powered by T-Mobile:
“Eight players will still make up the field, same as in years past. But instead of trying to hit as many homers as they can during timed rounds, participants will start each round with a finite number of swings: 20 in Round 1, 15 in Round 2 and 15 again in the final round.”
“All swings will count against a playerâs swing allotment, whether it results in a homer or not. However, a player who homers on his final swing of a round can keep swinging until he doesn’t hit one out.”
The eight sluggers participating in the 2026 Home Run Derby include: Kyle Schwarber (Philadelphia Phillies), Bryce Harper (Phillies), Munetaka Murakami (Chicago White Sox), Junior Caminero (Tampa Bay Rays, 2025 runner-up), Jac Caglianone (Kansas City Royals), Willson Contreras (Boston Red Sox), Jordan Walker (St. Louis Cardinals), and Ben Rice (New York Yankees).
It’s a pretty stacked field, and honestly, one of the more anticipated Home Run Derbies in recent memory, it feels like. Two participants from the host city (Schwarber, Harper), last year’s runner-up in Caminero, and a guaranteed new winner. Add in the likes of rookie slugger Munetaka Murakami, and rising stars in Ben Rice, Jordan Walker, and Jac Caglianone. Sign me up.
Let’s get into some of the very important details of the event, plus some sharp predictions/odds.
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How to Watch MLB Home Run Derby, Presented by T-Mobile.
NEW YORK, NY – JULY 15: Bryce Harper of the Washington Nationals gets a hug from his father Ron Haper during the Chevrolet Home Run Derby on July 15, 2013 at Citi Field in the Flushing neighborhood of the Queens borough of New York City. (Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images)
How to watch the T-Mobile Home Run Derby. Event details:
Channel: Watch the 2026 MLB Home Run Derby live on Netflix. This is the first time that Netflix is hosting the event.
Time:Â The 2026 Home Run Derby is set to take place at 8:00 p.m. There is pre-event coverage at 7:00 p.m. ET, and also player introductions, which will likely start at 8.
Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, @ Citizens Bank Park.Â
GettyST PETERSBURG, FLORIDA – JULY 07: Ben Rice #22 of the New York Yankees reacts after hitting a three-run home run in the third inning against the Tampa Bay Rays at Tropicana Field on July 07, 2026 in St Petersburg, Florida. (Photo by Julio Aguilar/Getty Images)
First, let’s start off with the odds for each participant to win the HRD, courtesy of FanDuel SportsBook. Odds are subject to change:
*Indicates home run total for 2026.
Kyle Schwarber (+290); $100 bet wins $290 ($390 total) *32
Junior Caminero (+400); $100 bet wins $500. *28
Munetaka Murakami (+550) *20
Jac Caglianone (+700) *15
Jordan Walker (+700) *22
Bryce Harper (+950) *20
Ben Rice (+1000) *29
Willson Contreras (+1100) *20
Disrespect on behalf of Ben Rice?? Perhaps.
Prediction Time!!
Kyler Schwarber is very obviously going to be the most popular pick to win this thing, and why wouldn’t he be? Schwarber has been the perfect HRD candidate, but he’s turned the event down in recent memory. He remains the game’s top pure slugger, and in his home ballpark, it’s possible he just flicks balls out of the yard.
However, for my prediction, I’m going to hand out two potential winners that I like to win the whole thing.
Prediction: Junior Caminero (+400); Ben Rice (+1000)Â
The biggest factor I take into account when trying to bet this event is which players need the $1 million the most (right now). Of course, every player in this event is going to get paid in due time, but the players whose salaries are less than $1 million on this list are Ben Rice, Junior Caminero, Jordan Walker, and Jac Caglianone.
Murakami, Kyle Schwarber, Bryce Harper, and Willson Contreras are all signed MLB players.
Well, if you made it this far, thanks for reading, and enjoy the 2026 Home Run Derby, presented by T-Mobile.
Jason Krieger finally got the call many thought could have come three years ago.
The 2023 Red Lion graduate was selected by the New York Yankees in the 17th round of the MLB draft on Sunday, July 12. The 6-foot-5 right-handed pitcher spent his college career at the University of Maine after he went undrafted out of high school.
This year he was named to the America East All-Conference first team after recording 55 strikeouts in 88.2 innings. The redshirt junior finished with a 4.57 ERA after missing the 2025 season while recovering from Tommy John surgery.
Krieger went 2-0 with a .59 ERA in four games this year for the Harwich Mariners in the Cape Cod Baseball League, one of the top collegiate summer leagues in the country. He also had one save and struck out 16.
Krieger wasn’t the first local player taken in this year’s amateur draft. Gettysburg graduate Tegan Kuhns, who played collegiately at Tennessee, was selected 32nd overall by St. Louis.
The 6-3 righty earned All-SEC second team honors this season after recording 106 strikeouts in 80 innings pitched. He finished with a 3.56 ERA.
The Athletics were a fun team to watch last season. Their core group of mainly younger players had no trouble producing offense, but the pitching staff was what held them back.
During the offseason, they didn't really address the hole as much as fans would have hoped, but they did bring in Aaron Civale to serve as a frontline starter.
Initially, the staff seemed a bit better than they were last year, but that didn't last long. The pitching staff is hurting, and the offense is now missing some key contributors.
Athletics fans won't like seeing where their team sits in latest power rankings
The A's took a big hit when Brent Rooker went down with a bone bruise in his knee in June, and he'll be out for the rest of the season after having surgery. Recently, they lost Zack Gelof to the IL a few days ago after colliding with the left-field fence, and Nick Kurtz is on the IL with a thumb injury.
None of those injuries helped the A's do much of anything last week as they were swept by the Detroit Tigers and then the Chicago White Sox. With this, Bleacher Report's Kerry Miller bumps this team down from No. 25 to No. 30 in this week's power rankings.
"There are teams with slightly worse overall records than the A's, but no one enters the All-Star break looking as hopelessly broken as this squad does, suddenly unable to hit the broad side of a barn. The A's have lost 17 of their last 20 games, plummeting from '.500 team that might win its division' to 'trade-deadline seller with little to offer.' Losing Nick Kurtz to the IL this past week was quite the cherry on what has been an awful sundae."
Thankfully, the team gets a little break to hopefully recharge and regroup. Because if they come out like they have been the last few weeks, this is going to be one long second half of the season for the fanbase.
The gap between the Atlanta Braves and other contending NL East clubs has shrunk significantly.
As of Monday, the Philadelphia Phillies, who got off to a horrific 9-19 start, are just two games behind the Braves. After a hot June, the Miami Marlins are just four games back of first.
After the All-Star break, Atlanta could make some adjustments to its roster to get back on track.
One of the players they could consider trading and/or cutting ties with is designated hitter/outfielder Dominic Smith, writes FanSided's Christopher Kline.
"Smith is borderline unplayable in the field, especially with almost every first base dedicated to Matt Olson. He's there to swing the bat, and right now, he's doing so in a counterproductive way," wrote Kline. "The Braves probably need to bite the bullet on the idea of Smith as a late-career breakout."
Smith got off to a strong start in a Braves uniform, hitting .339 in April and .310 in May.
But his bat has trended in the wrong direction since then. Smith had a .508 OPS with just one home run in June, and the first few weeks of July were even worse.
"Injuries have kept Smith locked in the DH spot, as Atlanta needs every functional right-handed bat it can get," Kline added. "However, he has a .490 OPS since the calendar flipped to June."
Combine Smith's lack of production with shortstop Ha Seong-Kim's, and the Braves have two black holes in their lineup.
Needless to say, both players could see their way out of the door in Atlanta soon.
But could this be the last All-Star Game for the foreseeable future?
The league is approaching its midseason showcase in a particularly delicate position. On one hand, the game has arguably never been stronger, and key business metrics support that notion. Attendance is up again this season, entering the break with a 1.5% increase in the per-game average to 29,169, and is in line to end with a fourth straight annual boost—something that hasn’t happened since 2004–07. National TV audiences also are growing, with a new set of short-term rights deals paying significant dividends.
Most recently, NBC Sports’ Sunday Night Baseball coverage of a Yankees–Red Sox averaged 4 million viewers, the most for MLB in that window on any network in 15 years.
So MLB is staging this All-Star Game amid a particularly thorny problem: the game continues to grow in stature and popularity, but team owners are also seeking an overhaul of the economic model in order to promote better competitive balance.
Those labor issues are expected to be front and center when Manfred and MLBPA interim executive director Bruce Meyer meet separately with the Baseball Writers Association of America on Tuesday morning.
Wait ’Til Next Year?
The Cubs and Chicago’s Wrigley Field are set to host the 2027 All-Star Game. Ever since that announcement nearly a year ago, though, there have been plenty of questions about whether that event will happen. An extended labor stoppage would eliminate part or all of the 2027 season—possibly wiping out the All-Star Game.
While both sides are well aware of all the gains in fan interest that will be forfeited in such an absence from play, the current ideologies of the team owners and players could hardly be further apart.
“I think, honestly, the league has done us a favor because their proposals are, in fact, so obviously and extremely bad for players at all levels that it’s actually been a benefit for our unity,” said MLBPA interim executive director Bruce Meyer. “Anybody’s who’s banking on Major League Baseball players cracking: it’s never happened. It’s not going to happen.”
MLB has not missed games due to labor issues since the bruising 1994–95 round of bargaining that led to the cancellation of the 1994 World Series.
“Of course [I worry about a work stoppage]. We want to make an agreement,” Manfred said last month. ‘We’re open to whatever ideas people have, but we need a realistic framework that addresses the fans’ concerns about competitive balance and you just can’t ignore that financial penalties have not gotten it done for us.”
Sports fans are well accustomed to the constant changing of hands when it comes to broadcasting rights. But the Home Run Derby has been a mainstay on ESPN since 1994.
That changes on Monday night.
Just as sports across the major professional leagues are becoming increasingly open to stream only broadcasts, MLB is taking the Home Run Derby in that direction over a legacy broadcaster like ESPN.
This year's edition of the Home Run Derby will air exclusively on Netflix with Lauren Shehadi, Matt Vasgersian and Elle Duncan leading the broadcast. Barry Bonds, Hunter Pence, Albert Pujols, Anthony Rizzo and CC Sabathia will serve as analysts.
“We’ve always loved the Home Run Derby, and when we had the conversations with MLB and this opportunity came up, we pounced. The derby really fits in our overall programming strategy. It’s a big event with big personalities and something that resonates across a wide audience.”
Netflix aired the Yankees-Giants broadcast to open the season and will also broadcast the Field of Dreams game in Iowa between the Phillies and Twins.
Why did the Home Run Derby leave ESPN?
The Home Run Derby leaving ESPN was just part of the network's rolling back of its MLB broadcasting rights. ESPN still holds digital rights for MLB.tv and broadcasts 30 midweek games. The entire Wild Card Series will air on NBC this postseason instead of ESPN.
Baseball’s soundtrack of summer has always depended on the voices in the booth as much as the players on the field. The right call can turn a routine summer night into a memory that lives in a fan base forever.
As the 2026 MLB season reaches the unofficial halfway mark with this week’s All-Star Game and turns toward the stretch run, it’s a good time to reflect on the game’s most memorable voices.
This list of the 15 best baseball announcers of all time leans on impact, longevity, big moments and, just as important, how they sounded sitting in the car or on the couch in July when nothing much was happening.
These are the voices that defined how the sport sounds.
15. Phil Rizzuto
A Hall of Fame player with the New York Yankees, Phil Rizzuto moved right from the playing field to the broadcast booth. His idiosyncratic, conversational style played well in the Big Apple for 40 years before he retired in 1996.
Who can forget Rizzuto’s signature phrase, “Holy cow!” And, yes, that’s him providing the play-by-play of a young man “rounding the bases” in the Meat Loaf song “Paradise by the Dashboard Lights.”
14. Bob Costas
Bob Costas famously got his start in broadcasting with the ABA’s St. Louis Spirits when he was just 22 years old. But baseball was his first love, and it showed. It wasn’t long before Costas got the “Game of the Week” job alongside Tony Kubek.
Costas’ encyclopedic knowledge of the game and humor formed a perfect mix for baseball broadcasts on television. He went on to broadcast several World Series and league championship series, both as a play-by-play man and pregame host.
The winner of 29 Emmy awards for his work in sports, news and entertainment, Costas still pops up on MLB Network as the host of documentaries.
13. Jerry Coleman
Jerry Coleman’s path to the booth ran through the field and military service, and he brought that perspective to decades of San Diego Padres broadcasts. He was known for good-natured malapropisms and slightly scrambled calls that fans came to love, as well as for a catchphrase that lived on in San Diego sports culture.
Coleman’s long-running “Oh, Doctor!” exclamation after big plays helped define Padres baseball on radio for multiple generations of fans in Southern California.
Behind the quirks, Coleman knew the game and never faked his way through a sequence. His style is a reminder that perfection is not the point; connection is.
12. Harry Kalas
Harry Kalas’ deep, rolling baritone became inseparable from the Philadelphia Phillies. His “Outta here!” home run call filled summers in the Delaware Valley, and his work on NFL Films projects gave him a second life as a legendary narrator in another sport.
For Phillies fans, Kalas provided constancy through lean years and eventual championships, including the 2008 World Series run that gave him a long overdue title call. His voice gave even routine plays a sense of weight without ever feeling heavy-handed.
11. Joe Buck
Few modern broadcasters inspire stronger opinions than Joe Buck, which usually means a guy has been on a lot of important calls. He became the primary national TV voice of the postseason at a relatively young age and stayed in that seat for two decades, layering his own style on top of the expectations that came with being Jack Buck’s son.
Joe Buck brought a measured, sometimes dry delivery that let big October moments speak for themselves. He was on the call for iconic plays such as the Red Sox breaking their title drought in 2004 and the Cardinals’ wild comeback in Game 6 of the 2011 World Series. Whether fans loved him or complained about him, his voice is attached to a long list of plays everyone remembers.
10. Curt Gowdy
Curt Gowdy spent years as the national voice for big events across multiple sports, and baseball was one of the primary beneficiaries. He called World Series, All-Star Games and classic postseason matchups in an era when there might be only one national telecast for a given game, which meant his calls effectively became the official record.
Gowdy’s style was straightforward and uncluttered, the sound of someone who trusted that the game would deliver the drama on its own. That approach has aged well. Listening back, there is no forced catchphrase or manufactured intensity, just a professional voice giving context to important baseball moments.
9. Bob Uecker
Bob Uecker was probably as famous for joking about his own playing career as he was for anything that happened on the field, and that self-deprecation powered decades of entertaining Milwaukee Brewers broadcasts. He also became a pop culture figure through late-night TV appearances and the “Major League” movies, but in Wisconsin he was the voice that guided fans through 162 games.
Uecker mixed dry humor with sharp play-by-play instincts, never missing the action even when he was clearly having fun with the audience. He kept Brewers baseball light during long rebuilds and heightened the joy when the team finally started stacking playoff berths again. The fact that locals simply call him “Ueck” says everything about how personal that connection has become.
8. Jon Miller
Jon Miller has one of the most recognizable voices in baseball and a delivery that can shift from lyrical to deadpan in a heartbeat. He spent years as the national Sunday night voice and has been a fixture on San Francisco Giants broadcasts, calling everything from Barry Bonds’ home run chase to multiple World Series runs.
Miller’s strength is precision. His descriptions are vivid but never crowded, and he brings an international flair with his playful use of accents and languages when appropriate. He made national broadcasts feel like big events without losing the rhythm of a regular baseball game.
7. Joe Garagiola
Joe Garagiola brought a former player’s insight and a comedian’s timing to national baseball broadcasts. A catcher turned broadcaster, he became a familiar voice on the Game of the Week and multiple World Series, helping casual fans understand what was happening without talking down to them.
Garagiola’s strength was his ability to weave in anecdotes that actually explained things, rather than simply filling air time. He could make viewers laugh at a mound conference or an error while still outlining the strategy behind the next pitch. His blend of accessibility and credibility set a template for the color role on national baseball coverage.
6. Ernie Harwell
In Detroit, Ernie Harwell was more than an announcer. He was a companion for summer after summer, with a welcoming tone and gentle sense of humor that made Tigers games feel like family gatherings. Harwell had a knack for turning mundane elements of a game into ritual, from his “stood there like the house by the side of the road” strikeout line to noting fans catching foul balls “from Kalamazoo” or “from Windsor.”
He called games for more than four decades in Detroit, and his consistency and warmth built a trust few broadcasters ever achieve. Harwell made listeners feel like they were exactly where they were supposed to be, and that is a rare gift in a long season.
5. Jack Buck
Jack Buck’s voice is stitched into the fabric of both St. Louis Cardinals history and national baseball memory. His “Go crazy, folks! Go crazy!” reaction to Ozzie Smith’s 1985 NLCS home run remains one of the sport’s most replayed calls, and his work on national radio placed him in people’s living rooms for multiple generations of postseason moments.
Buck combined Midwest calm with a knack for capturing the tone of a game in a simple phrase. He never tried to be the show, but when the moment called for a strong line, he invariably had one ready. That economy of words is a big reason he is still held up as a model for baseball play-by-play.
4. Harry Caray
Harry Caray turned the broadcast booth into a neighborhood bar, first in St. Louis and then in Chicago, where he became synonymous with Wrigley Field and the Cubs. His slurred vowels, mispronunciations and genuine awe for what he was seeing made him feel more like a fan with a microphone than a polished broadcaster. That was exactly the point.
Caray’s energy, including his signature “Holy cow!” and his willingness to lead the crowd in “Take Me Out to the Ball Game,” turned ordinary regular season games into events. He was not perfect on details and barely pretended to be neutral, but he captured the emotional side of baseball fandom in a way that still resonates in Chicago lore.
3. Mel Allen
For a huge chunk of the 20th century, Mel Allen was the voice of the New York Yankees and, by extension, the voice of winning. His “How about that!” catchphrase could be heard on radio, television and highlight packages at a time when the Yankees were stacking championships and stars. Allen had an enthusiastic but controlled style that fit both the local broadcast and the emerging national appetite for baseball highlights.
He later became the host and narrator of “This Week in Baseball,” where his smooth delivery and sense of pacing introduced fans around the country to plays they never would have otherwise seen. Allen’s work helped bridge the gap between local radio calls and the national TV era that followed.
2. Red Barber
Red Barber helped invent the language of baseball on radio. Long before every market had its own signature voice, Barber was painting pictures for Dodgers, Reds and Yankees fans with a southern cadence and a string of homespun phrases. He popularized turns of phrase that still pop up in broadcasts, from “sitting in the catbird seat” to describing a close game as “tighter than a new pair of shoes.”
Barber’s work in Brooklyn set the table for Scully, and his influence on how play-by-play is described can be heard throughout the generations that followed. He did not just call the action; he framed games as narratives long before that became standard practice.
1. Vin Scully
Vin Scully is the standard every baseball broadcaster gets measured against. From Brooklyn to Los Angeles, from Jackie Robinson to Clayton Kershaw, he spent 67 seasons calling Dodgers games and still somehow sounded curious and sharp into his final year behind the mic. Scully mastered the balance between play-by-play and storytelling, dropping in anecdotes that felt like they belonged to the moment instead of distracting from it.
He called some of the most famous plays in baseball history, including Kirk Gibson’s hobbling home run in the 1988 World Series and Hank Aaron’s 715th home run. What separates Scully is how often he understood that silence could be more powerful than any line he might write. He laid out after big moments and let ballparks speak for themselves, trusting that fans at home did not need their hands held.
MLB returns to Netflix tonight for the 2026 T-Mobile Home Run Derby. Netflix previously aired the opening night game between the New York Yankees and San Francisco Giants to what can generously be described as “mixed” reviews.
The first ever Home Run Derby on Netflix will feature a new format. It will be MLB’s third format change in just over a decade after they decided the classic outs-based derby format which they used for three decades was no longer viable.
This year each player will get a set number of swings with no time limit. If you think that could be a recipe for disaster, you’re not alone. In fact, one of the most prominent names in baseball media agrees.
ESPN’s Jeff Passan was asked about the new format on “First Take” this morning and did not mince words about what could happen if hitters take their time.
“I think it’s gonna stink,” said Passan. “And genuinely, I’m worried about that because the whole reason that the timer came in in the first place is because it felt really slow and the timer brought urgency. The timer brought a countdown and an end. We’re just gonna see tonight I think, time between pitches, it’s gonna grind a little bit.”
Passan went on to say that Junior Caminero, Kyle Schwarber and Bryce Harper can all hit the ball really far so that will still be cool, but he brings up a very valid point. With no time limit and a finite number of swings guys wouldn’t be taking the event seriously if they weren’t waiting for pitches they really like.
‘Eventize’ the disaster
If that’s the case, there will be extra pressure on Netflix to keep viewers interested. Luckily, they’ve got some tricks up their sleeve. And they even made up a word to describe how they’re treating sports. Via Sports Business Journal:
“The thing that they continue to do is they ‘eventize’ their programming. That’s their verb, and they’ve made good use of it,” said Lee Berke, president and CEO of LHB Sports, Entertainment and Media. “They were able to do that with the Giants-Yankees game on Opening Day, and I’m intrigued to see what they’re going to do with Home Run Derby. They’re going to try things out in baseball, and baseball distribution is ripe for innovation.”
Considering the reaction to their opening night broadcast, who knows what bells and whistles they have in store for fans while the Home Run Derby on their second screens.
Unless the players involved tonight put on an epic and efficient show, tomorrow morning should feature the usual opinion pieces and rants about how to fix the derby for next year. Just by putting it on Netflix means there’s a whole new party to blame if it’s anything besides an instant classic. So at the very least they’ve found a way to eventize the Home Run Derby conversation.
Nothing screams baseball like home runs. Whether it’s a walk-off shot in the bottom of the ninth or a leadoff homer setting the tone, everybody stops what they’re doing when that crack echoes around the ballpark.
For one night a year, there’s an event that purely focuses on swinging out of your shoes and hitting balls as far as possible: the prodigious Home Run Derby. Every July before the All-Star Game, eight participants take center stage and go homer-for-homer to determine the superior slugger.
This year’s contest holds a unique mix of swingers with a new format for the first time in 11 years. Residing in the infamous home of Red October, Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia will host the anticipation on Monday night.
A Timeless Derby
In 2015, Major League Baseball made the switch from an outs-based format in the derby to a time-based one. Instead of a set number of outs (non-home runs) the hitter gets before their round is over, there was a two-minute timer, resulting in frantic, explosive races.
But now, the clock is ditched, and the outs return. Starting in 2026, each participant gets 20 swings in the opening round to hit as many home runs as they can. But if a player hits a homer on their final swing of the round, they can keep swinging until they do not hit one over the fence.
All eight batters will take their 20 swings in Round 1, and the four with the most homers will advance to Round 2. The farthest single home run distance determines any tiebreakers in the first round.
Then in Round 2, the four remaining swingers go head-to-head for the Finals. The player with the most from Round 1 faces the fourth-most, and the second- and third-most battle. The two winners will advance to the Finals and play for the $1 million prize. Each turn in the final two rounds gets 15 swings, and tiebreakers are decided via a three-swing swing-off.
With the new unhurried format in place, let’s meet the field.
Phillies’ Hometown Heroes
A pair of active legends who are in Philadelphia’s all-time top 10 list of slugging percentage are stepping into the batter’s box. Bryce Harper and Kyle Schwarber will both represent the Phillies on Monday night, in the comfort of their home ballpark.
Schwarber, at age 33 and the favorite of the derby, has hit the most home runs of anyone in 2026. His 32 leads baseball and is currently three more than any other competitor. Schwarber has been nearly flawless in everything it takes to hit a home run this year, from exit velocity to barrel percentage.
Harper has been hitting home runs since coming out of the womb. Since making this immensely anticipated debut as a 19-year-old in 2012, Harper has brought power at every stage of his career and is seeking his second Home Run Derby title. He has hit 20 bombs so far, tied for the second-fewest of the field but still superb for the future Hall of Famer.
Who Are the New Kids on the Block?
Schwarber and Harper’s veteran spirit is quickly outmatched by youthful energy. There are three contestants under the age of 25 seeking to disrupt the status quo.
Tampa Bay Rays’ star Junior Caminero returns for the second year in a row, looking to avenge his runner-up performance. Caminero made it all the way to the Finals as a 22-year-old before losing to last season’s home run king, Cal Raleigh.
Jordan Walker also enters as the most unexpected participant of 2026. The St. Louis Cardinal has had a breakout year with 22 home runs and a league-leading 74 RBIs. Walker’s been thrust into MLB relevance this year, and it’ll be interesting to see how he handles his opening tour.
Lastly, the Kansas City Royals’ Bobby Witt Jr.-counterpart digs in as the sole true underdog. Jac Caglianone, 23, will participate in the first derby of his young career. He debuted last season as the club’s highest-rated prospect, but is just now growing into his shoes as a major leaguer. Caglianone has 15 home runs in 2026.
Rounding out the Field
While the young studs have their sights set on disrupting, the final three batters have real shots of winning.
When home runs and the New York Yankees are in the same sentence, Aaron Judge promptly follows. But a new name might take that over soon. Ben Rice has the second-most home runs among the competitors, with 29, and has been one of the best hitters all year. He has the second-highest SLG and the fourth-highest OPS in the league.
Boston’s Wilson Contreras joins as the oldest participant, playing in his first-ever Home Run Derby 11 seasons into his career. Contreras has supplied power to the Red Sox’s underwhelming lineup, leading the team in homers while being well on pace to set a career high in them.
The last participant was announced abnormally close to the derby, leaving fans wondering who the eighth batter would be. It turns out the league was waiting for its newest overseas superstar, Munetaka Murakami, to return from the IL.
Murakami hit 20 home runs in his first 55 career games before injuring his hamstring. He is still in the upper echelon of home run totals in 2026, having played only half the season.
So, Who Will Win the 2026 Home Run Derby?
The new format for 2026 reshapes the way we predict a winner. It’s no longer based around endurance, but pure individual hitting.
Taking out the clock and only swinging at select pitches leans in favor of a vet. They’ve been around the longest and have the best view of the strike zone, given their fundamental experience.
That said, some young sluggers have been the hottest as of late. Caminero is a solid pick, already having Derby experience and coming off hitting 11 homers in 11 games through the beginning of July.
Rice has been doing it all year, with his offense expanding outside just hitting home runs. Everything about his swing in 2026 has excelled, plus his lefty pull-side tendencies at Citizens Bank Park’s shallower right-field will fall in his favor.
Then, there’s the ringleader. It’s in the stars that Schwarber wins his first-ever derby at the height of his power, back home in Philly. But he will have strong competition, potentially the most from his teammate.
The 2026 Home Run Derby will begin at 8 pm ET and will stream on Netflix.
The 2026 Major League Baseball Draft featured a couple of early picks by the Boston Red Sox who hailed from Wisconsin, a couple of later Wisconsin picks from the Milwaukee Brewers and a healthy dose of Wisconsin picks Atlanta Braves.
A look at who got taken:
Jake Schaffner, shortstop
University of North Carolina
Janesville Craig High School
Boston Red Sox
First round, pick No. 20
The fast-riser began his college career at North Dakota State and then became a sparkplug for the College World Series runner-up Tar Heels. The left-handed hitter stole 26 bases in 29 attempts and led NCAA Division I with eight triples. He's 6-foot-2, 200 pounds. The pick had a slot value of $4.37 million.
Jace Mataczynski, shortstop
Hudson High School
Boston Red Sox
Third round, pick No. 96
The 6-4, 195-pounder put himself on the map with a good showing at the World Wood Bat Association World Championship in October. His pick has a slot value of $815,7000. He has a scholarship offer to Auburn.
Tyson Grulkowski, right-handed pitcher
Muskego High School
Atlanta Braves
Sixth round, pick No. 173
The 6-5, first-team All-State selection has a scholarship offer to South Florida. His slot value is $389,900.
Cole Selvig, right-handed pitcher
University of Minnesota
Regis Catholic High School (Eau Claire)
Miami Marlins
Sixth round, pick No. 176
He went 5-4 with a 5.21 ERA for the Gophers last year, leading the pitching staff in wins and innings pitched. He had a slot value of $380,200.
Jack Brenner, catcher
Fond du Lac High School
Atlanta Braves
Seventh round, pick No. 202
The 6-0, 174-pound senior hit .419 and was the Fox Valley Association Player of the Year this season. He has a slot value of $307,300.
Thomas Burns, right-handed pitcher
University of Texas
Hortonville High School
Minnesota Twins
Eighth round, pick No. 221
The 6-3 pitcher was 1-2 with a 3.71 ERA with four saves as a member of the Longhorns in 2025, then went 2-0 with a 5.64 ERA and four saves in 23 appearances this year. He had 83 strikeouts in just 49 innings over the two years. The 6-3, 240-pounder has a slot value of $253,300.
Nick Williams, right-handed pitcher
Michigan State University
Union Grove High School
Washington Nationals
10th round, pick No. 286
He hit .333 this season, his third with the Spartans, including 14 doubles and six homers, with a .974 OPS. The pick has a slot value of $200,100.
Dominic Kibler, catcher
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
New Berlin West High School
Atlanta Braves
12th round, pick No. 352
Kibler was part of UWM's fun run in the NCAA tournament. He was a first-team All-Horizon League pick this year at the flex position, leading the Panthers with 60 RBIs.
Owen Nowak, outfielder
Middle Tennessee State
Union Grove High School
Houston Astros
12th round, pick No. 361
The leadoff hitter led the team with a .435 on-base percentage after spending two years at McHenry County Community College.
Hailing from the northern border of Wisconsin, he began his career at St. Thomas in Minnesota and was named all-Summit League before making 14 appearances for the Gophers this year, posting a 4.10 ERA.
The Horizon League first-team choice set the school's single-season stolen-base record by swiping 41 in 45 tries in 2026. He batted .340 with a team-best 72 hits.
Chance Ruby, shortstop
Wilmot Union High School
Milwaukee Brewers
17th round, pick No. 521
The all-state senior from Wisconsin stands 6-feet and 190 pounds and has a commitment to Illinois-Chicago.
Dominic Santarelli, outfielder
Kenosha St. Joseph Academy
Seattle Mariners
18th round, pick No. 550
Santarelli was the top prep prospect in the state and was regarded as a top 150 player in the draft, so it's highly likely he honors his commitment to LSU after getting taken this late. The left-handed power bat won MVP honors at the MLB High School All-American Game.
The 2026 Major League Baseball Draft featured a couple of early picks by the Boston Red Sox who hailed from Wisconsin, a couple of later Wisconsin picks from the Milwaukee Brewers and a healthy dose of Wisconsin picks Atlanta Braves.
A look at who got taken:
Jake Schaffner, shortstop
University of North Carolina
Janesville Craig High School
Boston Red Sox
First round, pick No. 20
The fast-riser began his college career at North Dakota State and then became a sparkplug for the College World Series runner-up Tar Heels. The left-handed hitter stole 26 bases in 29 attempts and led NCAA Division I with eight triples. He's 6-foot-2, 200 pounds. The pick had a slot value of $4.37 million.
Jace Mataczynski, shortstop
Hudson High School
Boston Red Sox
Third round, pick No. 96
The 6-4, 195-pounder put himself on the map with a good showing at the World Wood Bat Association World Championship in October. His pick has a slot value of $815,7000. He has a scholarship offer to Auburn.
Tyson Grulkowski, right-handed pitcher
Muskego High School
Atlanta Braves
Sixth round, pick No. 173
The 6-5, first-team All-State selection has a scholarship offer to South Florida. His slot value is $389,900.
Cole Selvig, right-handed pitcher
University of Minnesota
Regis Catholic High School (Eau Claire)
Miami Marlins
Sixth round, pick No. 176
He went 5-4 with a 5.21 ERA for the Gophers last year, leading the pitching staff in wins and innings pitched. He had a slot value of $380,200.
Jack Brenner, catcher
Fond du Lac High School
Atlanta Braves
Seventh round, pick No. 202
The 6-0, 174-pound senior hit .419 and was the Fox Valley Association Player of the Year this season. He has a slot value of $307,300.
Thomas Burns, right-handed pitcher
University of Texas
Hortonville High School
Minnesota Twins
Eighth round, pick No. 221
The 6-3 pitcher was 1-2 with a 3.71 ERA with four saves as a member of the Longhorns in 2025, then went 2-0 with a 5.64 ERA and four saves in 23 appearances this year. He had 83 strikeouts in just 49 innings over the two years. The 6-3, 240-pounder has a slot value of $253,300.
Nick Williams, right-handed pitcher
Michigan State University
Union Grove High School
Washington Nationals
10th round, pick No. 286
He hit .333 this season, his third with the Spartans, including 14 doubles and six homers, with a .974 OPS. The pick has a slot value of $200,100.
Dominic Kibler, catcher
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
New Berlin West High School
Atlanta Braves
12th round, pick No. 352
Kibler was part of UWM's fun run in the NCAA tournament. He was a first-team All-Horizon League pick this year at the flex position, leading the Panthers with 60 RBIs.
Owen Nowak, outfielder
Middle Tennessee State
Union Grove High School
Houston Astros
12th round, pick No. 361
The leadoff hitter led the team with a .435 on-base percentage after spending two years at McHenry County Community College.
Hailing from the northern border of Wisconsin, he began his career at St. Thomas in Minnesota and was named all-Summit League before making 14 appearances for the Gophers this year, posting a 4.10 ERA.
The Horizon League first-team choice set the school's single-season stolen-base record by swiping 41 in 45 tries in 2026. He batted .340 with a team-best 72 hits.
Chance Ruby, shortstop
Wilmot Union High School
Milwaukee Brewers
17th round, pick No. 521
The all-state senior from Wisconsin stands 6-feet and 190 pounds and has a commitment to Illinois-Chicago.
Dominic Santarelli, outfielder
Kenosha St. Joseph Academy
Seattle Mariners
18th round, pick No. 550
Santarelli was the top prep prospect in the state and was regarded as a top 150 player in the draft, so it's highly likely he honors his commitment to LSU after getting taken this late. The left-handed power bat won MVP honors at the MLB High School All-American Game.
The Cincinnati Reds are anticipated to be one of MLB's sellers at this year's trade deadline.
Even with another strong season from shortstop Elly De La Cruz, the Reds are at the bottom of the NL Central standings.
Clinching a Wild Card spot is possible but not likely.
One of Cincinnati's top trade chips could be an outfielder who began the season at Triple-A but has a .846 OPS with 16 home runs in 67 games.
"JJ Bleday was DFA'd by the Athletics last season before picking up with the Cincinnati Reds in 2026. While the Reds are on a somber trajectory these days, Bleday's breakout season is a bright spot," FanSided's Christopher Kline wrote Monday.
"Moreover, with Bleday under club control through 2028, the Reds could flip him for significant value at the deadline," Kline added.
Bleday connected for 20 home runs in 2024 with the A's. But his 2025 season consisted of an elevated strikeout rate and a .698 OPS.
The Reds clearly saw something they could fix with Bleday's swing, and he's turned into a valuable everyday player for manager Terry Francona's club.
"Cincy will need to weigh the risk and reward of carrying Bleday into next season as opposed to selling when his value has reached what is probably its absolute highest point," Kline added. "Every team needs outfield help."
Bleday's Reds tenure may be a short one. There are certainly a few contending teams who will show interest at the deadline.
The Detroit Tigers have played much better baseball recently to climb back into the American League playoff chase. It will still take some doing for the team to overcome a dreadful start and get into the postseason. Not many people believe that the reigning American League Cy Young winner will be around to see if the Tigers can accomplish that because is is clearly the most coveted commodity for other teams as the MLB trade deadline nears. Even though Skubal has made it clear that he wants to stick around the Motor City for at least a little longer.
We’ll soon have resolution on his immediate future. And whichever franchise gets to send him out to the mound every five days will be thrilled. He’s a fan favorite in Detroit despite all the drama of the last several months and if he got a new home, those fans would go berserk.
Skubal at the trade deadline
ESPN’s baseball insider Jeff Passan added his insight into the biggest trade deadline character and question on Monday’s “Get Up”, along the way revealing which team is most likely to acquire his services.
“If there’s a team that’s gonna go get Tarik SKubal, … it is the Los Angeles Dodgers,” Passan said.
Such a development would not sit well with 29 other fanbases. The Dodgers have the best record in baseball at 61-36 and are seeking their third straight World Series. Throw a dart at their roster and it’s likely to hit an All-Star.
“They can pretty much do what they want at this point,” Passan said before pointing out that the team has been active and not so active during previous trade deadlines during their dynastic run.
Skubal’s future
Look, I’m a Tigers fan and believe Skubal is going to stay in Detroit. But if he does land with the Dodgers, crushing my team’s hopes and only making Los Angeles more of a wagon, then so be it. The Dodgers can do pretty much anything they want at this point and still win a World Series. It’s downright scary to think of how many of those they could string together if they got Skubal’s services for years to come.
The reason there’s no reason to let what the Dodgers do get under your skin is because it’s so competent. It feels like an overwhelming majority of sports fans spend their lives decrying local ownership and all the boneheaded decisions that are made. We suffer because organizations can’t figure it out and never put a premium on winning. So why be made at the one who has perfected it?
Of course that’s easy for me to say now. Check back a few hours after Skubal to the Dodgers becomes a reality and you’ll likely find a broken man.
The 2026 MLB All-Star Game should be a special one, as the league celebrates the 250th anniversary of America with the Midsummer Classic in Philadelphia.
The first half of the MLB season had many players with storylines worthy of making the All-Star Game, as every team will send one representative to Philadelphia for the festivities. While injuries have shaken up the rosters a bit, plenty of stars will play on Tuesday night for bragging rights over the other league.
Teams like the Los Angeles Dodgers and Atlanta Braves had a strong first half and will be well represented in the game, as the National League has been better than the American League for the first few months. However, Phillies stars Bryce Harper, Kyle Schwarber, Cristopher Sanchez and Brandon Marsh will surely be highlights of the week with Philadelphia serving as the host city.
Therefore, here's a look at both the American League and National League rosters for the 2026 All-Star Game.
The American League starting lineup will feature a variety of players, as eight different teams are represented to begin the game. The lineup also features three different players who were elevated to starters due to injury replacements.
The Los Angeles Dodgers had four players voted into the starting lineup, the most of any team, as three will play in the game. The Philadelphia Phillies and Atlanta Braves are also well represented in the starting lineup.
Position
Player
Team
Catcher
Drake Baldwin
Atlanta Braves
First base
Freddie Freeman
Los Angeles Dodgers
Second base
Ozzie Albies
Atlanta Braves
Third base
Max Muncy
Los Angeles Dodgers
Shortstop
CJ Abrams
Washington Nationals
Outfield
Brandon Marsh
Philadelphia Phillies
Outfield
Juan Soto
New York Mets
Outfield
Andy Pages
Los Angeles Dodgers
Designated hitter
Kyle Schwarber**
Philadelphia Phillies
Starting pitcher
Cristopher Sanchez
Philadelphia Phillies
*Injured or not participating*
**Injury replacement**
American League All-Star Game reserves and pitchers
Here's a look at the reserves who will represent the American League at the All-Star Game.
Position
Player
Team
Catcher
Dillon Dingler
Detroit Tigers
Catcher
Adley Rutschman
Baltimore Orioles
First base
Nick Kurtz*
Athletics
First base
Vladimir Guerrero Jr.*
Toronto Blue Jays
First base
Munetaka Murakami**
Chicago White Sox
First base
Willson Contreras**
Boston Red Sox
Second base
Travis Bazzana
Cleveland Guardians
Third base
Miguel Vargas
Chicago White Sox
Shortstop
Kevin McGonigle
Detroit Tigers
Outfield
Randy Arozarena
Seattle Mariners
Outfield
Aaron Judge*
New York Yankees
Outfield
Byron Buxton*
Minnesota Twins
Outfield
Ceddanne Rafaela**
Boston Red Sox
Outfield
Tristan Peters**
Chicago White Sox
Designated hitter
Yandy Diaz
Tampa Bay Rays
Starting pitcher
Cam Schlittler*
New York Yankees
Starting pitcher
Drew Rasmussen
Tampa Bay Rays
Starting pitcher
Parker Messick
Cleveland Guardians
Starting pitcher
Joe Ryan
Minnesota Twins
Starting pitcher
Nick Martinez**
Tampa Bay Rays
Starting pitcher
Michael Wacha
Kansas City Royals
Starting pitcher
Ranger Suarez*
Boston Red Sox
Starting pitcher
Justin Verlander
Detroit Tigers
Relief pitcher
Bryan Baker
Tampa Bay Rays
Relief pitcher
Louis Varland
Toronto Blue Jays
Relief pitcher
Aroldis Chapman
Boston Red Sox
Relief pitcher
Cade Smith
Cleveland Guardians
Relief pitcher
Jacob Latz
Texas Rangers
*Injured or not participating*
**Injury replacement**
National League All-Star Game reserves and pitchers
Here's who the National League reserves and pitchers are for the All-Star Game.
The Baltimore Orioles are not in the postseason picture at the All-Star break.
That doesn't mean the AL East club can't make trades in an attempt to improve the roster and make a late-season push.
On Monday, the Orioles announced that they had acquired right-handed reliever Cam Sanders from the Pittsburgh Pirates in exchange for cash.
Sanders, 29, was recently designated for assignment by the Pirates. He allowed nine earned runs on nine hits in 9.1 innings in his second season in Pittsburgh.
Charlie Wright of MLB Trade Rumors reports that the Orioles have optioned Sanders to Triple-A Norfolk to start his tenure in Baltimore's system.
To make room on the 40-man roster, left-hander Keegan Akin was transferred to the 60-day IL.
Sanders is a former 12th-round draft pick of the Chicago Cubs in 2018. He played collegiate baseball at Northwest Florida State College and LSU.
As the eight sluggers try to square up as many baseballs as possible to win the competition, they'll also be playing for a $1 million top prize.
For some young players such as Kansas City Royals outfielder Jac Caglianone, New York Yankees first baseman Ben Rice and St. Louis Cardinals outfielder Jordan Walker, that figure represents more money than they will make in salary for the entire 2026 season.
Throw in an extra bonus for the longest home run of the competition, and it could be a pretty profitable night's work in Philadelphia.
Home Run Derby payouts
Champion: $1 million
Runner-up: $500,000
Other participants: $150,000
Longest home run: $100,000
2026 Home Run Derby field: Who is participating?
Below is the list of players that are competing in the 2026 MLB Home Run Derby (with current home run total in parentheses):
This year's event is set for Monday, July 13, at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia. Of the eight participants, five are from the American League and seven will participate in the MLB All-Star Game the following day.
The Home Run Derby will have a slightly different look this season. Hitters will no longer compete under a clock and instead will have a finite number of swings to take in each round.
Hitters will get 20 swings in the first round and 15 swings in both the semifinals and finals. If a player homers on the final swing of any round, he can continue hitting until a swing does not result in a home run.
Here's what central Ohio baseball fans need to know about watching the Home Run Derby on July 13.
Kyle Schwarber, Philadelphia Phillies DH (32 home runs)
Munetaka Murakami, Chicago White Sox 1B (20 home runs)
When is the 2026 MLB Home Run Derby?
Date: Monday, July 13
Time: 8 p.m. ET
Location: Citizens Bank Park (Philadelphia)
The 2026 MLB Home Run Derby is set for 8 p.m. ET on Monday, July 13, at Citizens Bank Park, the home of the Philadelphia Phillies and the site of the 2026 MLB All-Star Game.
What channel is the 2026 MLB Home Run Derby on?
The derby will not be broadcast on TV. Instead, the event will exclusively be streaming on Netflix. The lowest subscription cost for Netflix is $8.99 per month, which includes ads.
They have a few players who could be switching teams in the next few weeks, including Matt Chapman, Jung Hoo Lee, and Luis Arraez.
Due to his expiring contract, Arraez is the most likely Giants player to be traded. He's also having a great defensive season at second base, which makes him more valuable.
"Bemoaned for his league-worst defensive metrics and essentially relegated to strictly first base a year ago, Arráez bet on himself and joined San Francisco with the intention of playing second base again.
"Most of us rolled our eyes; it felt like a disastrous move for a team with a black hole on the right side of the infield in Rafael Devers," FanSided's Christopher Kline wrote. "Instead, Arráez has completely reinvented himself and emerged as a leading Gold Glove candidate."
At the All-Star break, Arraez is hitting .330 with an .829 OPS and more walks (24) than strikeouts (16). He is a free swinger and already has 21 doubles this season.
Clubs like the New York Yankees and Tampa Bay Rays, who both could use a new solution at leadoff hitter, may show interest in Arraez.
For much of the 2026 MLB season, it appeared to be only a matter of time before Detroit Tigers ace Tarik Skubal was traded. With the left-hander set to become a free agent after the 2026 season and widespread belief that Detroit would struggle to retain him long-term, many around baseball expected the Tigers to capitalize on his value by moving him before the MLB trade deadline. Now, however, the situation has become much more complicated.
Jul 11, 2025; Detroit, Michigan, USA; Detroit Tigers starting pitcher Tarik Skubal (29) throws a pitch against the Seattle Mariners in the fifth inning at Comerica Park. Mandatory Credit: Lon Horwedel-Imagn Images
According to Bob Nightengale via Foul Territory on X, Skubal has told friends that he badly wants to remain with the Tigers for the rest of the season and has no interest in being traded. Those comments could have a significant impact on Detroit’s approach over the next few weeks.
Earlier this season, when the Tigers were near the bottom of the standings, trading Skubal seemed like the logical move. A back-to-back American League Cy Young Award winner would command one of the largest prospect packages seen in years, allowing Detroit to capitalize on the value rather than lose him for nothing more than a compensatory draft pick. The Tigers’ recent surge, however, has changed the conversation.
Detroit Is Back in the Race
Instead of preparing to sell, the Tigers have played themselves back into contention. They now sit within striking distance in both the AL Central and the American League Wild Card race, making it much more difficult for the front office to justify trading its best player.
Keeping Skubal would give Detroit its best chance to make a postseason push, even if there’s still uncertainty about his long-term future.
Aug 2, 2025; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Detroit Tigers pitcher Tarik Skubal (29) throws a pitch against the Philadelphia Phillies during the second inning at Citizens Bank Park. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-Imagn Images
Skubal’s reported stance may also influence interested teams. While clubs would undoubtedly love to add one of baseball’s premier pitchers for the stretch run, they may think twice about surrendering a massive package for a player who has made it clear he doesn’t want to leave his current organization.
That doesn’t necessarily mean a trade won’t happen, but it could affect how aggressively teams pursue him or how much they’re willing to offer.
A Franchise-Altering Decision
The Tigers now face one of the toughest decisions of the trade deadline. Trading Skubal could still be the smartest long-term baseball move if Detroit believes it cannot sign him to a contract extension. The return could reshape the organization’s future.
On the other hand, with the team back in the playoff hunt and its ace wanting to stay, keeping him may be the better choice for a club trying to prove it can compete.
One thing is certain: Skubal’s latest comments have added another layer to what was already one of the biggest trade deadline storylines in baseball, and Detroit’s decision could have ripple effects across the entire league.
The MLB Draft this year was 613 picks across 20 rounds (plus some compensatory slots).
Archer Horn was ranked No. 54 on the MLB.com final big board.
Despite that, Horn wasn't drafted after a standout career at St. Ignatius High School in California.
It's huge news for the Stanford Cardinal, who have Horn committed to come play for them.
But simply in how the numbers work out, it's a bit of a shock that Horn went the whole draft without being chosen.
"At the plate, he shows off good bat speed and the ability to loft the baseball, providing some confidence that he’ll impact the ball with high exit velocities, especially as he adds strength," MLB.com wrote in its pre-draft blurb. "Though not everyone loves his pure hit tool, there could very well be more power to come in the future. Horn is an average runner but is a good athlete who has been his school’s point guard on the basketball court in the past. He’s 93-95 mph off the mound, and that arm really works from shortstop. Some see a move to third or second in the future given his lack of pure footspeed, but refinement and consistency on his angles and transfers could give him a chance to stick."
Horn wasn't drafted almost certainly due to his college commitment.
When players ranked this high don't come off the board, it's because they've made it clear to MLB teams that they plan on matriculating to campus and not immediately signing a professional contract.
The top undrafted prospect from 2026? That would be St. Ignatius shortstop Archer Horn. He's headed to Stanford. pic.twitter.com/nsREzG1Ikp
It's break time, and look what we have here across Major League Baseball: Five relatively red-hot divisional races.
Four divisions are either tied or separated by no more than three games as the All-Star break mercifully arrives. The NL Central features a five-game bulge, but it's almost certain the Chicago Cubs and Milwaukee Brewers will extend their drama long into September. As for the NL West? Well, the Los Angeles Dodgers can pulverize the tension out of anything, holding a 12 ½ game lead.
And then there's the AL Central home to the tightest race of all and the biggest surprise.
The Chicago White Sox roared into the break, sweeping the Athletics back to Yolo County by a combined score of 24-2 and staying in lockstep with the Cleveland Guardians atop the division. It's a far cry from their 32-65 mark at the break last year, to say nothing of their 27-71 mark on their way to a record 121 losses in 2024.
As the White Sox climb to No. 10 in USA TODAY Sports' power rankings, the dreams are only getting bigger and better.
"In our heads," White Sox shortstop Colson Montgomery told reporters, "we just are like, ‘How are we not going to be a playoff team if we just play like we are playing right now?’”
A look at our updated rankings:
1. Los Angeles Dodgers (-)
Just an absolute death grip on the division - and the entire National League.
2. Milwaukee Brewers (-)
Glorious first half ends with a thud: Swept at Pittsburgh, and the Miz taking a little siesta.
3. Tampa Bay Rays (-)
Something old: Evan Longoria's No. 3 retired. Something new: Catcher Nathan Flewelling named Futures Game MVP.
4. Atlanta Braves (-)
Matt Olson hits the break with 25 homers, but just six in his last 27 games.
The Home Run Derby will look different this year, as Netflix is set to take over broadcasting the event instead of ESPN.
The streaming service has the rights to the Home Run Derby for the next three seasons as part of its new TV deal with MLB. Netflix has already broadcast the Opening Night game between the New York Yankees and San Francisco Giants, and it will also broadcast the Field of Dreams game next month/
The 2026 Home Run Derby is special as it is part of MLB's celebration of America's 250th birthday from Philadelphia. Netflix has already recruited an impressive list of personalities who will be part of its broadcast on Monday night.
Meet Netflix's roster for the 2026 Home Run Derby.
The headliner at the Home Run Derby will be Barry Bonds, who hit an MLB-record 762 home runs in his career and won the 1992 Home Run Derby. Bonds joined Netflix for Opening Night between the Yankees and Giants, and he returns for the streaming service's coverage of this event. He will be on a desk that also features Elle Duncan and Albert Pujols.
Albert Pujols
Albert Pujols hit 703 home runs in his career, but never won this event when he was playing. Still, the slugger has joined the media in his post-career and provides Netflix another pure home-run hitter to help analyze the contestants, as he will be with Bonds and Elle Duncan on one of the desks throughout the night.
Anthony Rizzo
In his first year of retirement, Anthony Rizzo has take to television as a member of broadcasts for both NBC and Netflix. Rizzo was on Netflix's Opening Night team and has since broadcasted several games for NBC's Sunday Night Baseball. He is expected to be part of the main desk with Matt Vasgersian and Hunter Pence.
Hunter Pence
Hunter Pence is another retired MLB player who now works in the media, as he joined Netflix before the season along with his work for Apple TV. Pence was not necessarily a home run hitter but did win multiple World Series with the Giants, and he is the only former Phillies player on the crew in Philadelphia this week.
Matt Vasgersian
Vasgersian is all over baseball media, as he works for MLB Network and NBC, but he also lends his voice to Netflix now. Vasgersian called the Opening Night game between the Yankees and Giants, and Netflix is bringing him back as the main announcer for the Home Run Derby. He will be on a desk with Rizzo and Pence.
Elle Duncan
Elle Duncan left ESPN for Netflix last year, as she is the face of the service's pivot to sports in recent years. Duncan hosted the Opening night game and returns for the Home Run Derby, where she will work with Bonds and Pujols in particular.
Michael Irvin
Netflix has recruited some special guests for past broadcasts, and the service is doing it again by adding Michael Irvin for the Home Run Derby. While Irvin made a name for himself in football, he is a media veteran and will undoubtedly bring energy to the broadcast in whatever role he's assigned.
Lauren Shehadi
Shehadi works for MLB Network and TBS throughout the year as both a host and on-field reporter. For Netflix, she will once again be providing sideline reporting, this time in a chaotic environment at the Home Run Derby.
After being fast-tracked to the big leagues, Jac Caglianone will be on his brightest stage yet on Monday night.
Selected as one of the eight participants in the 2026 Home Run Derby, Caglianone will bring plenty of long-range homer power to Citizens Bank Park, able to become the youngest Derby winner ever.
As he takes on a big-name event for the first time, Caglianone will be having somebody close to him throw pitches, helping ease any potential nerves.
Here's what to know about Caglianone's pitcher at the Home Run Derby.
Who is pitching to Jac Caglianone in the Home Run Derby?
Caglianone's father, Jeff, will be throwing pitches to him at the 2026 Home Run Derby.
Growing up in Tampa, Florida, Jeff has often been the pitcher for his son's batting practices in the offseason, per MLB.com. And it isn't just Jac who he's thrown to — according to MLB.com, as a coach at H.B. Plant High School, other alums from the Tampa area have also said "that they like Jeff’s BP," including Orioles slugger Pete Alonso.
“It’s something you dream about,” Jac Caglianone said, per MLB.com. “Me and my dad, the many times we hit together, we’ve always joked about it. So for it to come to fruition is pretty sick. When I received the text [from Major League Baseball] saying they were interested in me doing it, it was an immediate yes."
"It’s going to be a lot of fun. We’ll be around the best in the game. It will be sick. Sharing that with my family is probably the biggest thing. … Some of my good buddies will be there. I know they are super excited for it. Luckily, I will have somebody to coach me through it between [Witt] and Sal [Salvador Perez], I’m going to lean on them and ask some questions. It’s not about time anymore. It’s about swings. I don’t know how much of a difference that will make. I’m just super excited.”
Who is Jeff Caglianone?
Per EssentiallySports, Jeff Caglianone also played baseball long before his son took it up — he played college ball at Stetson. Now, Jeff Caglianone is and AV-rated lawyer and the managing partner of Caglianone, Miller & Zeifert in Tampa, Florida.
After throwing to Jac Caglianone for years during his upbringing as a baseball player, Jeff Caglianone will now be stepping into the spotlight for the 2026 Home Run Derby.
Many Home Run Derby contestants in the past have chosen to take pitches from their dad — between the sentimental aspect of it, and the fact that many dads have thrown the most BPs to their sons throughout their lives, they've made for typical Derby pitchers.
Sometimes, it leads to some success. Cal Raleigh won the 2025 Derby with his father, Todd, throwing pitches, while Bryce Harper did the same with his dad, Ron, in 2018.
For Caglianone, getting his dad to throw was part of the appeal, he said.
“Having my dad throw is a huge reason why I’m doing it in the first place, to be honest with you. That’s stuff we talked about growing up, like, ‘How cool would that be?’ He’s thrown to me my entire life," Caglianone said, per MLB.com. "So when I got asked to do it, it’s like a bucket-list thing for both him and me. I think having that experience together will be like the most important thing I’ll get out of all of this.”
Cam Schlittler expressed second thoughts about pitching in Tuesday’s All-Star Game and notified Yankees manager Aaron Boone on Sunday morning.
Speaking with reporters after the Yankees completed a three-game sweep of the Nationals on Sunday at Washington, with a 5-3 victory, Schlittler’s concerns sounded precautionary in nature.
“The staff’s had a lot of injuries this year,’’ said Schlittler, mentioning Gerrit Cole’s delayed start to 2026 due to Tommy John surgery rehab, and current starters Max Fried and Carlos Rodon being on the IL.
“Don’t want to put that risk in there of letting the team down if I were not to recover in the right way and I’m kind of dragging a little bit,’’ said Schlittler. “That wouldn’t benefit anyone.’’
Yankees first baseman/DH Ben Rice (who'll participate in Monday's Home Run Derby) and Cody Bellinger were also selected to the All-Star team, and injured Yankees captain Aaron Judge (rib fracture) was voted in by the fans.
Judge is scheduled to undergo a follow-up MRI this week, six weeks after landing on the IL.
Schlittler tossed 6.2 innings in Saturday’s 4-2 win at Washington, using 99 pitches and moving into the break at 9-5 with a league-best 2.05 ERA in 20 starts.
Tuesday would be Schlittler’s normal between-starts bullpen day, but “I kind of knew that it didn’t line up perfectly’’ to pitch in the All-Star Game, he said.
“My priorities are to the (Yankees) and helping this team win a championship,’’ said Schlittler. “And I wasn’t comfortable enough that I was going to recover 100 percent to try and go out for an inning and throw as hard as I can.’’
All-Star and Blue Jays manager John Schneider named his right-hander, Dylan Cease, to start for the AL at Philadelphia, telling MLB.com that Cease was his choice regardless of Schlittler’s decision.
“Dylan’s been great this year, he deserves that,’’ said Schlittler, who – at least for now – is not being replaced on the AL team.
“I’m on the roster and if they need me, I’ll throw,’’ Schlittler said, adding his availability for Tuesday is “a conversation I’ll have in the next day or two.’’
Schlittler added that he feels “really good’’ physically and was “not worried about recovering or anything like that’’ if he were to pitch Tuesday.
Schlittler added that the Yankees and his teammates “supported the opportunity that I had’’ to pitch in the All-Star Game and “at the end of the day, it’s my decision.’’
The highly anticipated 2026 MLB All-Star Weekend event has arrived with baseball's best home runner hitters this season aiming to be crowned this year's Derby champion tonight at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia.
The focal point of this year's Derby centers around two teammates participating in their home ball park.
Philadelphia Phillies' first baseman Bryce Harper and designated hitter Kyle Schwarber are two of the eight competitors in the field, with both having notable Derby history against one another.
Back in 2018, Harper, then Washington Nationals' star, won the Derby in front of his home fans in D.C. as he defeated then Chicago Cubs slugger Kyle Schwarber 19-18 to win the Home Run Derby at Nationals Park eight years ago.
Will Harper or Schwarber reign supreme again, or will it be a newcomer or rookie in the field that wins this year's Derby?
Here's all the details you need to know on how to watch, the participants, the new format, the betting odds and our prediction on who will win the 2026 Home Run Derby:
Why is 2026 Home Run Derby on Netflix?
Stream: Netflix
The Home Run Derby will stream exclusively on Netflix.
That's because the 2026 MLB season began the first year of a three-year agreement between MLB and Netflix, NBCUniversal and ESPN.
After the Home Run Derby, only one more MLB event will air on the streaming platform this season which will come just over a month from now with the MLB at Field of Dreams Game on Aug. 13 between the Minnesota Twins (designated home team) and the Philadelphia Phillies at Field of Dreams Ballpark in Dyersville, Iowa.
What date, time is 2026 Home Run Derby?
Date: Monday, July 13
Time: 8 p.m. ET
This year's Home Run Derby will start Monday, July 13 at 8 p.m., with coverage beginning at 7 p.m on Netflix.
Who is competing in 2026 Home Run Derby? See participants
Here are the eight sluggers aiming to be crowned this year's champion in the Home Run Derby:
Just as in the past two Home Run Derby events in 2024 and 2025, the participants with the top four home run totals from that round will advance to the semifinals, where they’ll be seeded based on their first-round homer totals and face off head-to-head (No. 1 vs. No. 4 and No. 2 vs. No. 3) to determine the two finalists.
Home run distance will be the tiebreaker in the first round, with the player who hits the longest homer among the tied participants moving on. In the following rounds, ties will be broken by three-swing swing-offs until a winner is ultimately determined.
This new swing-based setup is similar to the Home Run Derby's from years past in 2015 and prior, which saw hitters start each round with a specific number of “outs” and aiming to hit as many home runs as they could before their outs ran out, with each swing not resulting in a home run counting toward that number.
Who's the favorite in 2026 Home Run Derby? See betting odds
It may be hard to believe that Bryce Harper is in the middle of his eighth season as a Phillie. When Philadelphia was announced as the site of this year's All-Star festivities seven years ago, he was on the stage — and since then, given his combination of star power and slugging, he's virtually been penciled in as a 2026 Home Run Derby participant.
Harper's official announcement took longer than anticipated, however. His father, who threw to him in his 2018 Derby victory in Washington D.C., was no longer an option, leaving Harper to find a trustworthy enough candidate to throw to him in a massive event.
The Phillies star settled upon a three-time World Series champion coach who has already found some derby success.
Here's why Harper wound up choosing Dodgers coach Dino Ebel to throw to him at the 2026 Home Run Derby.
Who is pitching to Bryce Harper in the Home Run Derby?
Harper will be taking pitches from Dodgers third base coach Dino Ebel at the 2026 Home Run Derby. Despite fan interest in Harper going for a second Derby trophy — also with a chance to win in front of his home fans after doing so in 2018 — he didn't commit to the event until days prior, partially due to him not having a locked-in pitching option.
“Then once I thought about it more and more,” Harper said, per The Athletic. “Knowing the fans want me to do it, my kids are going to be able to remember it — things like that sparked my interest a little bit more.”
After weighing his options, Harper picked Ebel to throw to him at Citizens Bank Park, going with somebody he was able to develop a relationship with at another major baseball event earlier in 2026.
“He throws a really good BP,” Harper said of Ebel, per The Athletic. “I think the tough part is I won’t be able to see him before the Derby really to practice or anything else. So we’re trying to go into it a little bit blind.”
Who is Dino Ebel?
Ebel is a 60-year-old coach who is currently the Dodgers' third-base coach. Born in Barstow, California, during his own baseball playing career, Ebel attended San Bernardino Valley College, won an NCAA Division II title with Florida Southern College in 1988, joined the Dodgers organization as a free agent and found some success in the minor leagues before moving into coaching.
After initially becoming a player-coach in Class A-Advanced and high-A, Ebel officially became a minor-league manager by 1997. He would spend 17 years in the Dodgers' organization before a 2005 move to the Angels' system, starting out as the coach of the Stingers in the PCL, then eventually moving into the big leagues.
Ebel is one of the more highly-regarded assistant coaches around baseball, spending nearly his entire life in the sport as a manager and coach.
After his player-coach days in the minor leagues were over, Ebel went on to manage in high-A, the Rookie-level Pioneer League, the Class-A Short Season Northwest League, Class A, Class AA all within the Dodgers' organization. After 17 years being employed by the Dodgers, however, Ebel joined the Angels' system in 2005 and eventually moved up to the big leagues.
Ebel became a third-base coach for the Angels, then became the bench coach in 2014. Since 2018, however, Ebel has been back with the Dodgers, remaining the team's third-base coach for three World Series championships.
And that's not the end of his strong coaching pedigree over the last decade — Ebel has also been Team USA's third-base coach in each of the last two World Baseball Classic tournaments.
Why Bryce Harper chose Dino Ebel
The last time he competed in the Home Run Derby, Harper had his father, Ron, throw pitches to him. But in 2026, that wasn't an option, with Ron having not thrown BP in years.
Initially, Harper was mulling whether he'd participate at all. But, per The Athletic, after thinking about asking those who threw previously to him in college and the minor leagues, Harper decided upon Ebel, who also threw pitches to Phillies teammate Kyle Schwarber during the swing-off portion of the 2025 All-Star Game.
Harper spent time with Ebel at this year's World Baseball Classic on Team USA, and as yet another added bonus, he's already helped win a Home Run Derby. In 2024, Ebel pitched to the Dodgers' Teoscar Hernandez, who won the event.
“I'm super comfortable with my dad throwing to me for my whole life," Harper said, per MLB.com. "That’s a big thing. You can't just pick somebody random to go out there. … I'm not going to do something if I'm going to have a half-mentality towards it, because I'm worried about the pitcher, or I'm worried about what's going to happen, or anything else. If I'm going to do it, I want to be full bore and very confident in winning it.”
The Home Run Derby officially kicks off MLB All-Star week, as some of the game's biggest sluggers look to add their names to an elite list of past winners.
For most players, the Derby is simply a chance to have fun and showcase their power in front of a national audience. However, a few contestants could have their eyes on the prize money, which is enticing to those still early in their career.
Home Run Derby winners typically don't participate for the money, but it's nice to know that winning the entire contest will lead to a hefty sum of money. While there are other prizes in play, the money is what the winner will covet first and foremost.
Here's how much money is on the line in the Home Run Derby.
The Home Run Derby winner is set to take home $1 million, which is more than what many players make for an entire season. Players like Ben Rice, Jac Caglianone and Jordan Walker could end up making more by winning the Home Run Derby than they will with their salary for the 2026 campaign.
The player who finishes in second place during this event will receive $500,000, a respectable number in its own right. The other six players then will get $150,000 for participating, and the player with the longest home run will get an extra $100,000.
Who is participating in the Home Run Derby?
There will be eight contestants in the Home Run Derby, with many new names stepping into the spotlight this year. Here's who is participating in the event this season:
As baseball's stars descend on Citizens Bank Park, eight sluggers have the chance to light up the Philadelphia night with the home run ball on Monday.
The Home Run Derby features two hometown favorites, a rookie who quickly emerged as one of the best power hitters in baseball, an MVP contender and more, with a $1 million prize on the line.
Outside of the Phillies' derby duo, this year's field features plenty of youth — and the youngest of the bunch already proved last year that he is built for this stage.
Here's a complete look at the 2026 Home Run Derby lineup.
Just two years after being drafted, young Royals outfielder Jac Caglianone will participate in his first Home Run Derby.
Caglianone might have rushed to the big leagues in 2025, as he hit just .157 over 62 games, but he's progressed from one of baseball's worst hitters to an above-average bat this season with 15 home runs and a .785 OPS through 89 games. Caglianone has 10 home runs and a .912 OPS since the start of June, so he enters the Home Run Derby red hot.
While 15 home runs might not jump off the page, only 12 hitters have more "no doubter" home runs than Caglianone this season, according to Statcast. When he hits them, he tends to hit them far. Caglianone is hoping to be the Royals' first-ever derby winner.
Junior Caminero, Rays
Age: 23
Appearance: 2nd
HRs in 2026: 28
Career HRs: 80
Rays third baseman Junior Caminero is even younger than Caglianone, but he has emerged as one of baseball's best all-around bats. Caminero finished his first full MLB season with 45 home runs and 110 RBI in 2025, and any fears that he simply benefitted from the Rays' temporary home in a minor-league stadium have been quashed this year.
Caminero is hitting .281 with 28 home runs and a .933 OPS through 93 games, with 13 of those home runs coming in an otherworldly 17-game stretch between late June and early July. That tear made Caminero an MVP candidate in a wide open AL race.
This is Caminero's second derby appearance, as he was the runner-up to Cal Raleigh in Atlanta last year with an impressive performance just days after he turned 22.
Red Sox first baseman Willson Contreras isn't viewed as a traditional power hitter, but he's on track to shatter his career-high of 24 home runs with 20 through his first half of a season with the Red Sox.
Contreras was a bright spot during otherwise dark times in Boston early this season, carrying a .921 OPS through 88 games and hitting what would be a career-best .285. The former Cubs and Cardinals slugger is closing in on 200 home runs and made it clear before any MLB announcement that he wanted to participate in the derby.
Contreras is the first Red Sox hitter in the Home Run Derby since David Ortiz in 2011.
Bryce Harper, Phillies
Age: 33
Appearance: 3rd
HRs in 2026: 20
Career HRs: 383
Bryce Harper is already one of three players to win the Home Run Derby in his home ballpark. On Monday, he'll have the chance to do it again.
The two-time MVP, in the midst of another strong season at the plate with 20 home runs and an .869 OPS, agreed to participate in the derby for the third time in his career, giving him the opportunity to put on a show in front of the home fans eight years after he won a derby crown at Nationals Park.
The only former winner in the field, Harper leads all derby participants with 383 career home runs.
White Sox first baseman Munetaka Murakami ranked among baseball's home run leaders through the opening two months of the season, but a hamstring injury kept him off the field from late May until his return on Friday. Despite just coming off the IL this past weekend, Murakami is giving the Home Run Derby a shot in his rookie season.
The White Sox took a chance on Murakami this offseason as teams had concerns about his strikeout rate and lack of a true position in Japan, and they have been rewarded to this point with the 26-year-old's power overshadowing those concerns. If Murakami is healthy, he could put on a show in Philadelphia.
Ben Rice, Yankees
Age: 27
Appearance: 1st
HRs in 2026: 29
Career HRs: 62
Ben Rice has been a savior for the Yankees this season, turning in an All-Star season with 29 home runs and a .971 OPS in the first half. Rice heated up again in the week leading up to the All-Star break, reaching base 13 times in a five-game stretch, and he could even get some MVP buzz if he can keep this up in the second half.
Rice brings a great story to the Home Run Derby, as he was a 12th-round pick out of Dartmouth in 2021 after most of his college career was wiped out by the Ivy League's strict COVID-19 policies before working his way through the ranks in the Yankees' system and going from a desperation call-up in 2024 to an essential piece in 2026.
The Phillies will have two hometown favorites in the Home Run Derby, as Kyle Schwarber will take aim at his first win at Citizens Bank Park amid another dominant power-hitting season.
Schwarber already has 32 home runs, putting 50 in his sights and 60 at least on the table. The veteran finished second in MVP voting last season with 56 home runs, and his numbers this year are right in line with just about all of his 2025 marks.
Schwarber is making his third derby appearance, as he finished as the runner-up to Harper in Washington D.C. in 2018 and lost to Albert Pujols in the first round at Dodger Stadium in 2022.
Jordan Walker, Cardinals
Age: 24
Appearance: 1st
HRs in 2026: 22
Career HRs: 49
The Cardinals deserve credit for sticking with Jordan Walker, who posted a -2.6 WAR over his first three seasons despite being a former top prospect. Walker landed an everyday role to start this season and has become the player St. Louis hoped he would be, hitting .294 with 22 home runs and an .887 OPS through the first 92 games.
Walker will go into the derby as an underdog, but he's the first Cardinals participant since 2022 and can become St. Louis' first-ever derby winner.
The MLB Home Run Derby is undergoing its biggest transformation in a decade.
The latest tinkering for the MLB event, which will take place at Philadelphia’s Citizens Bank Park, will be oriented around swings, not seconds. This year, baseball is completely eliminating the clock. Hitters will get 20 swings in Round 1, 15 swings in Round 2, and 15 in the final round. If a player homers on their last swing in any round, they get to keep going until they don’t homer. There are no brackets in the opening round, and there is no bonus round.
The 2026 field includes some familiar faces to the derby, including 2018 winner and Bryce Harper of the host team Phillies and 2025 runner-up Junior Caminero of the Rays. Other participants include Ben Rice of the Yankees, Jac Caglianone of the Royals, Willson Contreras of the Red Sox and Jordan Walker of the Cardinals.
Here's everything you need to know about watching the Home Run Derby, including the full schedule and start times for all of All-Star Week.
The 2026 Home Run Derby will begin at 8 p.m. ET on Monday, July 13, from Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia. Special pre-show coverage will begin at 7 p.m. ET.
How to watch the Home Run Derby: TV channel, live stream
In a historic broadcasting shift, the Home Run Derby will not air on traditional cable television. Viewers can stream the entire iconic event live exclusively on Netflix.
The Home Run Derby follows a modified three-round format, starting with eight total sluggers comprising the field.
In the first round, all eight hitters enter a single pool and have 20 swings to hit as many home runs as possible. The four players with the highest total of homers advance to the semifinals. Ties in the first round will be broken by the longest home run distance. From the second round onward, the top four hitters are seeded (No. 1 vs. No. 4 and No. 2 vs. No. 3) for head-to-head matchups, where they will get 15 swings each. Ties in the semifinals and finals will be broken by a three-swing swing-off.
The participants for this year's event will be updated below as they are announced:
Detroit — As Major League Baseball hits the All-Star break, the Tigers went shopping for their next crop of All-Stars.
The 2026 MLB Draft wrapped up Sunday, and the Tigers took 20 players in 20 rounds, including 13 pitchers and seven position players. The Tigers also went as leaned on college players as they've gone in the era of Scott Harris, who has been president of baseball operations since 2022. This was the fourth draft under Harris.
The Tigers took just six players out of high school, and 14 out of college. (Complete pick-by-pick analysis HERE.) The six out of high school is tied with the fewest under Harris. They also took six out of high school in 2025. The Tigers only selected two players out of high school in the first 10 rounds in 2026. Their first pick in the 11th round, a highly rated hitting prospect named Will Adams from Alabama, also was a high-school selection.
Tigers executives were asked Sunday night if that split had anything to do with the new landscape of college athletics, where players can be paid handsomely with NIL money by going to college rather than going pro early.
"We're always aware of the baseball landscape, said Rob Metzler, assistant general manager and vice president who oversees the Tigers' scouting. "I think it's just the way the draft board fell this year."
Dominic Pellegrin, a shortstop out of Louisiana, was the first high-schooler selected by the Tigers in 2026, in the fourth round Saturday. They then took third baseman Robert Omidi, out of St. Martin Secondary School in Ontario, in the eighth round. Pellegrin is committed to Tulane, and Omidi is committed to Kentucky.
The signing-bonus value for Pellegrin's slot is $614,500, and Omidi's is $225,300. Both could demand more to pass up on college, and the Tigers have a modest bonus pool of just over $9 million to spread around. More than two-thirds of that figures to go to their top three picks, all college players, including first-round pick Caeron Flukey, a right-hander out of Coastal Carolina whose slot is valued at more than $4 million.
The slot values end after the 10th round, so it's up to the Tigers and other clubs to work the phones and do some back-of-the-napkin math to figure out how to make 20 picks that can be signed.
That makes the pick of Adams, 18, a first baseman and corner outfielder out of high school in Alabama, such an intriguing one. He was taken in the 11th round, 336th overall. MLB.com's pre-draft rankings had him at 102.
Adams' commitment to LSU might've had a lot of other teams shying away from taking him, but the Tigers felt he was worth the pick, given what MLB's draft analysts called one of the "prettiest left-handed swings" among high-schoolers in the 2026 MLB Draft class. It's a shorter swing, Tigers brass said, but with some pull-side power potential.
Mark Conner, Tigers director of amateur scouting, said, "He's got a chance to be a pretty dynamic hitter and we're excited to have him."
That's if, of course, they do end up having him. Draft picks face a signing deadline of 5 p.m. July 27. If a pick isn't signed, a team loses that slot value from its pool, but there's no penalty for not signing a player after the 10th round.
There was some definitely pre-draft buzz surrounding Adams, Alabama's Gatorade high school player of the year, possibly even going as high as the second round.
Metzler declined comment on the signability of any of the Tigers draft picks, but he did stress that his lieutenants do their homework.
"I would highlight the relationships ... our staff make with players to understand what their goals are and what's going to be their best development path," Metzler said Sunday. "I thought we were very prepared for what options might come our way and we're excited with how it played out."
The Tigers' other high-school picks in 2026 were right-handed pitchers Dustin Dunwoody (15th round, California), Jack Byers (17th round, New Mexico) and Will Zielinski (20th round, Alberta).
On Day 2 of the MLB Draft, which featured the final 16 rounds, the Tigers used three of their first seven selections on players who were ranked by MLB.com higher than where they Tigers ended up selecting them, including Oregon shortstop Maddox Molony (taken 187th, ranked 176th), Omidi (taken 246th, ranked 207th) and Adams.
Tigers 2026 MLB Draft picks
First round: Cameron Flukey, RHP, 6-16/210, Coastal Carolina
PHILADELPHIA – Franklin graduate Luke Guth was drafted in the 19th round of the Major League Baseball draft on Sunday, July 12.
Guth, 22, was taken by the Chicago Cubs after his junior year at Vanderbilt. He joins his brother, Zach, who was drafted in the 26th round of the 2018 MLB Draft. Both were dominant players for Franklin.
Guth went 7-3 with a 4.08 ERA in 54 games at Vanderbilt and allowed one earned run in three innings for Mahoning Valley in the MLB Draft League this summer.
Guth was an all-state standout for the Knights and also played basketball. He was ranked as the No. 10 player in Pennsylvania when he committed to the Commodores.
In the 20th round of the 2026 MLB Draft, the Milwaukee Brewers drafted Carsten Sabathia III.
He's the son of CC Sabathia, the Hall of Famer who had one hot late-season run with the Brewers during his legendary career that also included Cleveland and the New York Yankees.
The Brewers used their final pick of this year's draft to pay a little homage to CC.
CC's full name was Carsten Charles Sabathia, and so his son follows in those footsteps by going by the Carsten portion of the name.
Carston is a 6-foot-4 infielder from the University of Houston who's listed at 245 pounds. He bats from the right side.
He played his high school ball at Bergen Catholic in New Jersey.
Carsten began his collegiate career at Georgia Tech, but he got into only 19 games in two seasons.
His first season at Houston was 2025, and he played in 27 games. Carsten hit .235 with five doubles, two home runs and 18 RBI.
He played in 37 games in 2026 and raised his average to .28 with three doubles and six homers. Carsten put up a .511 slugging percentage, and an .885 OPS, in his final college season.
Based on his draft round, it's clear that MLB teams weren't super high on his long-term potential. Carsten likely is stuck as a DH or first baseman, and his bat isn't a totally sure thing.
But he's got quality pedigree and a good mentor, and maybe that'll help him surprise and become a late-round gem for the Brewers.
Tears flowed, and hugs were in order for the 18-year-old, recently graduated Mamaroneck star as he sat surrounded by family and friends after hearing his name called in the MLB Draft.
“I was in shock,” Plunkett said. “Honestly, I’m still in shock.”
It was the Baltimore Orioles who believed in Plunkett enough to use their lone eighth-round selection on him, picking him 230th overall on July 12.
Plunkett’s dream of eventually getting drafted was not unique. Most young baseball players dream of hearing their name called in the MLB Draft, but very few actually get to see that dream become a reality.
“It’s a dream come true,” he said.
His dream of getting drafted might have had to wait, if not for a late surge in the past several months, according to Plunkett. After committing to Binghamton in the fall of 2024 and receiving a full ride, professional buzz quieted around the shortstop.
But this spring, he raked, hitting .485 with six home runs, 28 RBI, 23 steals, 36 runs scored and reached base at a .611 clip. Additionally, he made only one error at shortstop for a team that dethroned Ketcham as the Section 1 champion.
That elite level of play made his head coach question some of the names that were called before Plunkett.
“Baltimore is getting themselves a heck of a player,” head coach Mike Chiapparelli said. “I watched some of the kids that got drafted before him and saw a lot more skill in some of the stuff that he was doing.
“At least based on the highlights they showed, it looked like he was a better player than a lot of those players that got drafted.”
However, the highlights, statistics, and on-field accolades are only part of Plunkett’s story, and are perhaps only part of why he is now an MLB draftee.
Chiapparelli lauded Plunkett’s personality and especially his ability to stay calm in high-pressure situations. While the outside noise of professional scouts and interested onlookers got louder, Plunkett never changed course.
“He’s very clutch,” Chiapparelli said. “For him to go out every single game this year and take batting practice and then go out and perform in the game in front of scouts, under that pressure, was unbelievable.”
In fact, when Plunkett called Chiapparelli to deliver the news, the youngster was “very business-like,” in the words of his coach.
“I think aside from my skills on the field, (the Orioles) saw my work ethic and my character,” Plunkett said. “I know that is the most important thing. I’m big on the little things and big on intangibles, so I think that’s what stood out.”
Plunkett initially heard the news from his agent, who gave him a phone call shortly before it was announced to the public. Leading up to the draft, Baltimore had expressed interest in him as he participated in a pre-draft workout with the squad.
Even with all the excitement of the day, Plunkett is keeping himself honest.
“I’ll celebrate today,” Plunkett said. “But tomorrow, I’m a pro; it’s going to be a big adjustment, a whole new lifestyle, a whole new game. I’m ready for it, and I’m excited for the opportunity. I know I have my work cut out for myself.”
Will Plunkett's close relationship with Chiapparelli
Despite Mamaroneck’s strong baseball history, Chiapparelli noted that Plunkett became the first Tiger to hear his name called during his 43-year tenure as a baseball coach at the school.
Historical notes like that do not sufficiently explain Chiapparelli’s relationship with Plunkett. Much like Baltimore entrusted a draft pick in an 18-year-old from the Northeast — a region that is consistently underrepresented in collegiate and professional baseball — Chiapparelli placed his trust in Plunkett as an eighth grader, as Mamaroneck’s varsity starting shortstop.
“He’s been in my corner for a lot of my life — since first grade when I first met him,” Plunkett said. “I’m so grateful to be able to spend this moment with him. It’s so special because he’s been a key part of my process and my baseball career in general.”
George Caratzas is a sports intern for The Journal News/lohud.
Will he sign with the Cincinnati Reds? Or will he follow through on his commitment to play quarterback at the University of Kentucky?
This was always a question looming, sort of, but now it's real: The Reds chose Ponatoski in the 18th round of the 2026 MLB Draft.
It's not that Ponatoski is an 18th-round talent, but because of the possibility of losing him to play college football, Cincinnati (and every other team) opted not to take Ponatoski earlier.
The Reds will surely still try to convince Ponatoski to sign.
Ponatoski plays locally at Archbishop Moeller High School, and the UK-commit is surely well aware that Kentucky has signed a top QB, Jake Nawrot, in the Class of 2028.
“I want to be a professional baseball player as fast as possible,” Ponatoski told OverslotBaseball.com in June. “That’s where my heart’s been, and it’s always been.”
The Jackson High School product and Buckeyes signee did not get selected during the two-day MLB Draft, which concluded Sunday, July 12.
MLB.com had Thiel as the 182nd-ranked prospect entering the draft even after the 6-foot-7 lefty underwent Tommy John surgery on his pitching elbow last month.
The 18-year-old Thiel was trying to become the first Stark County product drafted straight out of high school since 2015, when Canton South's D.J. Wilson was selected in the fourth round by the Chicago Cubs.
Jackson did have a player selected Sunday. Catcher Garrett Wright, a 2023 Jackson grad, was picked in the eighth round, 229th overall, by the Los Angeles Angels.
Thiel exploded as a prospect over the past year as he transformed his body and improved his velocity. His weight jumped from 205 pounds to 230. His fastball jumped from the 86-89 mile-per-hour range to 91-93 while topping out around 95.
As a Jackson senior, Thiel went 6-0 with a 0.95 ERA, leading the Polar Bears to a share of the Federal League championship and a regional appearance. He fanned a county-high 101 batters in 44 innings. Opponents batted .079 off of him. He earned pitcher of the year for the Federal League and Northeast Ohio Division I and was First Team All-Ohio.
Thiel finished his four-year varsity career with a Jackson-record 295 strikeouts, a 24-3 record and a 1.39 ERA.
Thiel experienced stiffness and pain in his left forearm as the season progressed. An MRI after Jackson's district championship revealed a UCL tear. Minnesota Twins team physician Christopher Camp performed reconstruction surgery on Thiel at the Mayo Clinic in Minneapolis on June 16.
The surgery was successful. Thiel is expected to return to the mound in about 10 months. He'll do it as a collegian.
The Milwaukee Brewers are sitting atop the NL Central with a 5.5-game lead over the Chicago Cubs entering Sunday's slate of games before the All-Star break.
But, even in such a good spot, there are a few spots that could use some help at this year's trade deadline. Pat Murphy's squad is good enough to make the postseason as it is right now, but beating the Los Angeles Dodgers requires a bit more help.
That's why USA Today's Bob Nightengale is reporting the Brewers have two upgrades in mind at this year's deadline for different reasons. One was due to Brandon Woodruff's uncertainty, and the other was some poor play on the left side of the infield.
Brewers have trade interest in two spots this summer
"The Brewers' urgency to acquire a starter at the deadline was heightened with the uncertainty of veteran Brandon Woodruff pitching again this season," Nightengale writes. "They would also like to acquire an impact bat for the left side of their infield."
With the Brewers looking to add at the trade deadline, starting pitching help and an upgrade on the left side of the infield are the top two needs for this team.
Rotation helps make the most sense, as not only is Woodruff a huge question mark, but Kyle Harrison recently went onto the injured list, and now Jacob Misiorowski is missing his Sunday start, along with another outing after the break due to fatigue.
Logan Henderson might be back, and Shane Drohan might be having a solid year, but with Brandon Sproat struggling and their other starter options starting to run out, it makes sense why the Brewers are going to be interested in the starting pitching market.
The left side of the infield, specifically in the hunt for an impact bat, also makes a ton of sense. Cooper Pratt is manning shortstop right now, and he has a .257 batting average with a .684 OPS. They could do better there.
But the real area worth upgrading is their third base spot. Joseph Ortiz has a .225 average with a .598 OPS, and David Hamilton has a .240 average with a .650 OPS.
Upgrading third base makes a lot of sense. It might not be easy to find a good third baseman, especially at a reasonable price tag. But landing an impact hitter at third base would be huge.
Pairing a slugger at third base with another starting pitcher would make for a fantastic deadline for the Brewers. Another reliever would also help, but the left side of the infield and the starting rotation are the two biggest needs for this team.
Well, it's the All-Star break. So let us rewind to May 31 of this year.
The Tigers just got swept in a division series by the White Sox and fell to 22-38. A season that promised so much seemed like it had already turned putrid.
But since June started, the Tigers are 22-14, have climbed out of a massive hole in the standings, and now hit the All-Star break with a 44-52 mark.
Detroit is six games back of the division lead (could end up 6½, depending on other results Sunday) and sits in fourth place behind Chicago, Cleveland and Minnesota with the break arriving. A wild-card spot is just 3½ games out, albeit with a bunch of teams in the way.
It’s a miraculous turnaround for this club, and hard not to love. The starting pitchers have started to look like the dominant group many predicted (especially now with better health) and the offense that was on a milk carton in May has slugged more than 60 home runs across the last five-plus weeks.
It’s hard to say if the Tigers will keep this up and get the necessary breaks from teams ahead in the standings to sneak into the playoffs, but what felt like an impossibility less than six weeks ago is now a very real outcome for this team.
In short, imagine watching this team lose on May 31 and telling yourself the Tigers would be in striking range to chase down a division title after the All-Star Game. Would you have believed it? I doubt it. But it’s real now.
Kevin McGonigle (99 hits) and Riley Greene (98) are the first Tigers teammates to each reach 98+ hits before the All-Star Break in 10 years.
We last accomplished this in 2016, when three players hit the mark: Ian Kinsler (103), Nick Castellanos (99), and Miguel Cabrera (98).… pic.twitter.com/ckqZ9SGHYp
Yes, I am about to make the thing I love the thing I didn’t, too. Funny the contradictions we encounter in life.
But more simply, a team that sits in fourth place in its division and eight games under .500 at the All-Star break is still not likely going to find its way to the playoffs.
Here’s where Detroit’s record sat at the last 10 All-Star breaks (2020 excluded due to COVID-19).
Detroit's record at the All-Star break:
2025: 59-38
2024: 47-50
2023: 39-50
2022: 37-55
2021: 40-51
2020: N/A, no All-Star Game and shortened season
2019: 28-58
2018: 41-57
2017: 39-48
2016: 46-43
2015: 44-44
So that’s just twice since 2015 that the Tigers have been above .500 at the All-Star break. And the only playoff appearances out of that run came in 2024 and 2025, both years that Detroit snagged a wild-card spot and played a full five games in the ALDS before bowing out.
And in none of those years has Detroit won the AL Central.
So while this is not to say that this team can’t buck a trend, or that the teams above them aren’t catchable (they are), it's that Detroit had to get hot for a long stretch just to get in position to eventually climb out of the hole it dug.
It will need to stay and finish the season hot, in all likelihood, to actually reach the playoffs, and that is an increasingly difficult tightrope to walk.
Detroit (44-52) only mustered two hits off Wheeler, who also struck out 10. He continued his dominant season since returning from the injured list, improving to 10-1 with a 2.13 ERA.
Left-hander Tarik Skubal had a solid start, but could not match Wheeler's run prevention. Skubal gave up two runs over 5-plus innings, along with five strikeouts. He was chased by a Bryce Harper leadoff single in the sixth, which started a four-run sixth inning after reliever Keider Montero struggled against the meat of the Philly lineup.
Skubal gave up two runs on four hits, one walk and five strikeouts, dropping to 5-5 on the season with a 3.09 ERA.
The Tigers head into the MLB All-Star break three games back in the American League wild-card chase, albeit with three teams between them and the three teams tied for the final playoff spot.
On the mound: Tarik Skubal brings the heat
Skubal ran into a bit of trouble in the fifth inning when consecutive base hits from J.T. Realmuto and Bryson Stott put runners at second and third with one out. But Skubal struck out Trea Turner with a changeup in the dirt and got MLB's home run leader, Kyle Schwarber, to chase a four-seam fastball at eye level to strand both.
Skubal punched his glove and let out a yell after striking out Schwarber.
He returned to the mound for the sixth inning, but was pulled after an infield single from the left-handed Harper. Of Skubal's 92 pitches, 63 were strikes. He finished with five strikeouts during the fastball-heavy outing, with 60 either a four-seam or sinker.
He punched out Schwarber twice with fastballs, Turner once with a changeup, and former Tigers prospect Derek Hill twice with a sinker and changeup. He induced 20 whiffs on 56 swings from Philly.
Montero could not stop the inherited runner from scoring. He loaded the bases with a infield single (which caromed off his foot) and a walk, and then surrendered a two-out double down the left-field line by Realmuto. Stott then drove in Realmuto with an infield single – originally called an out at first before being overturned on review – to give Philly a 5-0 lead.
At the plate: Zack Wheeler just too much
The Tigers offered virtually no challenges to Wheeler. He only gave up two hits – singles by Riley Greene and Zach McKinstry – and limited Detroit to an average exit velocity of 77.4 mph.
Detroit had two runners reach base in only one inning (the sixth), but Wheeler struck out James Outman, Dillon Dingler and Greene to end that threat. He generated 19 whiffs from Tigers hitters, including nine from his splitter.
The Tigers faced relievers José Alvarado, Orion Kerkering and Jonathan Bowlan. The Tigers went down in order with nine straight outs over the final three innings.
Next up: The All-Star break
Most of the Tigers will have four days off during the All-Star break, which runs Monday-Thursday, though Kevin McGonigle, Riley Greene, Dillon Dingler and Justin Verlander will represent the Tigers at the All-Star Game in Philadelphia.. The entire team returns to action on Friday (9:38 p.m., Detroit SportsNet) with a three-game series against the woeful Los Angeles Angels in Anaheim, California, followed by a visit to Chicago to face the Cubs.
Detroit (44-52) only mustered two hits off Wheeler, who also struck out 10. He continued his dominant season since returning from the injured list, improving to 10-1 with a 2.13 ERA.
Left-hander Tarik Skubal had a solid start, but could not match Wheeler's run prevention. Skubal gave up two runs over 5-plus innings, along with five strikeouts. He was chased by a Bryce Harper leadoff single in the sixth, which started a four-run sixth inning after reliever Keider Montero struggled against the meat of the Philly lineup.
Skubal gave up two runs on four hits, one walk and five strikeouts, dropping to 5-5 on the season with a 3.09 ERA.
The Tigers head into the MLB All-Star break three games back in the American League wild-card chase, albeit with three teams between them and the three teams tied for the final playoff spot.
On the mound: Tarik Skubal brings the heat
Skubal ran into a bit of trouble in the fifth inning when consecutive base hits from J.T. Realmuto and Bryson Stott put runners at second and third with one out. But Skubal struck out Trea Turner with a changeup in the dirt and got MLB's home run leader, Kyle Schwarber, to chase a four-seam fastball at eye level to strand both.
Skubal punched his glove and let out a yell after striking out Schwarber.
He returned to the mound for the sixth inning, but was pulled after an infield single from the left-handed Harper. Of Skubal's 92 pitches, 63 were strikes. He finished with five strikeouts during the fastball-heavy outing, with 60 either a four-seam or sinker.
He punched out Schwarber twice with fastballs, Turner once with a changeup, and former Tigers prospect Derek Hill twice with a sinker and changeup. He induced 20 whiffs on 56 swings from Philly.
Montero could not stop the inherited runner from scoring. He loaded the bases with a infield single (which caromed off his foot) and a walk, and then surrendered a two-out double down the left-field line by Realmuto. Stott then drove in Realmuto with an infield single – originally called an out at first before being overturned on review – to give Philly a 5-0 lead.
At the plate: Zack Wheeler just too much
The Tigers offered virtually no challenges to Wheeler. He only gave up two hits – singles by Riley Greene and Zach McKinstry – and limited Detroit to an average exit velocity of 77.4 mph.
Detroit had two runners reach base in only one inning (the sixth), but Wheeler struck out James Outman, Dillon Dingler and Greene to end that threat. He generated 19 whiffs from Tigers hitters, including nine from his splitter.
The Tigers faced relievers José Alvarado, Orion Kerkering and Jonathan Bowlan. The Tigers went down in order with nine straight outs over the final three innings.
Next up: The All-Star break
Most of the Tigers will have four days off during the All-Star break, which runs Monday-Thursday, though Kevin McGonigle, Riley Greene, Dillon Dingler and Justin Verlander will represent the Tigers at the All-Star Game in Philadelphia.. The entire team returns to action on Friday (9:38 p.m., Detroit SportsNet) with a three-game series against the woeful Los Angeles Angels in Anaheim, California, followed by a visit to Chicago to face the Cubs.
That record has the D-Backs just 3.5 games back of a postseason spot in the Wild Card, which is their only realistic option to getting into the playoffs this year. In this spot, the Diamondbacks have a tricky trade deadline to manage.
According to a rumor from USA Today's Bob Nightengale, the Diamondbacks might be selling at the trade deadline, with five pitchers, including Eduardo Rodriguez, named as possible players on the move this summer.
Diamondbacks get big trade rumors on five pitchers
"The Diamondbacks, who have been mired in mediocrity, could have starters Eduardo Rodriguez, Michael Soroka, Merrill Kelly, and Zac Gallen available along with closer Paul Sewald," Nightengale writes.
This is a significant rumor from Nightengale. If the D-Backs were to trade away all of these pitchers, they could get a huge return.
But it would mean giving up on the 2026 season as a year to contend for the postseason. For a club that's within striking distance of a postseason spot, that would be a bit shocking.
They could struggle coming out of the All-Star break, which would make selling a bit more reasonable. If Arizona were to be more than five games back of a wild-card spot by the trade deadline, it could open the door to a sell-off.
However, Nightengale's trade rumor for the Diamondbacks could lead to Rodriguez, Gallen, Soroka, Kelly, and Sewald getting dealt this summer.
Sewald, Gallen, Kelly, and Soroka are free agents after the 2026 season, so trading all four this summer if they're selling wouldn't be that shocking.
But, parting with Rodriguez, the D-Backs All-Star pitcher who has 4.2 bWAR this season with a 2.29 ERA in 19 starts, would be a bit of a surprise considering his four-year, $80 million deal runs through the 2027 season.
This rumor will be one Diamondbacks fans should keep in mind as the deadline on August 3 approaches. If Arizona is well behind the postseason hunt in the NL Wild Card, a major fire sale in the rotation could occur, potentially including Rodriguez.
PHILADELPHIA — MLB’s Home Run Derby will feature a particularly lucrative opportunity for four of its eight participants, while also offering a big dose of hometown heroes and veteran star power.
The league’s retooled home run contest set for Monday night at Citizens Bank Park, a key part of a new-look run of All-Star Game events, will again feature a $2.5 million prize pool. The payouts, set in the current labor deal between MLB and the MLB Players Association, include:
$1 million for the winner
$500,000 for the runner-up
$150,000 for each of the other six competitors
$100,000 for the longest home run
That $1 million top prize is more than the entire 2026 MLB salary for half of the Home Run Derby field: the Royals’ Jac Caglianone ($784,000), the Rays’ Junior Caminero ($794,800), the Cardinals’ Jordan Walker ($799,400), and the Yankees’ Ben Rice ($845,800). These younger MLB players are not yet eligible for salary arbitration or free agency.
The expanded Home Run Derby prize pool, first introduced in 2019 and a fixture since then, has been an important tool to boost the event’s allure for players, and has certainly aided in bringing in younger talent.
Pete Alonso, now with the Orioles but the 2019 and 2021 winner while still with the Mets, famously said he used Home Run Derby prize money to help pay for his wedding, while also donating 10% to two charitable organizations aiding military veterans.
The financial reward for winning the Home Run Derby is less singularly impactful for the other half of the 2026 field: the White Sox’ Munetaka Murakami ($17 million), the Red Sox’ Willson Contreras ($18 million), and the Phillies’ Bryce Harper ($26.1 million) and Kyle Schwarber ($30 million).
With the MLB All-Star Game events no longer featuring megastars Shohei Ohtani and Aaron Judge, both battling injuries, the presence of Schwarber and Harper is becoming even more important. The duo represents the first pair of teammates to be in a Home Run Derby while their home market is hosting since the Marlins’ Giancarlo Stanton and Justin Bour in Miami in 2017, and just the third overall.
Schwarber and Harper famously battled in the final of the 2018 Home Run Derby in Washington, D.C., when Harper was a member of the Nationals and Schwarber was with the Cubs. Harper won that matchup, 19–18.
“Having a rematch of ‘18 would be pretty cool to see, too,” Schwarber said. “I think it would be fun for everyone, not just Philly, but the game and for the people watching.”
This year’s Home Run Derby, meanwhile, will feature a return to an untimed formatfor the first time since 2014, though it will be based on total swings instead of outs.
Next stop on the baseball journey for Garrett Wright looks like it will be the professional ranks.
The Jackson High School product was chosen in the eighth round by the Los Angeles Angels during the MLB draft in Philadelphia on Sunday, July 12. Wright was the sixth pick of Round 8 and the 229th overall pick of the draft.
MLB.com had Wright as the 190th-ranked prospect entering the draft after three outstanding seasons in college — the first two at Bowling Green in the Mid-American Conference and the last at the University of Tennessee in the SEC.
Wright, a 2023 Jackson grad who just turned 21 on July 5, is the first Stark County product picked in the MLB draft since Alliance native and Ohio State product Gavin Bruni was chosen in the 17th round of the 2024 draft by the Washington Nationals.
Wright was the 2024 MAC Freshman of the Year and 2025 MAC Defensive Player of the Year for Bowling Green. He coupled the latter award by leading the MAC in hitting with a .406 average. The 6-foot, 193-pound Wright is a catcher by trade but has the athleticism to play the outfield.
He transferred to Tennessee for the 2026 season and looked right at home. He led the Volunteers in batting average (.348) and OPS (1.033) as they went 38-22 and advanced to a regional.
Wright, a right-handed hitter who eventually batted leadoff for the Vols, totaled 17 doubles, a triple and nine home runs to go with 41 runs scored and 30 RBIs. He committed just one error in 179 total chances in the field.
Wright has another year of eligibility remaining at Tennessee. He expressed before the draft that he expected to turn pro if he was selected. The deadline for draftees to sign is July 27. MLB.com estimates Wright's draft slot value at $249,300.
The Seattle Mariners are competing for the AL West or an AL Wild Card spot this season, despite their poor 47-49 record on the year.
But this team desperately needs to make some moves by the trade deadline to have a better chance of contending this season. To do so, they could get very creative.
According to USA Today's Bob Nightengale, the Mariners are telling teams they will be open to trading from their "prized starters" this summer, especially Luis Castillo, to land one of two things: a right-handed hitter and a high-end reliever.
Mariners open to trading from MLB rotation for righty slugger and high-end reliever
"The Seattle Mariners are letting teams know that they are willing to trade one of their prized starters for a back-end reliever and right-handed hitter, most likely Luis Castillo," Nightengale writes.
Seattle could really use more help in the bullpen, and instead of using their prospects to land one at the deadline, they could part with Castillo to acquire some help.
The same goes for a right-handed hitter, which this Mariners offense sorely lacks, thanks in part to how poorly Rob Refsnyder has performed this season.
With the Mariners' six-man rotation, trading from that group would make a lot of sense. Of these starters, including Logan Gilbert, George Kirby, Bryan Woo, Emerson Hancock, and Bryce Miller, Castillo is the odd man out.
He has a 4.93 ERA with a 3-8 record this season, and the 33-year-old would make a lot of sense to move on from this summer if a team is willing to take on the right-hander's $22.75 million this season and in 2027.
Seattle is reportedly telling MLB clubs that a starting pitcher is available for trade, with Castillo likely the one to be dealt this summer. A right-handed hitter and a back-end reliever are the two things this club is looking for in return.
This would be a very interesting trade for the Mariners, but it makes a ton of sense. Their rotation is strong enough, even if they trade a starter, and being able to call up Kade Anderson if needed gives Seattle a great option for a sixth starter even after a trade.
Arguably more than ever, MLB is being stocked with young talent at a rapid pace.
Top prospects are flying through the minor-league system nowadays — between the added incentives for MLB franchises to promote prospects quicker and the immense talent of players like Konnor Griffin, Nick Kurtz, Travis Bazzana and many more, stars reaching MLB just one or two years after being drafted is no longer unheard of.
That means at the 2026 MLB Draft, unlike in the past, it may not take very long for players to become household names. With this year's draft being held on Saturday and Sunday in Philadelphia, the site of the 2026 MLB All-Star festivities, the White Sox hold the No. 1 pick. A collection of shortstops headline this year's class, including UCLA's Roch Cholowsky and prep infielder Grady Emerson, while catcher Vahn Lackey and pitcher Jackson Flora are also expected to land high in the order.
There are hundreds of picks to be made at the 2026 MLB Draft, as a crop of high school and college prospects will hear their names called as their professional baseball dreams become reality.
The Sporting News is tracking every pick made at the 2026 MLB Draft. Follow along with the full results from Philadelphia below.
Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Cristopher Sanchez will be the starting pitcher for the National League in Tuesday's 96th All-Star Game in Philadelphia, according to reports.
Breaking: Phillies superstar pitcher Cristopher Sanchez will be the National League starting pitcher for Tuesday’s All-Star Game in Philadelphia
Sanchez has blossomed into the Phillies' ace this year, going 11-4 with a 2.62 ERA, a 1.18 WHIP and 144 strikeouts. Sanchez also pitched 50 2/3 innings without allowing a run — the longest scoreless streak by a pitcher in Phillies history. It's the longest scoreless streak for a left-hander in Major League Baseball history. Overall, it's the fifth-longest streak since 1893. Sanchez fell 8 1/3 innings short of Orel Hershiser's record.
Sanchez is the seventh Phillies pitcher to start an All-Star Game.
Cristopher Sanchez previous All-Star appearances
This is Sanchez's second All-Star Game. He opened the sixth inning in 2024 and faced two batters. He got Tampa Bay's Isaac Paredes and Cleveland's Josh Naylor to ground out.
Last season, despite an 8-2 record with a 2.50 ERA and 122 strikeouts, Sanchez was left off the NL All-Star roster.
Detroit — Will Vest, with his usual mix of humor and forthrightness, talked publicly about the stress fracture in his elbow for the first time since the diagnosis.
“I’m trying to do everything I can to get back, but you can only do so much with a bone,” Vest said Sunday. “We’re at the mercy of that, waiting for it to heal. I’m drinking as much milk as I can, hoping and praying it gets better quick.”
On cue, his bullpen mate Tyler Holton set a bottle of milk in his locker.
“They say this injury is common in young players who aren’t fully developed,” Vest said, acknowledging Holton’s gesture. “So I guess I’m still a kid, still growing.”
The bone in question is the olecranon, which is at the tip of the ulna (forearm bone). The diagnosis of a stress fracture came after several medical opinions, the last from Dr. Keith Meister in Dallas. A stress fracture alone would not require surgery.
Former Tigers relievers Al Alburquerque and Joel Zumaya both had full fractures of the olecranon, which required the placement of a screw to mend the bone. Both were sidelined for six months. The belief is that Vest’s recovery time won’t be nearly as long.
“It’s good that we’re not chasing our tails,” he said. “We know what it is. But at the same time, you never want to be hurt. The good news is we know what it is now. We can rest it and rehab it and see how it responds.”
Vest admitted he’s dealt with the elbow discomfort most of the season.
“Yeah, it’s been a while,” he said. “We managed it for so long, it just got to the point where I just didn’t feel good and the results weren’t good and I was kind of hurting the team. I’m glad we figured out what it was.”
Vest, who fully expects to return at some point in the second half, isn’t built for being on the shelf. He said he feels a little like a caged lion, in fact.
“It’s the worst,” he said. “The first time I went on the IL this year, the first game, you go sit in the dugout before the anthem and you know you’re not playing that day. It hit me hard. You want to be out there. You want to compete. And when you can’t, it’s the worst.
“You kind of go a little crazy. I’m just trying to get through it day by day.”
The Guardians have built perhaps the league's best reputation for pitching development, so anytime Cleveland acquires a pitcher with a high ceiling, opposing front offices might already be assuming they'll see him in a major league setting someday, and probably with a sparkling ERA.
In the case of Liam Peterson, the Guardians had been keeping an eye on him for several years. Now he'll be part of their minor league system as one of Cleveland's highest-ranked pitching prospects.
The Guardians selected Peterson, a 6-foot-5 right-hander from the University of Florida, with the No. 19 overall pick in the 2026 MLB Draft. He was ranked by MLB Pipeline as the No. 20 prospect entering the draft and comes with an upper-90s fastball.
It was the first time the Guardians used their top draft choice on a pitcher since 2021, when they selected Gavin Williams, another big, athletic right-handed starter.
“We’ve known him a really long time, from his days [in high school], where he was a top prospect as well,” Paul Gillespie, Guardians senior VP of scouting operations, said. “His mindset, his desire to get better, I think fits really well with our organization. … It really starts with the physical traits — size, delivery, arm action, all of those things provide him a really good foundation.”
Peterson is a former two-way player, giving him an athletic build capable of heavy workloads as a pitcher. His fastball hits 98-99 mph, which is combined with a curveball, slider and changeup. He just turned 21, and as a collegiate pitcher with his level of experience, Peterson is a candidate to climb the minor league ladder relatively quickly.
“I think we just have the resources and the tools to support these guys in a way that, I think, we can help them reach their ceilings,” Gillespie said. “I think the things he already does and the things he brings to the table are really hard to teach, just with the physicality, the arm speed, the stuff.
"We think when we bring him into our organization, there’s lot of things we can do with some of the finer points of pitching and refinement and those types of things.”
Reds take infielder in first round, one pick earlier
PHILADELPHIA – The Cincinnati Reds selected a shortstop in the first round of the MLB draft for the second year in a row. This time, it was Alabama's Justin Lebron with the 18th overall pick (a year after taking high school shortstop Steele Hall).
Lebron, 21, was ranked as the ninth-best overall prospect in the draft by MLB Pipeline.
"I had to struggle at times a lot, and I think that builds character," LeBron said in a video played on the draft stage in Philadelphia. "I think that builds character. I found a way."
The Miami Marlins are having a very good 2026 season compared to preseason expectations. At 52-44, the Marlins are just 3.0 games back of the NL East lead, and one game up on a Wild Card spot with a game to go before the All-Star break.
With how good the season has gone, and this team having a legitimate chance to make the postseason, it wouldn't be a shocker if the Marlins didn't sell at the deadline. But, there's still time to make a trade or two.
However, according to USA Today's Bob Nightengale, the Marlins, thanks to owner Bruce Sherman, seemingly are not going to trade Sandy Alcantara this summer. The Marlins owner has no plans to move the former Cy Young winner.
Marlins owner steps with strong Sandy Alcantara trade stance
"Marlins owner Bruce Sherman is telling his employees that he wants to keep ace Sandy Alcantara, and has absolutely no intention of trading him at the deadline," Nightengale writes.
The Marlins are within striking distance of a postseason spot, so it wouldn't be a surprise if they wound up being buyers at the trade deadline.
But, seemingly regardless of how the rest of the summer goes before the August 3 trade deadline, Alcantara doesn't look likely to go anywhere.
The 30-year-old right-handed starter has a 3.99 ERA this season and is under club control for the 2027 season. Miami surely could land a haul for Alcantara this summer if it dealt him.
But, based on this report from Nightengale, with the Marlins owner sharing his ardent wish to keep the former Cy Young winner, it's looking likely Alcantara is going to stick in Miami through the 2026 trade deadline.
Thanks in part to the owner's wish and how the Marlins are in actual competition for a postseason spot, Alcantara is likely to stay in Miami through the 2026 trade deadline and the 2026 season.
The Chicago White Sox selected UCLA shortstop Roch Cholowsky with the No. 1 overall pick of the 2026 Major League Baseball Draft on Saturday in Philadelphia.
Cholowsky has been an enormously praised prospect for a few years and was viewed as the clear favorite to be the top pick of the 2026 MLB Draft before the season even began.
So, much of the baseball world has been well aware of Cholowsky for a long while, and one would think that MLB commissioner Rob Manfred would be too. Or that he would at least practice how to pronounce the name before announcing it to the world during the draft.
But Manfred mispronounced Cholowsky’s name when announcing the first pick of the draft, which was shown nationally on NBC for the first time (for the first 10 picks).
Huge blunder by the #MLB Commissoner. Can’t happen. Not a surprise Roch was the #1 pick. Manfred has to know how to say his name. https://t.co/ulzTVyKXq9
Cholowsky was even asked by the media about Manfred’s blunder and said (via the Associated Press/KTLA), “I didn’t hear it get butchered. I heard Roch and kind of lost it.”
Still, that’s pretty embarrassing stuff from the league’s commissioner on the big stage.
The Boston Red Sox are surging on the field, but the front office continues to make moves they believe are best for the club.
Boston has made a change to its pitching staff before today's game.
According to a report from Chris Cotillo of MassLive.com, the Red Sox designated left-hander Danny Coulombe for assignment.
The 36-year-old posted a 4.50 ERA in 22 innings with the AL East club.
"He doesn’t have overwhelming stuff, but he’s delivered a sub-3.00 ERA in each of the past four years. He heads to DFA limbo with a solid chance to find another home," Charlie Wright of MLB Trade Rumors wrote.
"Boston has five days to work out a trade or place him on waivers," Wright added about Coulombe's DFA. "If he goes unclaimed, he has enough service time to forego a minor league assignment and enter free agency."
The Red Sox were Coulombe's sixth team in his 12 MLB seasons.
Five Make-A-Wish children visiting Philadelphia for the MLB All-Star Game were treated to a private shopping experience and an unexpected visit from former Phillies star Jimmy Rollins on Saturday.
Fanatics hosted the event at the new Mitchell & Ness flagship store in Center City as part of the children's All-Star Game wishes. Each child received $250 to shop for MLB All-Star merchandise, and Rollins helped them pick out gear during his surprise appearance.
The families will also receive premier access to major All-Star Weekend events provided by MLB, including the MLB Draft, Home Run Derby, batting practice, celebrity meet-and-greets and Tuesday's All-Star Game.
Make-A-Wish, which grants experiences to children with critical illnesses, said the weekend aimed to build emotional and physical strength through meaningful moments.
Fanatics worked with Make-A-Wish America, Make-A-Wish Philadelphia, Delaware & Susquehanna Valley and MLB to deliver joy and memorable experiences for the families.
The Tampa Bay Rays are reportedly going to be aggressive at the MLB trade deadline this summer. That shouldn't be a huge surprise considering how good the team's looked this year, and the wide-open nature of the American League.
But who could the Rays wind up targeting this summer? Well, Tarik Skubal is one name to keep in mind, but Tampa Bay is also likely to target help at second base.
Amid such a potential interest, USA Today's Bob Nightengale is reporting that the Rays have "shown interest" in trading for Arizona Diamondbacks $115 million All-Star second baseman Ketel Marte this summer.
Rays are interested in a trade for D-Backs' Ketel Marte
"They not only have their eyes on Skubal, but they have shown interest in seeing whether the Diamondbacks would move second baseman Ketel Marte and Giants All-Star second baseman Luis Arraez as a backup plan," Nightengale writes.
Marte is a 32-year-old second baseman who has been in trade rumors in recent years, as there's been buzz about the relantionship Diamondbacks and Marte not being the best.
But, for the Rays' purposes, Marte would be a huge upgrade at second base. Tampa Bay needs to upgrade its offense, and second base is the most obvious place to upgrade the roster.
This season, Marte, the three-time All-Star, two-time Silver Slugger, and 2023 NLCS MVP, has a .259 batting average with a .780 OPS and 112 OPS+ with 17 homers, 54 RBIs, and 19 doubles with 29 walks to 56 strikeouts and 1.9 bWAR.
He'd be a huge upgrade for the Rays offensively and would slot perfectly onto the roster as their new second baseman. He's also under club control through the 2030 season with a 2031 player option on his six-year, $105 million deal.
If the Rays could somehow add Marte this summer in a deal with the Diamondbacks, it would be an incredible way to upgrade the team with one move.
While Skubal might be the bigger name, Marte could be the missing piece for this offense to truly have what it takes to go up against the best offenses in baseball.
With the MLB All-Star break now upon us, fans of the "Midsummer Classic" are gearing up to see competition amongst the league's biggest stars — including the annual Home Run Derby.
Instead of trying to race the clock to hit has many home runs as possible, competitors will now get a set amount of swings to deposit baseballs over the outfield walls. Participants will start each round with a finite number of swings: 20 in Round 1, 15 in Round 2 and 15 again in the final round, according to MLB.com.
Due to the set number of swings, batters will not be facing an "outs" system like in years past. Instead, each swing counts toward a player's total. If a competitor hits a home run on their final swing, then that batter gets to keep swinging until they fail to hit a homer. In theory, a player could hit more than 20 homers in Round 1 despite the aforementioned swing allotment.
Here's what fans need to know ahead of this year's competition.
When is the 2026 MLB Home Run Derby? How to watch on streaming
The 2026 T-Mobile Home Run Derby will begin at 8 p.m. ET on Monday, July 13.
For the first time in the league’s history, the derby will be streaming exclusively on Netflix.
Where is the 2026 Home Run Derby?
This year's MLB All-Star festivities will be played at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, home of the Philadelphia Phillies.
How many players compete in the Home Run Derby?
The Home Run Derby will feature eight competitors eyeing home run supremacy.
Who's competing in this year's Home Run Derby?
Young Tampa Bay Rays superstar Junior Caminero announced on June 30 that he'd be the first batter competing in this year's competition. The rest of the field, including two hometown Phillies, is as follows (with their home run totals at the break in parentheses):
How will the MLB Home Run Derby determine tiebreakers?
Tiebreakers in this year's Home Run Derby competition will be determined by home run distance in Round 1, and then by a three-swing swing-off if necessary in Rounds 2 and 3.
The 2026 MLB Draft continues into its second day on Sunday, July 12, with Rounds 5-20 taking place from Pennsylvania Convention Center in Philadelphia. Day 2 of the draft will start at 11:30 a.m. ET and will not be on a traditional TV channel, but will be streamed on MLB.com.
The Tigers made four picks over the first four rounds on Day 1 of the draft on Saturday, July 11, taking Coastal Carolina right-handed pitcher Cameron Flukey in the first round at No. 22 overall. Flukey has pitched his last three seasons for the Chanticleers and broke out with an 8-2 record in 2025, pitching in the final round of the College World Series against LSU, the eventual champions.
Flukey is the first pitcher the Tigers have drafted in the first round since Jackson Jobe went No. 3 overall in the 2021 draft. The Chicago White Sox drafted UCLA shortstop Roch Cholowsky with the No. 1 overall pick.
The Tigers took Kansas shortstop Tyson LeBlanc with their second-round pick at No. 61 overall, and took right-handed pitcher Evan Dempsey from Florida Gulf Coast with their competitive balance pick at No. 69 overall. Detroit's final pick of the day was shortstop Dominic Pellegrin from Holy Cross High School in Louisiana, taken in the fourth round at No. 125 overall.
The Tigers will pick at No. 158 overall in the fifth round, at No. 188 in the sixth round and then in the 23rd slot in each of rounds seven through 20. They will have 16 total picks in the 16 remaining rounds of the draft.
Here's what to know about Detroit's Day 2 draftees.
The 2026 MLB Draft continues into its second day on Sunday, July 12, with Rounds 5-20 taking place from Pennsylvania Convention Center in Philadelphia. Day 2 of the draft will start at 11:30 a.m. ET and will not be on a traditional TV channel, but will be streamed on MLB.com.
The Tigers made four picks over the first four rounds on Day 1 of the draft on Saturday, July 11, taking Coastal Carolina right-handed pitcher Cameron Flukey in the first round at No. 22 overall. Flukey has pitched his last three seasons for the Chanticleers and broke out with an 8-2 record in 2025, pitching in the final round of the College World Series against LSU, the eventual champions.
Flukey is the first pitcher the Tigers have drafted in the first round since Jackson Jobe went No. 3 overall in the 2021 draft. The Chicago White Sox drafted UCLA shortstop Roch Cholowsky with the No. 1 overall pick.
The Tigers took Kansas shortstop Tyson LeBlanc with their second-round pick at No. 61 overall, and took right-handed pitcher Evan Dempsey from Florida Gulf Coast with their competitive balance pick at No. 69 overall. Detroit's final pick of the day was shortstop Dominic Pellegrin from Holy Cross High School in Louisiana, taken in the fourth round at No. 125 overall.
The Tigers will pick at No. 158 overall in the fifth round, at No. 188 in the sixth round and then in the 23rd slot in each of rounds seven through 20. They will have 16 total picks in the 16 remaining rounds of the draft.
Here's what to know about Detroit's Day 2 draftees.
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