The American League and National League will play for home-field advantage in the World Series in Tuesday night’s MLB All-Star Game, and as is the case every year, there should be no shortage of enthralling moments.
Before a pitch is even thrown, Great American Ball Park will be buzzing, as the Cincinnati Reds will honor a few of the franchise’s greats.
Pete Rose, Johnny Bench, Joe Morgan and Barry Larkin figure to get a huge ovation from the home crowd when they’re announced as the winners of the Franchise Four voting:
Once that’s done, the players will be introduced. It’s always fun to hear who get the loudest cheers and who gets booed.
There’s little doubt the hometown kid Todd Frazier will receive the longest and loudest reception, especially after the show he put on in Monday’s Home Run Derby:
As the only other Reds player representing the NL, expect Aroldis Chapman to get a nice hand from the home fans.
With plenty of NL Central foes in the game, pay attention to the reaction from Reds fans when guys like Kris Bryant, Anthony Rizzo, Jhonny Peralta and Yadier Molina are introduced.
The excitement should only pick up when the actual game starts.
Greinke Against the Top of the AL Order
NL starting pitcher Zack Greinke—who has an MLB-best 1.39 ERA at the break—faces a fearsome top of the order.
AL manager Ned Yost is batting Mike Trout leadoff, Josh Donaldson second and Albert Pujols in the three-hole.
Trout and Pujols are former teammates of Greinke, who pitched part of the 2012 season with the Los Angeles Angels.
Trout has by far the highest WAR in the AL according to ESPN. Pujols’ 26 home runs are tied for the most in the league, with Trout of course, and Donaldson is tied for third in the AL with 60 RBI.
It’s going to be fascinating to see how Greinke handles those matchups in the top of the first inning.
Lifetime against Greinke, Donaldson and Trout have a very small sample size, going just 1-for-3 and 3-for-7, respectively. Pujols, meanwhile, is 8-for-23 in his career against the Los Angeles Dodgers hurler.
None of the three have taken Greinke deep before, but look for that to change when Trout digs into the plate on Tuesday night.
Rising Stars
There’s an infusion of young talent in the league right now, and it will be on display Tuesday night.
ESPN’s Peter Gammons recently talked about the emergence of young players across the majors:
After an underwhelming start to his career, Bryce Harper was under pressure to have a breakout 2015 season. His peers voted him the most overrated player in the game for the second straight year, according to Scott Allen of the Washington Post, but Harper is making sure that won’t happen a third time.
Nolan Arenado is making his first All-Star Game appearance, and a lot of fans who aren’t familiar with the Colorado Rockies star third baseman may be surprised to see what the 24-year old is capable of. He’s hitting for average and power this season, while playing his usual stellar defense.
If the ball is hit to the left side when he comes into the game, there may very well be an exceptional diving stop or barehanded throw to first from Arenado.
Dodgers rookie Joc Pederson exhibited his power to all fields in Monday’s Home Run Derby, and he’ll be in the starting lineup on Tuesday night.
When you include players such as Rizzo, Bryant, Gerrit Cole, Joe Panik, Manny Machado and many others, the 2015 All-Star Game signals what appears to be a promising era for MLB.
This is the chance for commissioner Rob Manfred to market his stars the way the NBA does. A lot of these players aren’t only premier athletes, but they’re good people off the field as well.
There’s more star power in the league than there has been in quite some time, and it would be a shame if MLB misses out on a great opportunity to gain fans and promote the sport.
Keuchel vs. Rizzo/Harper
The lefty-on-lefty matchups of Dallas Keuchel against Rizzo and Harper should be interesting when you look at the numbers.
Of left-handed batters with at least 50 plate appearances against left-handed pitchers, Rizzo is third in batting average—behind Dee Gordon and Nori Aoki—at .338. Harper is fourth at .329.
In such situations, Harper and Rizzo are first and second in OPS, at 1.092 and .966, respectively.
They’ll both get a chance to bat against Keuchel, assuming he pitches at least two innings, since Rizzo is sixth in the NL batting order.
In terms of southpaws with at least 20 innings pitched against fellow lefties, Keuchel’s 0.56 WHIP is the lowest, and his 32 strikeouts are second in baseball.
Good pitching tops good hitting, so Rizzo and Harper will manage just weak contact against the Houston Astros ace.
Prediction
It’s hard to remember a time when so many pitchers have dominated on a nightly basis the way they have in the first half. These guys will all be pitching in the same game on Tuesday night, coming in with fresh arms at one or two innings at a time, making even the best of hitters uneasy at the plate.
It’ll be a low-scoring affair—for an All-Star Game at least—and the NL team has the edge because they’re slightly deeper at pitcher.
Madison Bumgarner will receive the MVP honors for a few outstanding innings out of the bullpen in the NL’s 4-3 win.
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