RALEIGH HOLDS OFF CAMINERO FOR HR DERBY TITLE
The “Big Dumper” can now add Home Run Derby champion to his unreal 2025 season.
Seattle Mariners slugger Cal Raleigh held off Junior Caminero 18-15 in the final round to win the 2025 Home Run Derby at Truist Park. Caminero needed five homers in the bonus round to force a swing-off but came up short.
Raleigh is the first primary catcher to ever win the event. Hall of Famer Iván Rodríguez had the previous best finish for a catcher, when he was the runner-up in 2005.
“It means the world,” Raleigh said. “I could hit zero home runs and had just as much fun. I can’t believe we won. That was unbelievable.”
Raleigh joins three-time champion Ken Griffey Jr. as the only Mariners players to win the event. Seattle’s four Home Run Derby championships are now tied with the New York Yankees for the most among teams.
The switch-hitting Raleigh also joins Rubén Sierra in 1989 as the only switch-hitters to win a derby crown. Sierra shared his title with Eric Davis, making Raleigh the lone switch-hitter to win one outright. Raleigh showed off his unique skills, hitting homers from both sides during the first round before shifting to the left side for the semis and final.
With his father Todd pitching and brother Todd Jr. catching, Raleigh was in the zone all night, crushing 54 total homers en route to the title. His longest was a 471-foot blast in the first round.
The 28-year-old entered the break with an MLB-best 38 home runs, a mark that’s also a pre-break record for primary catchers. Raleigh was voted as the AL’s starting catcher for Tuesday’s Midsummer Classic.
PAUL SKENES, NL TRY TO END AL’S RUN OF DOMINANCE IN ALL-STAR GAME
ATLANTA — Just to participate in the Major League Baseball All-Star Game would be a career — and maybe even lifetime — achievement for many professional baseball players.
For the National League’s starting pitcher Paul Skenes, it’s becoming a habit.
When Skenes toes the rubber at Truist Park in Atlanta Tuesday night, it will mark the second year he starts the Midsummer Classic in as many big-league seasons.
The 23-year-old Pittsburgh Pirates phenom is joining Joe DiMaggio, Ichiro Suzuki, Rod Carew and Frank Robinson as the only players in MLB history to start the All-Star Game in each of their first two seasons.
Even the mild-mannered flamethrower was taken aback by the list of Hall of Famers.
“It’s not a bad list to be on, for sure,” Skenes said. “It’s a huge honor. Thank you, Doc (Dodgers manager Dave Roberts), for giving that to me. The All-Star Game is something that I was lucky enough to do last year and I can’t imagine a scenario of turning down a chance to start. It’s just such a huge honor to be on this stage and play with all of these unbelievable players, some of them that I’ve watched for years. So to be able to share a field with them is an awesome experience.”
Skenes’ 2.01 ERA leads the majors, although he owns just a 4-8 record with the lowly Pirates.
Roberts was given the occasionally difficult task of choosing an All-Star starting pitcher, but this time around, the Los Angeles manager didn’t think twice.
“I think for me it was easy,” Roberts said at his press conference on Monday. “What Paul has done with his performance should override and supersede anything. … To have Paul represent the National League — the first and only Pirates pitcher to do that in back-to-back years — it wouldn’t surprise me if he does it again next year, as well.”
Along with Skenes, the National League starters consist of three Dodgers: designated hitter Shohei Ohtani, first baseman Freddie Freeman and catcher Will Smith. Chicago Cubs outfielders Kyle Tucker and Pete Crow-Armstrong, Atlanta Braves star Ronald Acuna Jr., Arizona’s Ketel Marte, San Diego’s Manny Machado and the New York Mets’ Francisco Lindor round out the starting nine.
Acuna gets the start in his home ballpark, while Freeman — a former World Series champion with the Braves and nine-time All-Star– returns to the city he called home for 12 years.
“Nine times later, it’s kind of crazy,” Freeman said. “I don’t take any of this for granted. This is special now that I get to bring my kids. I can’t believe it’s been nine already; I’m getting old.”
Opposite of Skenes and Roberts in the American League dugout is New York Yankees manager Aaron Boone — the only active manager to both play and manage in the game.
“Getting selected for an All-Star Game as a player was so meaningful,” Boone said on Monday. “It meant the world to me and now I get to do it as a manager. I’m so humbled by that and I can’t wait to do it with a bunch of guys that I have a lot of respect for.”
Reigning American League Cy Young Award winner Tarik Skubal gets the ball first for the AL, which has beaten the National League in 10 of the last 11 years.
Skubal, the Detroit Tigers’ lefty ace, will be the first to admit that he wasn’t on pace to be one of the game’s best after his first season in the majors, having posted a 5.63 ERA in his rookie season in 2020. Fast forward five years, and he’s arguably baseball’s toughest arm.
“I don’t want to take anything in this game for granted,” Skubal said. “This game is so beautiful in the grand scheme of things. Your career is going to be short in terms of how long you live, so I want to be able to enjoy as many years as I get to play the game.”
The first inning on Tuesday will belong to the Tigers, who own the majors’ best record at 59-38. Second baseman Gleyber Torres and left fielder Riley Greene will follow Skubal as the American League’s first two hitters.
A pair of MVP candidates will then follow in the Yankees’ Aaron Judge and Seattle catcher Cal Raleigh, before Toronto’s Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Baltimore’s Ryan O’Hearn and Tampa Bay’s Junior Caminero.
Perhaps the biggest All-Star surprise this season, Detroit’s Javier Baez will return to the exhibition for the first time since 2019, before rookie Athletics shortstop Jacob Wilson rounds out the American League’s starting nine.
–Jack Batten, Field Level Media
2025 ALL-STAR ROSTERS
At Truist Park in Atlanta, Georgia
American League
Starters
r-replacement; u-unavailable
Catcher: Cal Raleigh, Mariners
First base: Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Blue Jays
Second base: Gleyber Torres, Tigers
Third base: INF r-Junior Caminero, Rays
Shortstop: Jacob Wilson, Athletics
Designated hitter: Ryan O’Hearn, Orioles
Outfield: Riley Greene, Tigers, Javier Báez, Tigers, Aaron Judge, Yankees
Pitcher: Tarik Skubal, Tigers
Pitchers — u-Garrett Crochet, Red Sox, u-Yusei Kikuchi, Angels, u-Max Fried, Yankees, u-Jacob deGrom, Rangers, Shane Smith, White Sox, u-Hunter Brown, Astros, Kris Bubic, Royals, Bryan Woo, Mariners, r-Drew Rasmussen, Rays, r-Casey Mize, Tigers, r-Carlos Rodón, Yankees, r-Joe Ryan, Twins, Aroldis Chapman, Red Sox, r-Carlos Estevez, Royals, Josh Hader, Astros, Andres Muñoz, Mariners
Reserves — C Alejandro Kirk, Blue Jays, INF Jonathan Aranda, Rays, INF Brandon Lowe, Rays, INF Alex Bregman, Red Sox, INF Jazz Chisholm Jr., Yankees, INF Jeremy Peña, Astros, INF Bobby Witt Jr., Royals, INF José Ramírez, Guardians, INF Isaac Paredes, Astros, INF Zach McKinstry, Tigers, INF Maikel Garcia, Royals, DH Brent Rooker, Athletics, OF Byron Buxton, Twins, OF Steven Kwan, Guardians, OF Julio Rodríguez, Mariners, OF Randy Arozarena, Mariners
National League
Starters
Catcher: Will Smith, Dodgers
First base: Freddie Freeman, Dodgers
Second base: Ketel Marte, Diamondbacks
Third base: Manny Machado, Padres
Shortstop: Francisco Lindor, Mets
Designated hitter: Shohei Ohtani, Dodgers
Outfield: Ronald Acuña Jr., Braves, Pete Crow-Armstrong, Cubs, Kyle Tucker, Cubs
Pitcher: Paul Skenes, Pirates
Pitchers — Clayton Kershaw, Dodgers (Legend Pick), Chris Sale, Braves, u-Zack Wheeler, Phillies, Logan Webb, Giants, u-Robbie Ray, Giants, u-Freddy Peralta, Brewers, MacKenzie Gore, Nationals, u-Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Dodgers, u-Matthew Boyd, Cubs, r-Andrew Abbott, Reds, r-David Peterson, Mets, r-Jacob Misiorowski, Brewers, Edwin Diaz, Mets, Jason Adam, Padres, Randy Rodriguez, Giants, r-Robert Suarez, Padres, r-Trevor Megill, Brewers, r-Adrian Morejon, Padres
Reserves — C Hunter Goodman, Rockies, INF Pete Alonso, Mets, INF Elly De La Cruz, Reds, INF Brendan Donovan, Cardinals, INF Matt Olson, Braves, INF Eugenio Suárez, Diamondbacks, DH Kyle Schwarber, Phillies, OF Corbin Carroll, Diamondbacks, OF Kyle Stowers, Marlins, OF Fernando Tatis Jr., Padres, OF James Wood, Nationals
ROBOT UMPIRES TO MAKE ALL-STAR GAME DEBUT, ANOTHER STEP TOWARD POSSIBLE REGULAR-SEASON USE IN 2026
ATLANTA (AP) — Tarik Skubal views the strike zone differently than robot umpires.
“I have this thing where I think everything is a strike until the umpire calls it a ball,” Detroit’s AL Cy Young Award winner said ahead of his start for the American League in Tuesday night’s All-Star Game.
MLB has been experimenting with the automated ball-strike system in the minor leagues since 2019 and will use it in an All-Star Game for the first time this summer. Each team gets two challenges and retains the challenge if it is successful.
“Pitchers think everything is a strike. Then you go back and look at it, and it’s two, three balls off,” Pittsburgh’s Paul Skenes, starting his second straight All-Star Game for the National League, said Monday. “We should not be the ones that are challenging it.”
MLB sets the top of the automated strike zone at 53.5% of a batter’s height and the bottom at 27%, basing the decision on the midpoint of the plate, 8 1/2 inches from the front and 8 1/2 inches from the back. That contrasts with the rule book zone called by umpires, which says the zone is a cube.
“I did a few rehabs starts with it. I’m OK with it. I think it works,” said three-time Cy Young Award winner Clayton Kershaw of the Dodgers. “Aaron Judge and Jose Altuve should have different sized boxes. They’ve obviously thought about that. As long as that gets figured out, I think it’ll be fine.”
Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred anticipates the system will be considered by the sport’s 11-man competition committee, which includes six management representatives.
Many pitchers have gravitated to letting their catchers and managers trigger ball/strike appeals. Teams won 52.2% of their challenges during the spring training test. Batters won exactly 50% of their 596 challenges and the defense 54%, with catchers successful 56% of the time and pitchers 41%.
Hall of Famer Joe Torre, an honorary AL coach, favors the system. After his managing career, he worked for MLB and helped supervised expanded video review in 2014.
“You couldn’t ignore it with all the technology out there,” he said. “You couldn’t sit and make an excuse for, ‘Look at what really happened’ the next day.”
Now 84, Torre recalled how his Yankees teams benefitted at least twice from blown calls in the postseason, including one involving the strike zone.
With the 1998 World Series opener tied and the bases loaded with two outs in the seventh inning, Tino Martinez took a 2-2 pitch from San Diego’s Mark Langston that appeared to be a strike but was called a ball by Richie Garcia. Martinez hit a grand slam on the next pitch for a 9-5 lead, and the Yankees went on to a four-game sweep.
Asked whether he was happy there was no robot umpire then, Torre grinned and said: “Possibly.”
Then he added without a prompt: “Well, not to mention the home run that Jeter hit.”
His reference was to Derek Jeter’s home run in the 1996 AL Championship Series opener, when 12-year-old fan Jeffrey Maier reached over the wall to snatch the ball above the glove over Baltimore right fielder Tony Tarasco.
CURVEBALLS ARE DISAPPEARING IN MLB AS VELOCITY OBSESSION RESHAPES PITCHING LANDSCAPE
ATLANTA (AP) — Curveballs have been thrown a curve by a modern game valuing velocity over variety, disappearing from the major leagues by more than 20,000 annually.
The Athletics have thrown curves on just 2.5% of pitches this season. The overall big league figure dropped from 10.7% in 2019 to 8.1% last year, the lowest since MLB starting tracking in 2008, before rising slightly to 8.5% this season.
There were 22,962 fewer curveballs in 2024 than five years earlier.
“You don’t really see a lot of people throwing 12-6 curveballs anymore,” Tampa Bay pitcher Shane Baz said. “They’d rather have a hard cutter/slider. It’s a lot easier for guys to throw a sweeper than it is a 12-6 curveball.”
Baz’s 28.1% is seventh in curveball use among those who have thrown at least 1,000 pitches this season.
Baltimore’s Charlie Morton, first at 39%, learned to throw a hook from his dad.
“He was reading some article or maybe he was reading some pitching book,” Baltimore’s 41-year-old right-hander said. “You basically throw it like you’re re-throwing a knife.”
Curveballs have been around for a century and a half
Hall of Famer Candy Cummings, a 145-game winner, is credited with inventing the curveball in 1863 when he was 14, discovering the movement when he threw sea shells into the Atlantic Ocean. Some attribute the curve to amateur pitcher Fred Goldsmith in 1870.
With an average velocity of 80.2 mph, curves are the slowest and loopiest of breaking pitches, often disrupting the timing of batters set for smoke. The phrase “thrown a curveball” has become part of the English language, much like “screwball,” more a phrase than a pitch these days.
Sandy Koufax, Nolan Ryan and Clayton Kershaw were among the consummate curveballers, bamboozling batters as balls they gave up on dropped like hang gliders into the strike zone.
“It’s become an industry of throwing over pitching,” New York Yankees senior adviser Omar Minaya said. “When you pitch, you use different pitches. What we’re seeing in the industry as a whole, especially with showcases, is people are looking more at velocity than pitchability — as a scout, I said that unfortunately.”
Former pitcher Dallas Braden, now a broadcaster, longs for those days of deception.
“You almost sympathize with the hitter in the moment because you’re like: Damn, I couldn’t have hit that. He couldn’t hit that. Nobody could have hit that,” Braden said. “The eephus is now almost like as close as we get, when a position player is on the mound, to an aesthetically pleasing pitch like that, just the visual presentation of the pitch starting in the clouds and ending up at the ankles.”
Nike’s “Chicks Dig the Long Ball” commercial defined baseball in the Steroids Era. These days the slogan might as well be: “Velo Rules!” There were just 214 pitches of 100 mph or more in 2008. There were a record 3,880 two years ago and this year is on track for 3,252.
In tandem, starting pitcher use has dropped. Starters have averaged just under 5 1/3 innings this season, down from 6 1/3 innings in the 1980s. Their pitch count averages 85.7, down from 97 in 2010
Throw as hard as you can for as long as you can is the mantra
Average four-seam fastball velocity is a record 94.4 mph this season, up from 91.9 mph when MLB started tracking in 2008. But fastballs — four-seam, two-seam and cutters, have dropped from 62.1% to 55%.
Those missing hooks and heaters have been replaced by sliders, sweepers and slurves. They are 22.6% of pitches this year, up from 13.9% in 2008, and their average velocity has risen to 84.8 mph from 83.4 mph.
Colorado throws curves the most often at 15.6%, not that it has brought any success to a team that entered the break at 22-74, on track for a 37-125 finish and the post-1900 record for losses.
The Athletics haven’t thrown 10% curveballs since 2017.
“If you look around the game, swing and miss has taken more of a priority, so guys are trying to throw more sweepers with more horizontal movement, or they’re trying to throw the slider really hard at the bottom of the zone,” Athletics pitching coach Scott Emerson said. “They’re worried about contact with the curveball.”
Generational change in the 2020s
Veteran pitchers note the curve’s decline as youngsters integrate into staffs.
“As you’re an amateur going to the big leagues guys are looking at velo. Guys are just looking at stuff,” Yankees ace Gerrit Cole said. “Velo is important and it pays.”
Maybe because the pitchers who throw curves are committed, batters have a .225 average this season on curves, down from .263 on fastballs and up slightly from .222 on sliders, sweepers and slurves.
“That’s just how the game is trending: to throw it as hard as you can, spin it the best you can and hope the hitter doesn’t hit it,” Emerson said. “The hitters are up there trying to swing as hard they can. If they hit it with hard contact, make 27 swings that are really hard, you got a chance to hit a homer here and there. And it’s taken away from the contact-type pitchers.”
A MIX OF YOUTH AND CHEMISTRY HAS RED SOX ROLLING INTO ALL-STAR BREAK ON 10-GAME WINNING STREAK
BOSTON (AP) — Many of the Boston Red Sox players started wearing T-shirts during batting practice and in the clubhouse the past week with a quote from teammate Romy Gonzalez written across the front.
It says: “Tremendously locked in.”
They certainly look that way heading into the All-Star break.
On Sunday, Ceddanne Rafaela hit a two-run homer and the Red Sox (53-45) posted their 10th straight victory with a 4-1, series-sweeping win over the Tampa Bay Rays at Fenway Park.
“There’s two things: We’re young and we’re athletic and that doesn’t slump to be honest with you,” said manager Alex Cora, who reminded some of his younger players to lead with energy in late May.
“I talked to some of the kids in Atlanta and their job is to, of course, play as hard as you can,” he said. “I told them: ’There’s no excuse for you guys not bringing the energy every single day. It starts in the clubhouse with the music.”’
The 24-year-old Rafaela has joined three rookies: infielder Marcelo Mayer, outfielder Roman Anthony and catcher Carlos Narváez to give the Red Sox a jolt of successful youth leading them into the break.
Following a series-opening loss in New York on June 6, the Red Sox dropped to 10 1/2 games behind the AL East-leading Yankees. Now, just over a month later, they’re a game behind them for second place, trailing the division-leading Toronto Blue Jays.
“It’s been fun the last 10 days,” said Rafaela, who is hitting .421 with five homers and 15 RBIs during a career-best 10-game hitting streak.
“Yes, we’ve been winning and it’s always good to win,” he said. “I think it’s the most fun I’ve (ever) had.”
Veteran Trevor Story, who had struggled during three-injury plagued seasons with the Red Sox after signing a six-year, $140-million contract as a free agent in March 2022, has picked it up by playing solid defense at short with timely hitting.
“We’re playing well,” Cora said. “Trevor and Rafaela have been amazing.”
The streak comes less than a month after Boston shipped Rafael Devers to the San Francisco Giants.
Story sees the club believing it has finally found its stride.
“I think we have more of an identity now,” he said. “We’re starting to believe that I think we can win in different ways. Like we’ve shown in this 10-gamer, we can slug, or we can win one-run games, we can steal bases. I think playing good defense is a good part of that. I think it all starts with the pitching, which has been lights out.”
The pitching has been led by All-Star Garrett Crochet, who posted his first complete game, shutting out the Rays on Saturday.
“Yeah, energy, chemistry,” Cora said. “Winning’s better that losing. We’re excited about going to the ballpark.”
ROYALS PLACE RHP MICHAEL LORENZEN (OBLIQUE) ON IL
The Kansas City Royals placed right-hander Michael Lorenzen on the 15-day injured list Monday with a left oblique strain.
The move is retroactive to Friday, with Lorenzen last pitching July 6 when he dominated with seven scoreless innings against the Arizona Diamondbacks, while allowing two hits.
Lorenzen, 33, is 5-8 with a 4.61 ERA in 18 starts this season. In 11 career seasons with the Cincinnati Reds (2015-21), Los Angeles Angels (2022), Detroit Tigers (2023), Philadelphia Phillies (2023), Texas Rangers (2024) and Royals, he is 52-52 with a 4.06 ERA in 386 appearances (111 starts).
A corresponding move is expected later this week. The Royals resume play after the All-Star break on Friday on the road against the Miami Marlins.
SHOHEI OHTANI TO HIT LEADOFF FOR NL IN ALL-STAR GAME, FOLLOWED BY RONALD ACUÑA JR. OF HOST BRAVES
ATLANTA (AP) — Shohei Ohtani will bat leadoff as the designated hitter for the National League in Tuesday night’s All-Star Game at Truist Park, and the Los Angeles Dodgers star will be followed in the batting order by left fielder Ronald Acuña Jr. of the host Atlanta Braves.
Arizona second baseman Ketel Marte will hit third in the batting order announced Monday by Dodgers manager Dave Roberts, followed by Los Angeles first baseman Freddie Freeman, San Diego third baseman Manny Machado, Dodgers catcher Will Smith, Chicago Cubs right fielder Kyle Tucker, New York Mets shortstop Francisco Lindor and Cubs center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong.
Pittsburgh right-hander Paul Skenes will start his second straight All-Star Game, Major League Baseball announced last week. Detroit left-hander Tarik Skubal will make his first All-Star start for the American League.
“I think when you’re talking about the game, where it’s at, these two guys … are guys that you can root for, are super talented, are going to be faces of this game for years to come,” Roberts said.
Detroit second baseman Gleyber Torres will lead off for the AL, followed by Tigers left fielder Riley Greene, New York Yankees right fielder Aaron Judge, Seattle catcher Cal Raleigh, Toronto first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr,. Baltimore designated hitter Ryan O’Hearn, Tampa Bay third baseman Junior Caminero, Tigers center fielder Javy Báez and Athletics shortstop Jacob Wilson.
Ohtani led off for the AL in the 2021 All-Star Game, when the two-way sensation also was the AL’s starting pitcher. He hit leadoff in 2022, then was the No. 2 hitter hitter for the AL in 2023 and for the NL last year after leaving the Los Angeles Angels for the Dodgers.
Skenes and Skubal are 1-2 in average four-seam fastball velocity among those with 1,500 or more pitches this season, Skenes at 98.2 mph and Skubal at 97.6 mph, according to MLB Statcast.
A 23-year-old right-hander, Skenes is 4-8 despite a major league-best 2.01 ERA for the Pirates, who are last in the NL Central. The 2024 NL Rookie of the Year has 131 strikeouts and 30 walks in 131 innings.
Skubal, a 28-year-old left-hander, is the reigning AL Cy Young Award winner. He is 10-3 with a 2.23 ERA, striking out 153 and walking 16 in 121 innings.
