Here is every Mets pick from Day 2 of the 2025 MLB Draft...
Round 4, No. 133: RHP Peter Kussow (Arrowhead High School)
Rated the best prospect in Wisconsin by MLB.com, Kussow has a fastball that tops out at 97 mph as well as an impressive slider.
He is committed to Louisville, but the Mets likely only took him this high with the expectation that they'd be able to sign him.
Round 5, No. 163: RHP Peyton Prescott (Florida State University)
A power reliever whose fastball can reach 100 mph, Prescott's season with FSU ended in late in the campaign, with him set to undergo Tommy John Surgery.
He made 24 appearances for FSU this season, with a 5.15 ERA in 36.2 innings. He struck out 46.
Round 6, No. 193: RHP Nathan Hall (University of Central Missouri)
Hall had a 3.07 ERA and 1.29 WHIP while striking out 11.7 batters per nine in four appearances over 14.2 innings this season.
Round 7, No. 223: RHP Cam Tilly (Auburn)
Tilly worked mainly as a reliever this past season for Auburn, posting a 5.48 ERA and 58 strikeouts in 46.0 innings.
BOSTON — 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.”
ATLANTA — As Major League Baseball breaks for Tuesday night’s annual All-Star Game, it’s already been a tumultuous season for a number of teams facing high expectations.
One thing that hasn’t changed coming into the break: Aaron Judge and Shohei Ohtani are still the headliners of the season. While their teams, the New York Yankees and Los Angeles Dodgers, have been struggling recently, the superstars still have them at or near the top of their respective divisions.
The Yankees have straightened out after a six-game losing streak and remain only two games behind the Toronto Blue Jays in the AL East. They released veteran infielder D.J. LeMahieu this week, eating the final $22 million owed on his contract, and moved Jazz Chisholm Jr. back to second base from third.
Judge goes into Tuesday night’s game with a first half for the ages: 35 homers, 81 RBIs and a gaudy 1.195 OPS. His batting average has dropped from .402 on May 21 to .355, still handily leading the Major Leagues. The 6-foot-7, 282-pound Judge is on pace to break his AL record of 62 homers set in 2022. He hit his 350th career homer on Saturday, the fastest of any player in MLB history to do so, 182 games earlier than Mark McGwire.
“Please appreciate what you’re seeing with Judge,” Tony Clark, the executive director of the players’ union, said Saturday in an on-field interview prior to the annual Futures Game at Truist Park. “Hitters that size don’t do what he’s doing. Trying to keep all your moving pieces in the same place day in and day out is difficult enough, let alone when your levers are as large as his are.”
The Dodgers, meanwhile, had suddenly lost seven in a row through Friday and had watched their lead over the San Francisco Giants in the NL West shrink from eight games to four in a week before winning the final two games of the series. Perhaps it’s coincidence, but their tailspin has coincided with Ohtani’s return to pitching on June 16.
Since then, Ohtani’s batting average has dipped from .300 to .276 and his OPS from 1.039 to .987. His 32 homers have helped keep the Dodgers in first place, but he’s hit just three of them during the month of July.
Meanwhile, he’s made five starts as a pitcher and thrown a total of nine innings, his max of three innings on Saturday when he allowed a hit, a walk, struck out four Giants, and tossed 36 pitches. Bringing him back to the mound after his second reconstructive right elbow surgery for the first time since Aug. 23, 2023, has turned Ohtani from one of the most prolific hitters in the game to a short-shift pitcher and, for now, a mediocre batter.
Clark thinks it will be a short-term issue, once Ohtani gets used to preparing to pitch every five days while still hitting in the top spot every day.
“He comes off the mound and has to immediately get ready to hit, to lead off,” Clark said, noting the problem is particularly acute at Dodger Stadium. “I’ve never seen that before.”
No one has. Clark said he expects Ohtani to figure it out. “Of all my worries in baseball, Ohtani’s not one of them,” he said.
Try this one: Hitting is down overall in MLB, with a .245 average, three points lower than 2023, when new rules were invoked to speed up the game and eliminate defensive shifts.
The drought has been particularly felt in the NL, which boasts right now only one .300 hitter—Dodgers catcher Will Smith at .323. Freddie Freeman has plummeted from .374 on May 31 to .297. Mookie Betts has never gotten it going offensively this season and is hitting .244, 47 points below his lifetime mark of .291. Is this what his relocation from right field to shortstop has wrought?
Players and franchises have been moved from once comfortable positions with the abandon this season. The Athletics and Tampa Bay Rays have played in minor league ballparks this season with all the accompanying financial and aesthetic problems.
The teams are the lowest drawing in MLB, with the Rays averaging 9,852 and A’s 9,799 at parks that seat 11,000 (Steinbrenner Field), and 14,000 (Sutter Health Park), respectively.
The A’s are one of six teams in either league at this point with no shot at making the playoffs. The Rays held their own until playing 16 of their last 19 games on the road prior to the break. They were a half a game out on June 28 and are now 5.5 games back after losing 10 of their last 14.
How this all has skewed the playoff races is still a matter to be determined, Clark said.
“I’d like to be able to wait until all the games are played and then take the numbers and look at them,” he said.
And that leaves us with the All-Star host Braves, who because of injuries and other issues, are among the teams playing way below expectations. They opened 5-13 and have yet to be able to straighten it out. They’re still 11 games under .500 at the break, 12.5 games behind the Philadelphia Phillies in the NL East and 9.5 games in arrears of the third NL Wild Card spot with eight teams ahead of them. This, despite having the 10th-highest payroll in the league at $232 million.
“We’re just going up and down like a roller coaster,” Marquis Grissom, the former Braves centerfielder and manager of the American League in the Saturday’s Futures Game, said of the Braves. “We get going one minute, the next minute, we don’t.”
The disappointment is palpable in a team that won the World Series as recently as four years ago and has veteran skipper Brian Snitker, in the last year of his contract, looking toward retirement.
“I’ll never say never, because I always felt if I had a say-so, coming down the stretch, that we were going to have a chance,” Hall of Famer Chipper Jones, who managed the National League in the 2025 MLB All-Star Futures Game on Saturday, said. “I’d agree it’s going to be tough. Obviously.”
But while the All-Star break is always a time to take stock of the present, it’s also a chance to look ahead, which is what Grissom was doing in Atlanta. His son, Marquis Grissom Jr., played for the National League futures team. This is just another example of how the game continues to pass from generation to generation, a la Fernando Tatis to San Diego Padres star Fernando Tatis Jr., the latter having had two hits in the 2018 Futures Game, and ex-Braves star Andruw Jones to Druw Jones, an Arizona Diamondbacks product who knocked in a run in last year’s Futures contest.
“With the coaches I have like my father, I’m still old-school, doing hard work,” Grissom Jr., a Triple-A pitcher in the Washington Nationals organization, said. “I still try to learn analytics and do certain things. But the game ain’t changed. I’m still trying to play the same game.”
The All-Star Game itself will offer two of its top kids as starters: Paul Skenes of the Pittsburgh Pirates representing the NL for the second year in a row, and Tarik Skubal of the Detroit Tigers opening for the AL.
Perhaps in a sign of the times, Ohtani will not pitch, but he’ll start at DH, his Dodgers manager and the NL manager Dave Roberts said Sunday.
The Red Sox have entered the All-Star break on a 10-game win streak, which has vaulted them into the second wild card playoff spot in the American League and only two games behind the Toronto Blue Jays for first place in the AL East division.
One player helping lead the Red Sox into the break scorching hot is Anthony. He extended his hit streak to nine games with a double in Sunday’s 4-1 win over the Tampa Bay Rays at Fenway Park.
Anthony, at 21 years old, is the youngest Red Sox player to have a nine-game hit streak since Tony Conigliaro 60 years ago.
Anthony is batting .389 with four extra-base hits, six RBI, 10 runs scored and a 1.044 OPS during his hit streak. He’s batting .341 with a .431 on-base percentage and a .931 OPS in July so far.
Pushing this hit streak to 10, 15 or even 20 games will be difficult with the Red Sox’ schedule about to get a lot tougher. Boston exits the All-Star break with series versus the Chicago Cubs, Philadelphia Phillies and Los Angeles Dodgers (in that order).
But the most encouraging aspect of Anthony’s recent hot streak is how comfortable he looks at the plate. He’s not chasing bad pitches. He’s not trying to mash the ball. He’s taking what the opposing pitchers give him and doing as much damage as he can.
The Red Sox are right in the middle of the playoff race, and the second half of the season has the chance to be really exciting. If the Red Sox are going to return to the postseason for the first time in four years, they’ll need Anthony to keep producing like an impact player.
The 2025 MLB Home Run Derby takes place Monday night and it's going to be one for the memory books as a catcher is the headliner and odds on favorite.
The Mariners' Cal Raleigh is having a historic season with 38 homers, marking the most by a catcher at the All-Star break in history. This season, Raleigh ranks ahead of MVP favorites (and non-HR derby contestants) Aaron Judge (35) and Shohei Ohtani (32) — and now, Raleigh is the favorite to win the Home Run Derby, but will have to overcome some tough historical trends to do so.
Raleigh will become the second-ever player to switch hit in the Derby (Adley Rutschman in 2023, lost 2nd round), plus no catcher has ever won the derby. This is year 39 of the event, so odds are against Raleigh despite him being the favorite.
The Twins' Byron Buxton is having a phenomenal comeback season and has the longest home of this field at 479 feet, while Oneil Cruz of the Pirates is second with a 463 footer and the Nationals' James Wood third at 451.
Matt Olson is also in the field after replacing his Braves' teammate Ronald Acuna Jr., who has dealt with some injuries the last few weeks. To round out the field, the Athletics Brent Rooker, Yankees' Jazz Chisholm Jr. and Junior Caminero of the Rays make up the eight-man field.
Jazz Chisholm Jr., Yankees (+1400) - $10 to win $140
The Format of the Home Run Derby
During the first round, the eight hitters have three minutes or 40 pitches, whichever comes first, to hit homers.
Each player has an untimed round that continues until three outs occurs following the firs three minute round. If a batter hits a homer longer than 425 feet during the first three minutes or 40 pitches, that player we be awarded with an extra out, like last year.
The semifinals will have a round of two minutes or 27 pitches, whichever comes first, for the four-player field. The first round amount does not carry over into the second round, so the two best head-to-head totals advance to the finals where the format will be the same as the semifinals.
Expert picks & predictions for tonight’s game between the Marlins and the Orioles
Rotoworld Best Bet
Vaughn Dalzell (@VmoneySports) is rooting for Cal Raleigh to win the Derby but likes James Wood and a sprinkle on a long shot:
"Cal Raleigh (+275) is on a truly historic run and he has the chance to accomplish something he manifested as an 8-year-old kid, a Home Run Derby Title. Most of America will be rooting for Raleigh and I will be too, but for the odds and historical aspect of being a catcher and switch hitting, I am not in love with betting on Raleigh.
My personal favorite pick is James Wood (+400). He is a superstar in the making for the Nationals and played four games in Atlanta this season and hit a homer in his first appearance, and has played multiple series in Atlanta over the last season and a half, so he's familiar enough with Truist Park too — something Raleigh is not.
Jazz Chisholm Jr. (+1400) is on pace to shatter his career-high 28 homers. He's only 27-year-old, which is likely his prime or peak. I am bias though. He's the only player I've watched hit a homer in person this year, so I sprinted a few bucks on him for the +1400 value, although I admit, I do not expect Jazz to win."
Drew Dinsick (@Whale_Capper) is rocking with the Georgia native Matt Olson in the derby:
"Matt Olson (+800) is the only player in the field with experience in this unique format and having whatever home field advantage exists in this event, so I think Olson is live and the +800 price is attractive enough to get involved."
Eric Froton (@CFFroton) likes James Wood to bring some hardware back to DC:
"James Wood (+400) has 24 homers and 69 RBI, which both rank tied for 8th in all of baseball. The 22-year-old, 6-foot-7 234-pounder that hits lefty may not be a household name, but he has all the makings of a home run derby winner in his second season."
Top betting trends & insights to know ahead of the Home Run Derby
No catcher has ever won the Home Run Derby
Cal Raleigh leads the MLB with 38 homers
11 of James Wood's 24 homers have gone to centerfield, which leads the MLB
Junior Caminero has the second-fastest bat speed in all of baseball this season
Byron Buxton (21 homers) is on pace to shatter his career-high 28 homers this season
Byron Buxton has the longest homer of the derby field at 479 feet this season
Brent Rooker will have his childhood hitting coach toss him pitches in the derby
Jazz Chisholm Jr. (17 homers) is on pace to destroy his career-high of 24 from last season
Oneil Cruz hit a baseball 122.9 MPH this season, which ranked the fastest of the tracking era and he has the second-longest homer on the season out of the derby field at 463 feet
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The Mets' starting rotation situation this year has been wild.
They started off with so much depth that there were questions about how they'd fit everyone in. By the middle of the season, though, a rash of injuries had them reaching into the minors for spot-starters, pondering whether to promote their top pitching prospects, and eventually deploying bullpen games for two of the three Subway Series matchups against the Yankees in early-July.
While the injury to Griffin Canning was season-ending and Tylor Megill's possible return is TBD, things have normalized over the last week.
The Mets are now finally using the rotation they envisioned would be their starting five on Opening Day:
Beyond those five pitchers are some intriguing options in Triple-A Syracuse. There's Blade Tidwell, who has been called upon a few times in his rookie year, and two prospects who have the potential to develop into top of the rotation arms: Nolan McLean and Brandon Sproat.
Speaking earlier this month, president of baseball operations David Stearns said he was reluctant to use top prospects for spot starts. But it's possible McLean and Sproat both debut later this summer when they're deemed ready for long-term roles.
Still, while it's nice to picture a future where McLean and Sproat are mainstays in the rotation, it's impossible to rely on them in the heat of a pennant race in what will be their first taste of the majors.
Combine that with an injury question surrounding Manaea (pitching with a loose body in his elbow) and the workload question hanging over Holmes (who has already thrown more innings this season than any other), and New York should be placing a high priority on adding another legitimate starting pitcher via trade.
Should they target Marlins right-hander Sandy Alcantara?
Miami Marlins starting pitcher Sandy Alcantara (22) pitches against the Colorado Rockies during the sixth inning at loanDepot Park / Sam Navarro - Imagn Images
PROS
When Alcantara is at his best, he is quite literally the top pitcher in baseball.
During his Cy Young campaign in 2022, Alcantara led the majors in WAR (8.0) and innings pitched (228.2) while posting a 2.28 ERA and 0.98 WHIP.
While Alcantara isn't a strikeout machine, he has an overpowering fastball that averages around 97 mph (he throws a four-seamer and a sinker). He also features a slider, changeup, and curve, and has a tendency to make hitters pound the ball into the ground.
In addition to being masterful when he's on, Alcantara is young (in his age-29 season), relatively inexpensive (making just $17.3 million this season), and under team control through 2027.
Aside from undergoing Tommy John surgery, which caused him to miss all of 2024, Alcantara has been very reliable when it comes to taking the ball.
In each of his four full seasons, he has thrown at least 184.2 innings.
Put it all together and you get an almost ideal trade target. Except...
CONS
Since returning from Tommy John surgery at the start of this season, Alcantara has not been himself.
Mar 27, 2025; Miami, Florida, USA; Miami Marlins starting pitcher Sandy Alcantara (22) looks on against the Pittsburgh Pirates during the first inning at loanDepot Park. / Sam Navarro-Imagn Images
Alcantara is near the bottom of the league when it comes to pitching run value, xERA, xBA, average exit velocity, chase percentage, whiff percentage, strikeout rate, and hard hit percentage.
Meanwhile, his four-seam fastball (his second-most used pitch) is getting clobbered, with batters slugging .551 against it.
The huge caveat here is that it sometimes takes pitchers until their second season back from TJS to round back into form. But the depth of Alcantara's struggles in a pretty large sample this season should be extremely concerning.
It will also take a massive package to obtain him.
When you combine Alcantara's Cy Young upside, his relative youth, his cost, and the team control, it becomes a situation where the Marlins can pit teams against one another until they get an offer that bowls them over. If not, they can hold him until the offseason and hope he rediscovers his Cy Young form between now and then.
The exact return for Alcantara will depend on the type of prospects the Marlins are seeking to headline a deal (pitchers or position players) and their preference when it comes to those prospects' proximity to the majors (are they prioritizing guys who are close to contributing or not).
And it's fair to believe the Mets would lose not just one of their most valued prospects, but two or three of them.
VERDICT
In a world where Alcantara dominates over his next several starts leading up to the July 31 deadline, I could see it making perfect sense for the Mets to swallow hard and hand over a handful of their most prized prospects for him.
Saving that, however, it is impossible to envision a scenario where it would be wise to part with the type of package it would take to get Alcantara when so many questions remain about which version you're getting.
Matt Chapmanusually knows what pitches are coming when playing third base because shortstop Willy Adames has the PitchCom in his Giants hat and relays pitches like a quarterback reading aloud plays.
But that wasn’t the case for a few minutes during San Francisco’s 5-2 extra-innings loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers at Oracle Park on Saturday. Instead, Chapman’s routine with Adames was disrupted when the Roku Channel had the Giants’ third basemen wear an earpiece for an in-game interview during the top of the sixth inning.
And ironically, Chapman was asked on the broadcast how he approaches his defensive alignments and preparation, specifically when playing behind San Francisco right-handed starting pitcher Robbie Ray, Saturday’s starter.
“With Robbie, I think right-handers are going to try to hit something off-speed,” Chapman explained. “The fastball is more of a fly-ball pitch. The off-speeders are the pitches a lot of the right-handers hit off Robbie — sliders or changeups down where they’re reaching for it a little bit.”
“I usually get [the pitch] from Willy [Adames], but the fact that I got my left ear with an earpiece in, I’m having a hard time hearing what pitch is coming,” Chapman added when asked about how he knows what pitch is coming.
"I usually get it from Willy. But the fact that I got my left ear with an earpiece in, I'm having a hard time hearing what pitch is coming."
Fortunately for all parties involved, the Giants exited the sixth unscathed, and there were no defense lapses, let alone anything involving Chapman.
Surely that’s a relief the broadcaster, considering how Chapman truly does rely on Adames to relay the calls, as he thoroughly detailed in an exclusive interview with NBC Sports Bay Area’s Rich Aurilia from June 9.
“Willy lets me know when off-speed pitches are coming, which really gives me an advantage over at third base. I don’t wear the PitchCom, so Willy tells me what pitch is coming, keeps us communicating; we’re talking about what base we’re throwing to, what to do in certain situations.”
Imagine if Chapman misplayed a ball that cost San Francisco the game because he couldn’t hear Adames relay a pitch? The argument against in-game interviews would have gotten stronger.
Garrett Crochet has been one of the best pitchers in all of Major League Baseball through the first half of the 2025 season, and he’s one of the primary reasons why the Boston Red Sox are going into the All-Star break as the hottest team.
Crochet’s latest start came Saturday afternoon against the Tampa Bay Rays at Fenway Park. The Red Sox managed to score only one run, but that was enough for Crochet, who tossed his first career complete game. He allowed zero runs on just three hits with zero walks while striking out nine batters.
It was one of many dominant performances he has given the Red Sox in his first season with the team.
Crochet’s impact goes beyond his elite pitching on the mound, though. He’s also helping the team in a profound way off the field.
Red Sox manager Alex Cora explained Crochet’s impact when speaking to reporters before Saturday’s game.
“The leader, to be honest with you,” Cora said, per Tim Healey of The Boston Globe. “Every five days, we know he’s going to be on the mound. But what he’s doing in the clubhouse — you see him in the dugout, he’s always into the games and talking to pitchers. Yesterday, (Greg) Weissert came out, he didn’t like the slider, they were talking about grips and all that.
“He’s very similar to Alex (Bregman) in that sense. Him and Walker (Buehler), well, Walker has more experience obviously, but he is very smart. With the contract (extension), stuff comes with the territory. You have to be that guy. We haven’t had a guy like that in a while. We’ve had some good ones throughout the years. Now that he is here, he is on the Red Sox, he’s doing an amazing job.”
Crochet made his major league debut in 2020 and he’s only 26 years old. But you don’t have to be a 10-year veteran to be a respected leader. And judging by what Cora said above, it sounds like Crochet has fully embraced the leadership role.
This is a very encouraging development for a Red Sox franchise that has a lot of young players it’s trying to develop. One way to accelerate that development is to surround these talented young players with leaders who will set a good example on and off the field. That’s why it is so important to have guys like Bregman and Crochet around.
The Red Sox have taken a 10-game win streak into the break, and as a result, they sit in the second wild card spot in the American League and trail the first-place Toronto Blue Jays by just two games in the AL East division race.
However, the Red Sox have the toughest remaining schedule in the AL, per Tankathon, and they begin the second half of the season with series versus the Chicago Cubs, Philadelphia Phillies and Los Angeles Dodgers.
For the Red Sox to keep this momentum alive and secure a playoff spot for the first time since 2021, they’ll need Crochet to maintain his Cy Young-level performance. He doesn’t show any signs of slowing down, but he’s already pitched 129 1/3 innings, which is only 17 below his career high for an entire season. Can he stay dominant with a larger workload? Time will tell.
Major League Baseball’s Home Run Derby has been a summer staple for decades as a predecessor to the annual All-Star Game. With the league’s top sluggers at the plate, the event has also been home to some record-shattering swings.
Fans in all levels of the outfield bleachers have gotten a chance at a souvenir over the years. In rare cases, players have been able to send home runs out of the stadium entirely.
Ahead of the 2025 edition in Atlanta, here is a look at the longest homers in MLB Home Run Derby history.
Longest Home Run Derby homers in the Statcast era
MLB introduced Statcast in 2016 as an accurate way of measuring home run distance and other action on the diamond. It was truly put to the test in 2021, when sluggers made the most of the thinner air at Coors Field in Denver.
Pete Alonso came out on top in the event, but Juan Soto stole the show with a record-setting home run. The then-Nationals outfielder launched a 520-foot blast that nearly cleared the upper deck in right-center field.
Longest Home Run Derby homers in the Statcast era outside of Coors Field
Soto, Alonso and the rest of the 2021 Home Run Derby field got the advantage of Mile High altitude during their event. When it comes to the seven Statcast-era Derbies held outside of Coors Field, two current Yankees have shown the greatest power.
Before he was the single-season AL home run king, Aaron Judge was clobbering baseballs in the Home Run Derby. He crushed four homers over 500 feet, including one that measured in at 513 feet, before taking home the 2017 Home Run Derby crown.
Judge owns the first four spots when it comes to distance at non-Coors Field Home Run Derbies in the Statcast era, while Giancarlo Stanton rounds out the top five.
Longest Home Run Derby homers before the Statcast era
It’s tough to verify any home run distance prior to Statcast. That said, there were plenty of tape-measure mashes at the Home Run Derby before 2016.
Sammy Sosa put on a power display like never before at the 2002 Home Run Derby in Milwaukee. Slammin’ Sammy supposedly hit seven homers that traveled more than 500 feet, including one that went an estimated 524 feet.
Jason Giambi wound up winning that year’s event, but it is still remembered for Sosa’s offensive fireworks.
Frank Thomas, Josh Hamilton and Bobby Abreu are among the other participants to demolish supposed 500-foot homers at the Derby. Here’s where they rank among the farthest in the pre-Statcast era.
Cruz, 26 years old; Nationals outfielder James Wood, 22; and Rays infielder Junior Caminero, 22, are all making between $750,000 and $800,000 this year under MLB’s collective bargaining terms for players with fewer than three years of top-level service.
“When I was like 12, I did some Home Run Derbys,” Wood recently told The Washington Post. “The prizes were like a bat, so it’s a little different now.”
Under the terms of the CBA, the derby runner-up receives $500,000 while the six other participants each go home with $150,000. The batter with the longest home run pockets an additional $100,000.
Cruz is among bettors’ favorites for the event, along with Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh. Braves first baseman Matt Olson will be swinging on home soil, joined by Twins outfielder—and Georgia native—Byron Buxton, Yankees infielder Jazz Chisholm and Athletics outfielder Brent Rooker.
Buxton has the second-biggest blast of 2025 so far, a 479-foot homer against the Rangers. Mike Trout’s 484-foot roundtripper from April still leads the league. Raleigh enters Monday’s competition with a league-leading 38 home runs.
The derby’s $2.5 million overall prize pool was increased in 2019 as part of an agreement with the players association. While then-31-year-old Teoscar Hernandez took home the prize last season, the event has otherwise been a young man’s game; the winner hasn’t been older than 26 since 2015. Giancarlo Stanton (2016), Aaron Judge (2017), Bryce Harper (2018), Pete Alonso (2019, 2021), Juan Soto (2022) and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (2023) won the previous seven editions before landing even bigger paydays for their day jobs. All six hitters will likely be represented in Sportico‘s list of the Top 15 Highest-Paid MLB Players once Guerrero’s new deal fully kicks in.
Judge has said he’d only participate again if the All-Star Game was in New York City, while Shohei Ohtani, who has the third-most homers in the league, cited the current knockout structure in explaining his absence. “With the current rules in place, I don’t think it’s feasible for me to compete well,” Ohtani said in June. The Japanese superstar previously competed in 2021, and the derby format was updated last year. Competitors are now limited to three minutes or 40 swings in the first round, with the top four moving on to a pair of two-minute or 27-swing knockout rounds.
In 2021, Ohtani handed his $150,000 to Angels employees while Alonso has used a portion of his derby earnings to support multiple nonprofit causes.
The 2024 home run contest averaged 5.45 million viewers, up against Republican National Convention coverage. The All-Star Game averaged 7.44 million viewers. Each player on the winning All-Star Game side gets $25,000. The 2025 Home Run Derby airs on ESPN and ESPN2.
Discussing his decision to join the fray, Cruz said he’s in it for more than the dollars.
“I’m really, really happy, just because that’s what I do,” Cruz said on Tuesday. “I like to hit balls far. I think I’m going to enjoy it a lot.”
After years of targeting position players early in the MLB Draft, the Boston Red Sox are doing their best to balance out their prospect pool.
The Red Sox used three of their four selections on Day 1 of the 2025 MLB Draft on pitchers, headlined by Oklahoma right-hander Kyson Witherspoon, taken in the first round at No. 15 overall. Witherspoon is the first pitcher selected by Boston in the first round since Tanner Houck in 2017.
Chief baseball officer Craig Breslow added another arm in Round 2, selecting Tennessee righty Marcus Phillips at No. 33 overall. After landing a middle infielder — Virginia’s Henry Godbout — with the No. 75 pick, Breslow went back to the pitching well in Round 3 with LSU right-hander Anthony Eyanson (No. 87 overall).
The Red Sox’ work is far from done, as they’ll make a plethora of additional picks over 20 total rounds. Check out the chart below for a live tracker of each Red Sox draft pick, followed by more information on their top selections.
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Witherspoon, 20, was ranked seventh on Baseball America’s draft board and 10th on MLB Pipeline’s board. The 6-foot-2, 205-pounder reaches 99 mph with his fastball and also boasts three above-average secondary pitches: a slider, cutter, and curveball:
Last season for the Sooners, Witherspoon posted a 10-4 record with a 2.65 ERA, 1.01 WHIP, 124 strikeouts, and 23 walks in 16 starts (95 innings).
“Kyson is a guy we valued highly entering the draft, and we believe he is one of the top college arms in the class,” Red Sox director of amateur scouting Devin Pearson said in a statement. “We think he fits in nicely with our development strengths and has the right makeup to pitch at Fenway park. We couldn’t be more excited to welcome him to Red Sox Nation.”
Round 2, Pick 33: Marcus Phillips, RHP, Tennessee
Phillips, 20, posted a 4-5 record with a 3.90 ERA in 17 starts for the Volunteers last season. The 6-foot-4, 246-pounder struck out 95 batters over 83 innings for Tennessee and boasts a mid-to-high-90s fastball that occasionally reached 100 mph.
Phillips, MLB.com’s No. 61 prospect, was a reliever for the Volunteers in 2024 and could find a major-league role as a hard-throwing bullpen arm.
Round 2, Pick 75: Henry Godbout, INF, Virginia
Godbout, 21, is a well-rounded hitter who slashed .309//397/.497 with eight home runs and 37 RBI in 50 games for the Cavaliers in 2025. He played primarily second base for Virginia last season but also has experience at shortstop and third base.
The No. 72 prospect on MLB.com’s Top 100, Godbout joins a crowded group of middle infielders in Boston’s farm system.
Round 3, Pick 87: Anthony Eyanson, RHP, LSU
Eyanson, 20, transferred from UC San Diego to LSU in 2025 and had a stellar campaign for the College World Series champion Tigers, posting a 12-2 record with a 3.00 ERA over 18 starts while striking out 152 batters over 108 innings.
Eyanson was the No. 40 prospect on MLB.com’s Top 100, which projects his ceiling as a “No. 3 starter if he can improve his fastball shape” while noting he “could wind up as a reliever who relies heavily on his breaking pitches.”
Round 4, Pick 118: Mason White, SS, Arizona
Round 5, Pick 148: Christian Foutch, RHP, Arkansas
Perhaps you have a few questions about the upcoming MLB All-Star Game.
Who is the active leader in All-Star Game selections behind Mike Trout and Clayton Kershaw? One player on this year’s roster is closing in.
Is Shohei Ohtani the only player in Major League Baseball history to make the All-Star team as both a hitter and pitcher? Yep, and he has done it multiple times.
Perhaps you’re simply wondering who has the most hits and home runs in All-Star Game history. Or who has been struck out the most. Or who holds the Midsummer Classic record for hitting into the most double plays.
Well, here are the answers to all of those questions, and many other fun facts about the MLB All-Star Game:
1. The first All-Star Game was played at Chicago’s Comiskey Park in 1933, with the American League winning 4-2. The National League wore gray NL uniforms, while the AL wore the home uniform of their respective team. The first home run was hit by Babe Ruth, who launched a two-run shot in the bottom of the third inning.
2. The American League has gone 48-44-2 against the National League in the All-Star Game, with last year’s 5-3 victory being their 10th win in the last 11 years. The AL, in 2023, had their nine-game winning streak snapped with the NL’s 3-2 victory in Seattle. The AL fell two victories shy of the NL’s record of 11 consecutive wins (1972-1982). The All-Star Game ended in a 1-1 tie in 1961 in San Francisco due to rain and a 7-7 tie in 2002 in Milwaukee when the game went 11 innings and the teams ran out of available pitchers.
3. Hank Aaron had a record 25 All-Star selections during his 23-year career. Confused? Between 1959 and 1962, MLB had two All-Star Games each season.
4. Hank Aaron, Willie Mays and Stan Musial have played in the most All-Star Games with 24 appearances apiece.
5. The MLB All-Star Game has been canceled twice: in 1945 due to travel restrictions during World War II and in 2020 due to the COVID-19 global pandemic.
6. From 2003 to 2016, the winner of the All-Star Game between the American League and National League determined which league would have home field advantage in the World Series. The AL won the first seven of those home-field deciding All-Star matchups, the NL won the next three and the AL won the final four. Beginning in 2017, home field was given to the World Series representative with the best regular-season winning percentage.
7. Willie Mays has the most hits in All-Star Game history with 23 and most plate appearances with 82.
8. Charlie Gehringer (29 plate appearances) and Ted Kluszewski (14) have the highest career batting average in All-Star Game history at .500. They are followed by Derek Jeter at .481 (29 plate appearances).
9. Lefty Gomez leads all All-Star pitchers in wins with three.
10. Mariano Rivera owns the most All-Star Game saves with four.
11. Roger Clemens pitched in the most All-Star Games with 10 appearances.
12. Longtime Yankees manager Casey Stengel has managed the most All-Star Games with 10 appearances. He also owns the record for most managerial losses with six. Dodgers manager Walt Alston has the most wins with seven.
13. In 1957, Cincinnati fans stuffed the ballot box to elect eight Redlegs, as they were known at the time, to starting positions. Commissioner Ford Frick replaced Gus Bell, Wally Post and George Crowe with Hank Aaron, Willie Mays and Stan Musial.
14. Most Valuable Player of the All-Star Game was first awarded in 1962, with Maury Wills of the Los Angeles Dodgers named the first MVP.
15. Derek Jeter is the only player to win All-Star Game MVP and World Series MVP in the same season, doing so in 2000.
New York Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter holding the All-Star Game MVP trophy in 2000. (Photo by Chuck Solomon /Sports Illustrated via Getty Images)
16. Five players have been named All-Star Game MVP on two occasions: Willie Mays, Steve Garvey, Gary Carter, Cal Ripken Jr. and Mike Trout.
17. The youngest player to win MVP of the All-Star Game was Vladimir Guerrero Jr. at 22 years and 119 days old in 2021, moving ahead of Ken Griffey Jr. (22 years and 236 days in 1992).
18. Three father-son combos each have hit home runs in an All-Star Game: Vladimir Guerrero Sr. and Vladimir Guerrero Jr.; Bobby Bonds and Barry Bonds; and Ken Griffey Sr. and Ken Griffey Jr.
19. Five sets of brothers have been All-Star teammates: Wilson and William Contreras (2022 NL); Roberto and Sandy Alomar (1991, 1992 AL), Joe and Dom DiMaggio (1949 AL), Dixie and Harry Walker (1947 NL) and Mort and Walker Cooper (1942, 1943 NL).
20. Fred Lynn, in 1983, hit what remains the only grand slam in All-Star Game history. Lynn’s grand slam scored Manny Trillo, Rod Carew and Robin Yount to give the American League a 9-1 lead in the third inning.
21. The most earned runs allowed by a pitcher in a single All-Star Game is seven by Atlee Hammaker, who in 1983 gave up the grand slam to Fred Lynn. Hammaker, making the lone All-Star appearance of his career, lasted 2/3 of an inning.
22. Gary Sheffield (Padres, Marlins, Dodgers, Braves, Yankees) and Moises Alou (Expos, Marlins, Astros, Cubs, Giants) have represented the most teams in All-Star Game history with five each.
23. Dwight Gooden became the youngest All-Star in league history when he was selected as a rookie in 1984 at 19 years old. He also has the most balks in All-Star Game history with two.
24. The oldest pitcher to play in an All-Star Game is Satchel Paige, who threw one inning in 1953 at 47 years old. The youngest pitcher to start an All-Star Game is Jerry Walker, who tossed three innings in 1959 at 20 years and 172 days old.
25. The oldest position player to appear in an All-Star Game is Pete Rose, who grounded out as a pinch hitter in 1985 at 44 years old. The oldest player to get a hit in the All-Star Game is Carlton Fisk, who singled in 1991 at 43 years old.
26. Pete Rose holds the record for most positions played in All-Star Game history with five: first base, second base, third base, left field and right field.
27. The longest All-Star Game in history was in 2008 when it went four hours and 50 minutes. The game was played at Yankee Stadium and went 15 innings, tying the ASG record set in 1967 for most innings played.
28. The most hits by a player in a single All-Star Game is four by Joe Medwick, Ted Williams and Carl Yastrzemski.
29. Five players have hit two home runs in a single All-Star Game: Gary Carter, Willie McCovey, Al Rosen, Arky Vaughan and Ted Williams. Rod Carew is the only player to hit two triples in a single All-Star Game.
30. Al Rosen and Ted Williams are tied for the most RBIs in a single All-Star Game with five. Williams has knocked in the most career All-Star Game RBIs with 12.
31. Don Drysdale, Lefty Gomez and Robin Roberts have each started five All-Star Games, the most for a pitcher. Max Scherzer leads active pitchers with four starts. Drysdale, an eight-time All-Star, has also pitched the most innings (19 1/3) and struck out the most batters (19) in All-Star Game history.
32. Seven pitchers have taken the loss in two All-Star Games: Mort Cooper, Whitey Ford, Dwight Gooden, Catfish Hunter, Clade Passeau, John Smoltz and Luis Tiant.
33. Four pitchers share the record for most strikeouts in an All-Star Game with six: Larry Jansen, Carl Hubbell, Fergie Jenkins and Johnny Vander Meer. Pedro Martinez holds the record for most strikeouts to open a game with four, fanning Barry Larkin, Larry Walker, Sammy Sosa and Mark McGwire in 1999.
34. Mel Harder played in four All-Star Games and owns the record for most innings pitched without allowing a run with 13 scoreless frames.
35. Whitey Ford, having played in six All-Star Games, has allowed the most earned runs with 11. Vida Blue (two All-Star Games) and Catfish Hunter (six) have allowed the most home runs with four each.
36. The Detroit Tigers, who currently have the league’s best record, have the most 2025 All-Stars with six: OF Javier Báez, LHP Tarik Skubal, OF Riley Greene, 2B Gleyber Torres, INF Zach McKinstry and RHP Casey Mize. The team with the most All-Star representatives has not won the World Series since the 2021 Atlanta Braves.
37. Shohei Ohtani in 2021 became the first player to start an All-Star Game as both a hitter and a pitcher. Ohtani is the only player in MLB history to be selected to the All-Star Game as both a position player and a pitcher, and he did so for three straight seasons.
Shohei Ohtani pitching and batting in the 2021 All-Star Game. (Getty Images)
38. Mickey Mantle, who played in 16 All-Star Games, struck out 17 times, the most all-time.
39. Joe DiMaggio and Pete Rose are the only two players to ground into double plays three times in All-Star Game history. Bobby Richardson is the only player to ground into two double plays in a single All-Star Game, doing so in 1963.
40. In 2022, Giancarlo Stanton and Byron Buxton became the seventh set of players to hit back-to-back home runs in the All-Star Game. They joined Al Rosen and Ray Boone (1954), Ted Williams and Mickey Mantle (1956), Steve Garvey and Jimmy Wynn (1975), Bo Jackson and Wade Boggs (1989), Derek Jeter and Magglio Ordonez (2001) and Alex Bregman and George Springer (2018).
41. Five players have led off the All-Star Game with a home run: Lou Boudreau, Frankie Frisch, Bo Jackson, Willie Mays and Joe Morgan.
42. Three players have hit walk-off home runs in the All-Star Game: Ted Williams (1942), Stan Musial (1955) and Johnny Callison (1964).
43. Only one player has hit an inside-the-park home run in the All-Star Game: Ichiro Suzuki (2007).
44. Stan Musial has hit the most home runs in All-Star Game history with six.
45. Willie Mays has the most All-Star Game stolen bases with six.
46. Clayton Kershaw was named as a “Legend’s Pick” for the 2025 All-Star Game by Rob Manfred. It was the pitcher’s 11th All-Star selection, which ties the active lead held by Mike Trout. Freddie Freeman, with his 2025 selection, pulled into a tie for third most at nine appearances with Jose Altuve, Craig Kimbrel, Salvador Perez and Justin Verlander.
47. The most runs scored by an All-Star team is 13, which the AL has done three times (1983, 1992, 1998). The most combined runs scored by both teams was 21 in 1998, with the AL defeating the NL 13-8. The most runs scored in a single inning during the All-Star Game is seven by the AL in 1983.
48. The fewest hits by an All-Star team were two by the National League in 1990 during a 2-0 loss. The two hits were by Lenny Dykstra and Will Clark.
49. The largest attendance in All-Star Game history was 72,086 at Municipal Stadium in Cleveland in 1981. The smallest attendance was 25,556 at Braves Field in Boston in 1936.
50. New York has hosted more All-Star Games than any other city, having done so nine times in five different stadiums. Three active stadiums have hosted three All-Star Games: Wrigley Field, Fenway Park and Angel Stadium. Only one active Major League Baseball team has never hosted the All-Star Game: the Tampa Bay Rays.
SAN FRANCISCO — The executive’s suite at Oracle Park was empty Sunday. Buster Posey, Zack Minasian and others were in Arizona to join Michael Holmes and the amateur scouting staff for the first day of the 2025 MLB Draft, which led to an interesting situation.
Because the draft took place in Atlanta, site of the MLB All-Star Game, it started at 3 p.m. on the West Coast. And because the Giants went to extra innings against the Dodgers, their lead executives had one eye on the TV as they watched the first round unfold.
The Giants ended up making their first selection about 10 minutes after the final pitch at Oracle Park. With both of their picks, they took collegiate hitters who ideally will help prevent some of what happened Sunday, when the lineup twice failed to score a runner from second in extra innings.
The focus with Sunday’s two picks was on getting players with elite bat-to-ball skills. First-rounder Gavin Kilen has one of the best contact profiles in the draft, and while third-rounder Trevor Cohen was taken earlier than expected, the Giants were drawn to his history of limiting strikeouts and making solid contact at Rutgers.
“I think it’s always something we desire,” Holmes said. “Look, last year a guy like Dakota Jordan had a little swing-and-miss to his college game, but there were things we believed from a player development perspective that we could help him correct some of that based on his tool set, and we’re really happy with the way he’s playing right now.
“It’s not that we’re afraid to not take a guy, but I think first and foremost (contact hitters are) a type of player that we’re attracted to.”
Kilen, 21, is a left-handed hitter who was named a first-team All-American after batting .357 with 15 homers, a .441 on-base percentage and a .671 slugging percentage. In 53 games, he drew 30 walks to 27 strikeouts, and while some view him as a second baseman, the Giants will initially develop him as a shortstop.
“It’s elite bat-to-ball skills and we’re talking about a career 10 percent strikeout rate for him in his college years and more walks than strikeouts,” Holmes said. “We think that he’s more of a line-drive hitter but he’s a guy that was able to hit 15 home runs this year so we think there’s some power to come. We’re just really excited to have him.”
Cohen was a three-year starter at Rutgers and struck out just 62 times in 163 games. He hit .387 with a .460 on-base percentage as a junior, although he hit just two homers and had four in college overall.
The left-handed hitter primarily played right field — Peyton Bonds, the nephew of Barry, was the center fielder — but the Giants believe Cohen can play center field as a professional. Holmes said Cohen blew the Giants away during his interview at the pre-draft combine.
“(He’s a) guy with a career eight percent strikeout rate. Another guy that touches the baseball, puts it in play, elite contact skills,” Cohen said. “We think he can play center field. We like living in the middle of the diamond and like guys that make elite contact and we think we accomplished both of those with these guys.”
The picks were the first two of the Posey Era, although Holmes has been running the draft since 2019. He said not much has changed in the draft room from previous years.
“He was great, super-supportive of not only myself but my entire draft, asked a lot of good questions and was right there in the room with us and involved with all the conversations,” Holmes said of Posey. “There’s just a real calming presence to him … but as far as the draft mechanics, there was not a lot of change but there was definitely a new presence and it was a lot of fun in our room to have him.”
The Giants did not have a second-round draft pick Sunday because they signed Willy Adames in the offseason after he turned down a qualifying offer. They won’t have a pick in the fifth round when the draft resumes Monday morning, although they’re getting used to drafting this way. They were docked two picks last year after signing Matt Chapman and Blake Snell, but they were able to go over-slot for Jordan, who now is their fifth-ranked prospect. First-rounder James Tibbs III was sent to Boston in the Rafael Devers trade.
“The worst part of the day was the waiting game between 13 (Kilen) and 85 (Cohen),” Holmes said. “I didn’t think it would ever get there. But (we made) sure that we spent time on the players that we felt fit and identified those. I think we’ve learned from it, and it’s something I thought our guys and our group have done a really good job of.”
Arkansas pitcher Zach Root delivers during a game against Washington State on Feb. 14. Root was selected by the Dodgers in the first round of the MLB draft on Sunday. (Michael Woods / Associated Press)
The Dodgers' first two picks in this year’s MLB draft came consecutively at Nos. 40 and 41 overall.
Turns out, their two selections came from the same school, as well, with the team taking left-handed pitcher Zach Root and contact-hitting outfielder Charles Davalan out of the University of Arkansas.
Root, a junior for the Razorbacks this year, went at No. 40. A transfer from East Carolina, he had a 3.62 earned-run average this season with 126 strikeouts in 99⅓ innings. Scouting reports lauded his versatile pitch mix, which includes a slider, curveball and changeup from a funky low arm-slot delivery.
Davalan, a sophomore who was draft-eligible, also transferred into Arkansas last year after one season at Florida Gulf Coast. He hit .346 for the Razorbacks with 14 home runs, 60 RBIs and more walks (35) than strikeouts (27).
Both players were part of an Arkansas team that won 50 games and reached the College World Series.
Both figure to be key pieces of the Dodgers’ future, as well.
Though the Dodgers once again were boxed out of a high draft pick — picking outside the top 30 for the third time in the last four years because of competitive balance tax penalties — the team did acquire an extra selection in what is known as “Competitive Balance Round A,” securing the No. 41 overall selection as part of the trade that sent Gavin Lux to the Cincinnati Reds.
That meant, for the first time since 2019, the Dodgers made two top-50 selections.
And when their selections were on the clock, they identified the pair of Southeastern Conference teammates.
Root is a Fort Myers, Fla., native who was the No. 31-ranked recruit in the state coming out of high school, according to Perfect Game.
After starting his college career at East Carolina, where he had a 9-5 record and 4.43 ERA in two seasons, he found immediate success upon joining Arkansas, earning first-team All-SEC honors and second- and third-team All-American nods.
Though he grew up in Florida, Root said he was a childhood Dodgers fan — thanks in large part to another certain left-handed pitcher.
"Growing up, my dad always made me watch [Clayton] Kershaw and learn to pitch like him,” Root said. “So I've just been watching Dodger baseball ever since I can remember, because of Kershaw."
Davalan took a decidedly more circuitous route to the Dodgers.
Arkansas batter Charles Davalan runs to first base during a game against Arkansas State on April 8. (Michael Woods / Associated Press)
Originally a childhood hockey player from Quebec, Canada, Davalan moved to Florida when he was in high school during the COVID-19 pandemic, enrolling in a specialized high school that allowed him to spend much of his days training as a baseball player.
“With COVID, a lot got shut down in Canada,” Davalan said. “So decided to go live in Florida, where the restrictions [weren't there] and you could play 12 months of the year.”
From there, the undersized Davalan — who is listed at 5-foot-9 and 190 pounds — got one D-I offer from FGCU, impressed enough there to transfer to Arkansas, and then blossomed into “one of the best hitters in the draft class, I think,” Root said of his teammate. “Getting him at pick 41 is just a big steal for the Dodgers."
Davalan offered similar praise about Root, calling him “kind of an old-school pitcher” who “really filled the zones up good, but can still get his punchouts when he needs to get out of the jam.”
“Old-school” was also an adjective Davalan used to describe himself.
“I like to win. I like to play hard,” he said. “So that's what I'm going to try to do. And I'm sure that knowing the organization, it's filled of players like that, so I'm super excited just to get to meet new people.”
And, of course, be reacquainted with one from his recent past.
“He's one of my best friends because of Arkansas,” Root said. “He's a really great dude.”
“I guess I'm going to have to live with him in a couple more years,” Davalan joked. “He's awesome.”
