The Weekly Rundown: 7/14/24 - 7/20/24
A complete All-Star break recap and more of the top baseball highlights from the week.
Good morning and happy Sunday!
We’re back from the All-Star break with roughly two months and 60ish games left in the 2024 regular season. Some storylines to monitor in the coming weeks:
The trade deadline is July 30. You can stay up to date on all rumors and deals with this newsletter, which you can subscribe to (FREE) below.
The battle for the AL East. The Orioles and Yankees are duking it out atop the division, but look out for the surging Red Sox.
The Astros are doing it again. They’ve returned to the top of the AL West and are poised to make yet another deep postseason run. Can the Mariners or reigning champion Rangers stop them?
Thanks to the expanded playoff format, there are plenty of teams still in contention via the Wild Card. That could result in a dud of a trade deadline with teams unwilling to sell.
We’ll cover all of that in the next few rundowns. For now, let’s look back at the All-Star festivities and everything else that occurred in the baseball world over the last week.
MLB Draft
Here are the results from the first round of the 2024 MLB Draft, which took place on Tuesday:
Cleveland Guardians: Travis Bazzana, 2B, Oregon State
Cincinnati Reds: Chase Burns, RHP, Wake Forest
Colorado Rockies: Charlie Condon, OF/3B, Georgia
Oakland Athletics: Nick Kurtz, 1B, Wake Forest
Chicago White Sox: Hagen Smith, LHP, Arkansas
Kansas City Royals: Jac Caglianone, 1B/LHP, Florida
St. Louis Cardinals: JJ Wetherholt, 2B/SS, West Virginia
Los Angeles Angels: Christian Moore, 2B, Tennessee
Pittsburgh Pirates: Konnor Griffin, SS/OF, Jackson Prep High School (MS)
Washington Nationals: Seaver King, SS/3B/OF, Wake Forest
Detroit Tigers: Bryce Rainer, SS, Harvard-Westlake High School (CA)
Boston Red Sox: Braden Montgomery, OF, Texas A&M
San Francisco Giants: James Tibbs III, OF, Florida State
Chicago Cubs: Cam Smith, 3B, Florida State
Seattle Mariners: Jurrangelo Cijntje, LHP/RHP, Mississippi State
Miami Marlins: PJ Morlando, OF, Summerville High School (SC)
Milwaukee Brewers: Braylon Payne, OF, Elkins High School (TX)
Tampa Bay Rays: Theo Gillen, OF/MI, Westlake High School (TX)
New York Mets: Carson Benge, OF, Oklahoma State
Toronto Blue Jays: Trey Yesavage, RHP, East Carolina
Minnesota Twins: Kaelen Culpepper, SS, Kansas State
Baltimore Orioles: Vance Honeycutt, OF, North Carolina
Los Angeles Dodgers: Kellon Lindsey, SS, Hardee High School (FL)
Atlanta Braves: Cam Caminiti, LHP, Saguero High School (AZ)
San Diego Padres: Kash Mayfield, LHP, Elk City High School (OK)
New York Yankees: Ben Hess, RHP, Alabama
Philadelphia Phillies: Dante Nori, OF, Northville High School (MI)
Houston Astros: Walker Janek, C, Sam Houston
Arizona Diamondbacks: Slade Caldwell, OF, Valley View High School (AR)
Texas Rangers: Malcolm Moore, C, Stanford
Home Run Derby
If you skipped the 2024 Home Run Derby, you didn’t miss much. It was kind of a snoozefest. The only viral moment from the event was the national anthem sung by country star Ingrid Andress, which is in the running for the worst anthem of all time. We had a Draymond Green moment from Alec Bohm.
As for the competition, here’s how it went…
Round 1 Home Run Totals
Alec Bohm: 21
Jose Ramirez: 21
Bobby Witt Jr.: 20
Teoscar Hernandez: 19
Adolis Garcia: 18 (eliminated)
Marcell Ozuna: 16 (eliminated)
Pete Alonso: 12 (eliminated)
Gunnar Henderson: 11 (eliminated)
Round 2 Home Run Totals
Bobby Witt Jr.: 17
Teoscar Hernandez: 14
Alec Bohm: 14 (eliminated by Hernandez in swing-off)
Jose Ramirez: 12 (eliminated)
Final Round Home Run Totals
Teoscar Hernandez: 14
Bobby Witt Jr.: 13
All-Star Game
Other than the horrible uniforms, this year’s Midsummer Classic was pretty fun to watch. Here’s a brief recap of the highlights…
Pirates rookie phenom Paul Skenes got the start on the mound for the National League against Orioles ace Corbin Burnes. Skenes pitched a clean first inning and Burnes allowed one hit and a walk without letting a run score.
The NL broke through with three runs in the third inning against Red Sox righty Tanner Houck. Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani did the damage with a three-run blast.
The AL responded with three runs of their own in the bottom of the frame against Giants ace Logan Webb. Yankees slugger Juan Soto hit a two-run double and Guardians utility man David Fry tied it up with a single.
The difference was Red Sox outfielder Jarren Duran’s two-run homer off Reds righty Hunter Greene in the fifth inning. The game was scoreless the rest of the way, giving the AL a 5-3 win and their 10th victory over the NL in the last 11 All-Star Games.
Duran was named the Ted Williams All-Star Game MVP.
Dominant on the Bump
Blake Snell, San Francisco Giants
7.0 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 8 K, 0 BB vs. Minnesota Twins
Logan Gilbert, Seattle Mariners
7.0 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 9 K, 0 BB vs. Los Angeles Angels
Nick Pivetta, Boston Red Sox
6.0 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 8 K, 1 BB vs. Los Angeles Dodgers
Dylan Cease, San Diego Padres
7.0 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 10 K, 1 BB vs. Cleveland Guardians
Taj Bradley, Tampa Bay Rays
7.0 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 0 ER, 5 K, 2 BB vs. New York Yankees
Big Bombs
A’s second baseman Zack Gelof hit a grand slam against the Phillies
Lawrence Butler belted three of Oakland’s eight homers vs. Philadelphia.
The Rockies’ Michael Toglia had a three-home-run game vs. the Mets.
Freddie Freeman crushed a clutch grand slam to lead the Dodgers to victory over the Red Sox.
Web Gem of the Week
Phillies shortstop Trea Turner made a diving stop while mic’d up at the All-Star Game.
Welcome to the Show
A’s No. 1 prospect Jacob Wilson recorded his first MLB hit in his lone at-bat during his debut on Friday vs. the Angels.
The White Sox’ Brooks Baldwin collected a hit in his first big-league at-bat Friday vs. the Royals.
Notable Injuries
The Royals placed outfielder MJ Melendez on the 10-day injured list due to a left ankle sprain.
Nationals right-hander Josiah Gray has a partial tear of the UCL in his right elbow and will undergo season-ending surgery.
The Blue Jays placed shortstop Bo Bichette on the 10-day IL with a right calf strain.
The Rays placed first baseman Yandy Diaz on the restricted list due to a family matter.
The Twins placed shortstop Carlos Correa on the 10-day IL and right-hander Chris Paddack on the 15-day IL with right plantar fasciitis and a right forearm strain, respectively.
Rapid Fire
The Brewers designated veteran left-hander Dallas Keuchel for assignment.
The White Sox signed free agent infielder Nick Senzel to a major league contract.
The White Sox DFA’d catcher Martín Maldonado.
The Royals released veteran reliever Nick Anderson.
The Angels signed veteran righty Johnny Cueto to a minor league deal.
The Royals released righty Jordan Lyles.
The Rumor Mill
The Cubs are interested in Blue Jays catcher Danny Jansen, according to USA Today’s Bob Nightengale.
Craig Mish of the Miami Herald said on 93.7 The Fan that the Pirates and Marlins have had “exploratory” trade talks involving Jazz Chisholm Jr.
Diamondbacks GM Mike Hazen told reporters “as of now, the calls we’re making, we’re looking to add talent to the team.”