Four takeaways from the 2024 MLB All-Star Game

Major League Baseball held its 94th All-Star Game on Tuesday night in Texas, the first time the Rangers have hosted since 1995. This midsummer classic featured some of the most dangerous hitters of the ’90s, including Barry Bonds, Frank Thomas, Tony Gwynn, Cal Ripken Jr. and Mike Piazza. But the MVP was a little-known Marlins outfielder, Jeff Conine. hit a game-winning home run Number eight.

The All-Star Game has a funny way of bringing out stories like this. Last year’s MVPRockies catcher Elias Diaz can attest to that, too. Indeed, outside of New England, he probably wouldn’t have been the first player most would have predicted to deliver the defining hit in 2024. In the grand scheme of things, nothing beats the near-total obscurity of the Marlins and Rockies, but until Tuesday, the eyes of the sports world hadn’t been focused on Jarren Duran.

These were the storylines for the 2024 MLB All-Star Game, where Duran won MVP.

Jarren Duran steps into the spotlight

Fun fact: only four position players in the entire American League have scored more runs. Fangraphs WAR than the first half Red Sox Center fielder Jarren Duran led the AL in doubles (27) and triples (10) while slashing .284/.342/.477 in 95 games. Four players ahead of Duran — Aaron Judge, Gunnar Henderson, Bobby Witt Jr. and Juan Soto — all easily received more than 1 million votes in All-Star voting and made it through the first phase, as did Steven Kwan, who tied with Duran with 3.7 WAR.

However, instead of getting any closer to promotion, Duran dropped to 16th place.

With all due respect to the AL Central-leading Guardians, there’s no way I’d pick Will Brennan or Tyler Freeman, even if I was given 98 guesses out of 100. And yet, even they received more votes than Duran. This was probably a halo effect from Cleveland fans rooting for Kwan, of course, but this shouldn’t have happened to Duran, a talented player who regularly wears one of the most recognizable uniforms in baseball.

As a result, he was selected as a reserve player for his first All-Star game. Duran’s fellow players recognized his talent and selected him to the American League team. themselvesIt took until the fifth inning for Duran to get his chance, when captain Bruce Bochy put him in center field for Judge. With two outs and Anthony Santander on first base, Duran got a strike from Hunter Greene. The Reds right-hander threw a splitter down the middle of the zone, and Duran didn’t miss it.

According to MLB Sarah LangsDuran became the only Boston Sox player to hit a home run in his All-Star debut, joining Boston icon David Ortiz and J.D. Drew, the last Red Sox player to win the All-Star Game MVP award. He also gave the American League a 5-3 lead that they held on to. Later participation Drew, Pedro Martinez, Roger Clemens and Carl Yastrzemski were named All-Star Game MVPs for the tournament. Formal name “Ted Williams All-Star Game MVP Award”

Perhaps this was the spotlight Duran needed to make a name for himself on the national stage. At the very least, if he can hit like this again this time next year, he’ll likely rank much higher than 16th in the polls.

There’s a reason Shohei Ohtani is guaranteed a $700 million annual salary

Okay, okay. Technically speaking, the actual value of the long-delayed Ohtani deal is Around $462 millionBut it’s not a lot of money, and even with Ohtani’s immense stature and talent, there were concerns about guaranteeing that amount of compensation to a player who could only be a DH in his first year. Ohtani underwent a second major elbow surgery last September that puts the star pitcher’s career on hold until at least 2025.

2024 will be Ohtani’s year to focus on hitting, and based on his results so far, MLB pitchers will want his attention diverted as soon as possible. DodgersIn that time, he’s hitting .316/.400/.635 with 29 home runs and a 1.036 OPS, the best in the NL (although his hopes may be dashed after he only had a 1.066 OPS last year as a two-way player).

Ohtani scored his only run of the senior circuit all-star game when he came to bat against Boston’s Tanner Hawk. Like Duran, Ohtani was hit with a big splitter that looked like it was just waiting to be countered. The DH was gracious enough to respond.

400 feet later, the National League was up 3 to 0. This guy is in a class of his own.

It would be remiss not to point out that even God can be humbled. Flame-thrower Mason Miller was one of the few bright spots in a bleak final season for the Oakland Athletics baseball team. He was the only player named to the AL team, but he struck out Ohtani and Trea Turner in a perfect fifth inning, firing a 103 mph fastball to lift Oakland into the All-Star spotlight one last time.

Duran homered the next inning, giving Miller the eventual win. Oakland Athletics.

Paul Skenes vs. Aaron Judge

Paul Skenes Pirate Skenes was selected by Pittsburgh as the No. 1 overall pick in the MLB Draft. Pittsburgh didn’t go easy on Skenes in the second half of 2023, but only started seven games for Triple-A Indianapolis this year before promoting him to The Show on May 11. High expectations were placed on Skenes, but no one expected him to dominate so dominantly in his first 11 major league starts. The right-hander posted a 1.90 ERA, 0.92 WHIP and 12.1 strikeouts per nine innings in 66.1 innings, making him an All-Star candidate. He also pitched two no-hitters that were eventually ended due to the Pirates’ pitch limit.

It was a given for the National League to not only name Skenes to the All-Star team but also to start him — he became just the fifth rookie in MLB history to start the Midsummer Classic, joining first-year wunderkinds like Fernando Valenzuela and Hideo Nomo — but the way AL manager Bruce Bochy constructed the lineup left it unclear whether fans would get to see a showdown between Skenes and Judge, the game’s most feared slugger.

of YankeesWith the captain batting cleanup, Skenes only faced the first three AL hitters. But the third was Judge’s fellow New York superstar, Soto. On FOX’s pregame show, Soto assured us we’d definitely get to see the Skenes-Judge showdown.

Soto’s .985 OPS ranks behind only Judge and Ohtani in the MLB, so there was a good chance he was a man of his word. The Nationals’ former World Series hero also led the MLB with 79 walks, and as expected, he came on to the mound with two outs and battled Skenes for seven pitches, drawing an inescapable walk from the up-and-comer.

do Later recognized He was actually going to attack Skenes deep, but decided to let him walk. immediately Was the first pitch you saw against Skenes a force out? Yes, but we appreciate Soto’s (and Skenes’) effort.

The baseball gods seemed to think highly of Soto, too, as his third-inning grounder cleared the infield for a hustle double that helped the AL tie the game at 3-3 after Ohtani’s home run. Soto’s double scored both Marcus Semien and Steven Kwan, and Soto himself scored when Kwan’s underrated Cleveland teammate, David Frye, scored. He hit a single with two outs. Defeat Logan Webb.

Did you know this All-Star Game was played in Texas?

A little-known fact about this year’s Midsummer Classic: It’s being held in Arlington.

my Expert Sources“Arlington is a city west of Dallas, Texas.”

They are Really I wanted people to know it was in Texas.

They even added some special touches, like lassoing the All-Star starters as they came onto the field during pregame introductions and handing out cowboy hats to kids who came onto the field with each starter.

Luckily, some Texans weren’t the least bit mortified by seeing the sports world return to normal.

If MLB is going to go to such lengths for Texas, I might as well get hit over the head with 10,000 Outkast/ATLien references at next year’s Atlanta All-Star Game. Let’s hold the MLB Draft in the Magic City and have the Coca-Cola Bear throw the first pitch. Maybe that would be the punishment we all deserve.