Happy Monday, everyone! Hopefully the big July 4th weekend treated you all well, and you’ve had a chance to recover from all of the festivities. News was slow with lots of outlets getting in on the good times, but we still have a solid roundup of news links to start your week with. The biggest story out there right now is that the All-Star Game rosters have been released, so we can finally see who is heading to Philadelphia for the big game. Along with this, of course, we have plenty of discourse
on snubs and what the rosters mean, so we have a lot of that below.
We also take a look at Aaron Judge’s candid statements about the slumping Yankees, and speaking of slumps, we try to unravel the mystery of why Vlad Jr. is in one of the worst slumps of his career.
But first, here are some great photos from the big 250th celebrations around baseball this past weekend.
Now on to the rest of today’s links!
- Here’s a look at every team’s Fourth of July caps. Story by Tim Capurso.
- The Full All-Star roster has been revealed and features a whopping 26 first-timers. (MLB)
- David Schoenfield offers some key takeaways from the All-Star Roster.
- Aaron Judge spoke out about his slumping team, suggesting that a lack of focus might be hindering the Yankees. Story by Bryan Hoch.
- Karl Rasmussen looks at the biggest snubs from the All-Star Game.
- Never forget that Freddie Freeman is not Freddie Freeman’s son’s favorite baseball player.
- Sonja Chen reports that Shohei Ohtani came back in a big way on his 32nd birthday after missing one game.
- Mike Petriello tries to figure out what is causing Vladimir Guerrero Jr’s worst career slump.
- John Henry looks at how the Tigers are turning Keider Montero into one of their most potent pitching weapons.
- In the most heartbreaking story out of baseball this weekend, Eliezer Alfonzo Jr made his debut with the Dodgers only a day after his mother and sisters remains were found following the tragic Venezuela earthquakes. Story by Karl Rasmussen.
- Will Sammon looks at the sometimes rocky relationship between Juan Soto and Francisco Lindor and why it’s vital to the success of the Mets. (The Athletic subscription required.)
- This Bobby kid is pretty good.
- Scott Merkin reports that the White Sox are now on top of the AL Central, but staying there isn’t going to be easy.
- Munetaka Murakami is beginning his rehab stint and could rejoin the White Sox before the break. (AP)
- Jorge Castillo reports that Jazz Chisholm Jr. exited a Yankees game this weekend with toe discomfort.
- Mitch Bannon charts the unlikely path of Ernie Clement and how he became a Blue Jays fan favorite and an All-Star starter. (The Athletic subscription required.)
- Chris Sale has reached 500K with three different teams.
And tomorrow will be a better day than today, Buster. Make it so.
