Baseball in the Big Citi

The All Star Game is next week and this year it will be held at my home. New York City. Its been 5 years since the All Star Game was held it Yankee Stadium, this time the venue will be at the Mets' Citi Field.

Bryce "The Warrior" Harper and Chris "Crush" Davis

First the Home Run Derby will take place Monday, but Citi Field doesn't yield many home runs, so they will have to be blasted. The participants for the National League: David Wright, Carlos Gonzalez, Michael Cuddyer, and Bryce Harper. For the American League: Robinson Cano, Prince Fielder, Chris Davis, and Yoennis Cespedes. I predict Harper will win the Home Run Derby at Citi Field.

I know I'm not the only one hoping Gonzalez's injury will sideline him from the All Star Game and Giancarlo Stanton will have to be added to the Home Run Derby. That guy will hit them all the way to Brooklyn.

The actual All Star Game will be exciting as well. Matt Harvey will probably get the start for the National League, because it's his home ballpark, although Clayton Kershaw clearly deser
ves the start purely based on statistics. For the American League, I think Jim Leyland may go Felix Hernandez to start the game, and it almost certain Mariano Rivera will be pitching at some point. I predict the American League will win the All Star Game this year.

First time All Star Patrick Corbin will be returning to his home state and will be fun to watch pitch, for he has dominated the Major League this season. Manny Machado has been ripping doubles left and right and he is on track to break the record for most doubles in a single season. Marlins starter Jose Fernandez also made the roster for his stellar first half and is a huge promise for the future of their organization.

You can view the rest of the roster here http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20130706&content_id=52391804&c_id=mlb

But there were some huge All Star Game Snubs. Grant Balfour, Evan Longoria, Matt Carpenter, Jacoby Ellsbury, and Mike Leake.

Vote in the poll for who you think was the biggest All Star Game snub.








Dont Forget to submit your vote for All Star Game Final vote. Vote Puig! and Vote Robertson!

Young Guns

The next generation has arrived. We have all noticed that the game seems to be becoming more pitching dominant with each season. $100 MM contracts and extensions are being handed out to ace pitchers both young and old. So far in 2013 some of the best young pitchers have shined brighter than the rest. They are dominant and may become even better with age.

If you haven't heard of him already, you shouldn't call yourself a baseball fan. The Mets' 24 year old starting pitcher has made batter after batter look silly. Harvey has pitched 49.1 innings and struck out 58 batters while claiming an outstanding 1.28 ERA. I think the Mets' know how valuable Harvey actually is and will be careful with him come the end of the season. Pitching him too much could cause severe injury to a young arm. For the Mets', Harvey may be a new beginning for the team, and 2013 could mark the season where they become buyers and not sellers.

This lefty is flying under the radar. Patrick Corbin is the 23 year old stud in the rotation
for the Arizona Diamondbacks. He has pitched 40 innings and struck out 32 batters with a 1.80 ERA. The Diamondbacks have a great young rotation, but of the 5 guys in the rotation, Corbin is by the best. With Kennedy, Cahill, Corbin, Miley, and McCarthy the Diamondbacks have one of the mos underrated rotations in the MLB. The point about this rotation I would like to make is that all the pitchers are under 30 years old. Because of their depth, if the Diamondbacks are in contention come the trade deadline, Corbin may be a possible trade chip for a big bat.

Shelby Miller was born in 1990, and 23 years later he is finding much success with the St. Louis Cardinals. The strong right handed pitcher has 36.2 innings under his belt. He possesses a 1.96 ERA and has struck out 38 batters. Miller has measnt a lot to the Cardinals since the injury to Chris Carpenter. He has stepped up big time and has a lot of promise for the future. Miller, Wainwright, Garcia, Lynn, and an underrated Westbrook are getting the job done in St. Louis, but Miller taking the ball every fifth ball and pitching the way he has makes the injury to Carpenter not sting so much to Cardinal fans.

He's a lean mean strike throwing machine. Matt Moore that is, he is one of the many results of the Rays' farm system. The Tampa Bay Rays have the best pitching development farm systems in baseball, but this 23 year old first round pick is successful due to his own talents. Moore has 42 innings pitched, 43 strikeouts and a 2.14 ERA. One rough start in Colorado made that ERA become bloated, but you can expect it to be low the rest of the season. Moore will play a pivotal role in the Rays organization, because he will become the ace of the staff if the team decides to trade David Price or let him walk come free agency.

VOTE IN THE POLL!