The MLB All-Star Game takes place Tuesday night in Philadelphia, but “some of the biggest names in the sport are not going to be involved in the game” due to either injuries or scheduling issues, according to MLB reporter Ken Rosenthal. Shohei Ohtani, Aaron Judge and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. are among the players voted to start the game who will be absent due to injury. Others named to the event who will not participate include Paul Skenes, Jacob Misiorowski, Byron Buxton, Nick Kurtz, Chase Burns and Cam Schlittler. Compared to previous years, it may not end up being an “inordinate number of players who are not going to participate,” but fans “always want to see the best players perform.” Skenes was one of several pitchers deemed ineligible to play because he pitched on Sunday, and Rosenthal suggested one way to eliminate that obstacle is to “move the game back to Wednesday.” He said, “Take a little bit more time, make the break a little bit longer, and that way maybe you get a better involvement, better participation from some of the pitchers.” However, there may not be a solution to all the issues, as injuries are “just the nature of the game.” While that may be an unavoidable problem, it does make the game a “little bit less of an event” ("Fair Territory,” 7/13).
WHO’S IN, WHO’S OUT? In Philadelphia, Mike Sielski asks, “If the stars everyone wants to see don’t play, does the All-Star Game still make a sound?” The game will feature “famous names” like Phillies 1B Bryce Harper and Angels CF Mike Trout along with “emerging stars” in James Wood and Pete Crow-Armstrong. However, because of “some adverse circumstances,” the event will be without some of MLB’s “greatest showmen.” Sielski: “The question isn’t whether the fans will see these players give their best. The question is whether the players they’ll see are really the best” (PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER, 7/14).
