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Good morning! You got snubbed.
Hi, Our Names Are: The greatest unsung heroes of the All-Star team
A funny thing happens every year at the MLB All-Star Game. The sport’s superstars are there, sure — and then you have players who are both extremely worthy of selection and largely unknown outside their home markets.
Yesterday, MLB announced the full rosters headed to Arlington, Texas, next Tuesday. The superstars are there: Shohei Ohtani, Aaron Judge, Juan Soto, Bryce Harper, etc. My two favorite guys who fit that aforementioned second category:
- David Fry, Guardians DH: Two years ago, he was a player to be named later in a small trade between Milwaukee and Cleveland. Now he’s helped the Guardians to the AL’s best record. He’s hitting .305 with a .920 OPS. Deserving All-Star.
- Heliot Ramos, Giants OF: On paper, this doesn’t seem too wild. The Giants picked him in the first round of the 2017 draft, after all. His journey was not normal, however, and he entered this season as mostly an afterthought. As Grant Brisbee wrote, Ramos is the feel-best story of the Giants’ season.
Also worthy of this list: Kansas City’s Cole Ragans, baseball’s newest flamethrower, and St. Louis’ Ryan Helsley, whose return to the All-Star Game is just as big of a pleasant surprise after his bad 2023.
- Ahem, and we must mention Paul Skenes, who is an All-Star after less than two months in the majors. Skenes is 5-0 with an 11.83 K/9 rate, which would be good for No. 2 in the majors if he qualified. Talk about missing bats (reminder to read the series if you haven’t yet). The fact that he’s here at all is absurd, but there’s even an argument for him to start the game.
There were snubs too, of course. Arizona’s Christian Walker and the Mets’ Francisco Lindor feel particularly snubby. Chad Jennings picked a big snub at each position.
Just a few days away from baseball taking center stage, including Sunday’s MLB Draft and next Monday’s Home Run Derby.
News to Know
F1 legend’s emotional win
Yesterday, Lewis Hamilton won his first race in 945 days at the British Grand Prix of all places, meaning a tear-filled day for Hamilton and his fans. The driver choked up on the radio as he crossed the finish line, and his team mobbed him properly after celebrating the win. This win came on pure merit too, as Hamilton’s Mercedes has improved this season — his last with the brand. Luke Smith captured the moment really well.
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Sidney Crosby nears deal
Breaking news this morning: Sidney Crosby is close to a new contract to return to the Penguins, sources told The Athletic’s Rob Rossi, who added that the deal is viewed by both sides as “a commitment to Pittsburgh.” The soon-to-be 37-year-old, eight-time All-Star (most recently in 2019) and 19-year Penguin wants to remain there for the rest of his career, despite the team’s dour outlook for next season. See our full update here.
Durant sidelined at Team USA camp
Kevin Durant missed the first two days of Team USA training camp with a calf strain, sources told The Athletic, though there is no concern yet that he might need to be replaced on the Olympic roster. (Fortunately, the rest of the team is mostly made of fellow future Hall of Famers.) Joe Vardon had more on KD in his report from the first day of training camp, including a funny run-in with LeBron James over that article about James coming off the bench.
More news
- Davis Thompson ran away with his first PGA Tour victory at the John Deere Classic. A front-nine 29 on Sunday, sheesh.
- Giannis Antetokounmpo is heading to the Olympics, leading Greece basketball to a return after 16 years away. Add his name to the Hamilton-led list of “top athletes crying after big wins” yesterday.
- Another day, another double-double for Angel Reese, who has broken Candace Parker’s WNBA record for consecutive double-doubles — and done so in, uh, 20 career games.
Tough Breaks: A dreary English day for three top players
The aura of Wimbledon can feel so prim. Neatly cut grass. Everyone wearing white. Lovely and dainty and all that. Yesterday, the game of tennis showed how harsh it can be, no matter the venue:
- No. 2 seed Coco Gauff is done after a shocking loss in straight sets to No. 19 seed Emma Navarro. Gauff never had it yesterday, and could be seen openly feuding with coach Brad Gilbert throughout the match. It’s especially painful for Gauff because of how the bracket had opened up for her. Instead, Navarro, a 23-year-old American, walks through that door with a possible Cinderella run at hand.
- Emma Raducanu is also done after losing to qualifier Lulu Sun, ending an unfortunate week for the 2021 U.S. Open winner. This comes after she was forced to withdraw from mixed doubles due to a wrist injury, which effectively ended Andy Murray’s Wimbledon career.
- The most painful for last: Madison Keys’ Wimbledon dream is over after falling to Jasmine Paolini and, sadly, her own left leg. Keys retired at 5-5 in the third set due to a horribly timed injured leg, which brought what had been an excellent match to a sudden and sad close. Keys was clearly emotional as she realized she couldn’t continue.
It was not all gloom at Wimbledon yesterday, though. Carlos Alcaraz is playing elite tennis right now, as Charlie Eccleshare and Matthew Futterman wrote.
Watch This Game
NBA: Grizzlies vs. Jazz
9 p.m. ET on ESPN
Look, until the Olympics start on July 26, we gotta make do with what we have. Here, Zach Edey makes his NBA Summer League debut for Memphis. That’s enough of a sell for me. Can’t wait to watch the tall guy be tall.
MLB: Rangers at Angels
9:38 p.m. ET on ESPN+
Reigning champion Texas (42-48) captures me. Just a few months ago, this franchise seemed invincible. Now they might be sellers at the deadline. Is Gene Chizik coaching this team? (Sorry, Auburn Tigers fans.)
Get tickets to games like these here.
Pulse Picks
Speaking of Summer League: The event that started out as glorified scrimmages is now the center of the NBA offseason. Jared Weiss has a really interesting story on how we got here over the last 20 years.
John Hollinger says we shouldn’t expect the Kings to win a ring anytime soon after the DeMar DeRozan deal, but the trade still makes a lot of sense. No “Kangzzzz” jokes here.
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This was interesting from Larry Holder, who went to the Manning Passing Academy and asked the top quarterbacks how college football’s transfer-heavy landscape has colored their careers.
We have non-QB MVPs for every NFL team this season. The pressure already on Derrick Henry feels so immense.
Most-clicked in the newsletter yesterday: The full Copa America semifinal schedule.
Most-read on the website yesterday: The story behind the viral photos of Lionel Messi and Lamine Yamal as a baby. Wild stuff.
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