2025 MLB All-Star Game: Paul Skenes, Tarik Skubal named starters
Pittsburgh Pirates right-hander Paul Skenes will start for the National League and Detroit Tigers left-hander Tarik Skubal will start for the American League in Tuesday's Midsummer Classic (8 p.m. ET on FOX and the FOX Sports app). The All-Star starting pitchers were revealed during Saturday's MLB on FOX broadcast of Phillies-Padres.
Skubal received the most votes among all starting pitchers with 365 votes. Skenes got the fourth-most player votes overall but led the National League with 289 votes. Only Boston Red Sox left-hander Garrett Crochet (384), New York Yankees left-hander Max Fried (313) and Skubal received more player votes than Skenes. Philadelphia Phillies right-hander Zack Wheeler finished second in the NL.
Skubal is having a dominant 2025 campaign, posting a 10–3 record with a 2.23 ERA (fourth in MLB). He also has 153 strikeouts and a 0.826 WHIP over 116 innings, both of which are league-bests.
Skenes is MLB's leader in ERA 2.01, but he has a record of 4-8 with the 38-58 Pirates. Skenes won NL Rookie of the Year last season and finished third in Cy Young voting.
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Miami Herald
44 minutes ago
- Miami Herald
Greg Cote's Hot Button Top 10: Messi rides 2-2 Train, PSG-Chelsea, MLB's stage & more
Note: The Poll Dance has another week off, this time due to an issue with the Herald's poll provider. Hope to have it solved and be back with a new question next week. GREG COTE'S HOT BUTTON TOP 10 (JULY 13): WHAT IN SPORTS HAS GRABBED US THIS WEEK: Our Sunday Hot Button Top 10 notes column -- back after a week off -- brings you what's on our minds, locally and nationally but from a Miami perspective and accentuating stuff that's big, weird, damnable, funny or otherwise worth needling as the sports week just past pivots to the week ahead. Welcome to the 110th edition of your HB10: 1. INTER MIAMI: All abooaarrd! Red-hot Messi keeps 2-2 Train goin'!: Lionel Messi scored two goals Saturday night for the fifth straight league game set set an MLS record in a 2-1 home win over Nashville. Inter Miami is now 11-3-5 and fifth in the East but with three fewer games played than the top five. 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Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
MLB mock draft 2025: Where are Ethan Holliday, Eli Willits projected to go?
Major League Baseball's draft finally arrives July 13 from Cobb County's Roxy Theater, and while it may not light up the Georgia skies like the Home Run Derby and All-Star Game to follow the next two nights, there's no shortage of intrigue. This much we know: Eight specific players are almost certain to go in the top 10 picks. Yet in what order and to which teams remains a game of dominos that will have to wait until the clock starts. Advertisement And 10 shortstops – from MLB legacies to high school stars to college All-Americas – will consume at least half of the top 20 picks, and while the game's premier position tends to be a draft premium, this class boasts dudes who will almost assuredly stick on that position – and play at a very high level. With that, USA TODAY Sports fires some darts one last time with a final mock draft before the pickin' party commences Sunday: REQUIRED READING: Ethan Holliday could be No. 1 in MLB Draft like his brother. Add it to their competition. 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Imagine a larger version of Masyn Winn, with a similar hose at shortstop and, at 6-1, potentially greater offensive upside. Advertisement 8. Toronto Blue Jays: Jamie Arnold, LHP, Florida State A real coup here for Toronto, getting a mature college arm with a big league-ready fastball-slider mix. Paired with last year's No. 1, Trey Yesavage, the Blue Jays have the potential to quickly backfill a rotation that could lose Chris Bassitt and Kevin Gausman to free agency in consecutive years. 9. Cincinnati Reds: Kyson Witherspoon, RHP, Oklahoma The Reds may stray out of their comfort zone and go bat here, but Witherspoon could unlock an even higher level developing in their pitching program as he'll bring a high-90s fastball and low-90s slider into pro ball. Advertisement The White Sox quandary: Take the best of the next tier of prep shortstops or whichever advanced high-end college prospect almost mathematically certain to fall to them? In this case, it's Irish, who popped 18 home runs with a .469 OBP for Auburn, and will likely have a permanent home in the outfield. 11. Athletics: Tyler Bremner, RHP, UC Santa Barbara A nice value for the Athletics, getting a consensus top-five guy before Bremner got off to a slow start for UCSB. But he finished strong and could reach the majors quick enough to try out that much-maligned mound in the A's temporary Yolo County digs. Advertisement 12. Texas Rangers: JoJo Parker, SS, Purvis (Miss.) HS The math makes it highly likely Texas lands a prep shortstop and Parker is still around, high enough to keep him away from a Mississippi State commitment. That's two years in a row a Mississippi prep shortstop goes in the top dozen picks, joining Konnor Griffin (No. 9, Pittsburgh). 13. San Francisco Giants: Daniel Pierce, SS, Mill Creek (Ga.) HS Let the run continue. Pierce is already 19, which may make some clubs shy away, but still has significant offensive upside and fits in what will be the first pick under the Buster Posey regime. 14. Tampa Bay Rays: Steele Hall, SS, Hewitt-Trussville (Ala.) HS We'll stick with Hall here, possessing the power upside and versatility the Rays value as the prep shortstop pool thins a bit. Advertisement 15. Boston Red Sox: Gavin Kilen, INF, Tennessee A Red Sox draftee out of high school, Kilen will do much better than the 13th round this time, with a strong offensive profile that saw him strike out just 27 times in 245 plate appearances, most of those against SEC pitching. 16. Minnesota Twins: Marek Houston, SS, Wake Forest The question is whether Houston's very sturdy defense and developing but incomplete offensive profile slots him higher than the prep stars slated to go before him. It's hard to see him dropping any further than the Twins. 17. 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Detroit Tigers: Xavier Neyens, INF, Mt. Vernon (Wash.) HS Big frame and potential big power in a nimble and athletic 6-4 package. In terms of offense, one of the top prep lefty bats available. 25. San Diego Padres: Sean Gamble, INF/OF, IMG (Fla.) Academy Versatile and projectable, Gamble – at 6-foot-1, 190 – leveled up from Iowa to IMG Academy and is a potential impact player in the middle of the diamond. 26. Philadelphia Phillies: Slater de Brun, OF, Summit (Ore.) HS The run of late-round high school players takes a few Philly targets off the board but they can still fulfill their prep preference with de Brun, a potential center fielder of the future whose speed will likely always trump his power. Advertisement 27. Cleveland Guardians: Caden Bodine, C, Coastal Carolina The Guardians opt for Contact King, as Bodine finished the season with an absurd 24 strikeouts in 313 plate appearances while churning out a .915 OPS. As the Chanticleers reeled off 26 consecutive wins to reach the College World Series finals, Bodine's stock rose along with it. 28. Kansas City Royals*: Luke Stevenson, C, North Carolina Paired with Fien, this should be a bonus pool-friendly pick as the Royals opt for the steady Stevenson, two years after making prep catcher Blake Mitchell the eighth overall pick. 29. Arizona Diamondbacks**: Brendan Summerhill, OF, Arizona Would be a coup getting Summerhill this late, as he can man all three outfield positions and put up a .343/.459/.556 line to lead Arizona to the College World Series. Advertisement 30. Baltimore Orioles**: Alex Lodise, SS, Florida State The Dick Howser Trophy winner and ACC player of the year, Lodise is a solid defender who hit 19 home runs and should develop above-average pro power and likely stick at shortstop. *- Prospect promotion incentive pick**- Free agent compensation pick Note: The Mets, Yankees and Dodgers each received a 10-pick penalty on their first picks for exceeding the second surcharge threshold of the competitive balance tax and their first picks will be 38th, 39th and 40th overall, respectively. The USA TODAY app gets you to the heart of the news — fast. Download for award-winning coverage, crosswords, audio storytelling, the eNewspaper and more. This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: MLB mock draft 2025: Projections for Ethan Holliday, Eli Willits
New York Times
an hour ago
- New York Times
Baseball's most disappointing team is forced to host
The Pulse Newsletter 📣 | This is The Athletic's daily sports newsletter. Sign up here to receive The Pulse directly in your inbox. Good morning! Win at least one game today. Most of Major League Baseball is scrunched together for the break, as the Home Run Derby arrives tomorrow. Only five teams are double-digit games out of a playoff spot. Not everyone's doing well, but most teams can feel decent, and a few have separated from the field. The outlook: In the National League The sixth playoff team in the Senior Circuit could be anyone outside the Rockies, Pirates and the three other East clubs. (More on one of the latter in a moment.) In the American League Barring someone collapsing, who rounds out the AL postseason? The Rays and Mariners? Could the Twins wake up? Maybe the Red Sox, despite trading Rafael Devers and implicitly giving up just a little on 2025? Missing from that big list of teams involved in a pennant race? The Braves, who host the All-Star Game on Tuesday. Atlanta is 42-52 and all but officially out of the postseason hunt before the trade deadline. An 0-7 start meant a big hole to dig out of right away for a team many saw as a World Series contender. Their FanGraphs playoff chances have fallen from 92 percent on Opening Day to 4.6 percent this weekend. Even as Ronald Acuña Jr. has crushed the ball in his return from a second ACL tear and Spencer Schwellenbach has become a front-of-the-rotation starter, so much has gone wrong: The big question, beyond whether the Braves will sell at the trade deadline, is this: Will Atlanta try to deconstruct the team in the coming months, get by with tweaks or do something in between? I asked The Athletic's David O'Brien, a longtime Braves beat man: 💬 Because they have so few players on expiring contracts and so many in-their-prime players signed beyond 2025, the Braves aren't going to do anything severe at the deadline. What we could see them do is trade one or more from the group of DH Marcell Ozuna (though his struggles this season have likely reduced his value) and relievers Pierce Johnson and Raisel Iglesias, each in the final year of his contract. If they could get a controllable reliever, an innings-eating starter to help get through this season or a middle infield prospect back in a deal, they'd likely do it. Brutal year, and there's not that much to do but run it back. Flagg drops 31 in Summer League I'm starting to think this Cooper Flagg kid might be legit. After a somewhat underwhelming showing in his first Summer League game, Flagg dropped 31 points on 10-of-21 shooting last night. Perhaps most impressively, the 18-year-old handled the poise of being the constant center of attention masterfully. The only blemish on his performance? He failed another attempt at a poster slam: Phillies slam MLB over All-Star snubs Brewers rookie pitcher Jacob Misiorowski was named an All-Star replacement Friday after a record-low five MLB games. Phillies players and coaches had already been disappointed that Cristopher Sánchez, Ranger Suárez and Trea Turner were not named All-Stars. That disappointment turned into something much more after Misiorowski's selection. Some scorching comments here (free to read), including Nick Castellanos comparing the selection process to the Savannah Bananas. Advertisement More news: Two less controversial decisions: Paul Skenes and Tarik Skubalwere named the All-Star Game starting pitchers last night. Twins outfielder Byron Buxton hit for the cycle on his bobblehead day, punctuated by a tank to dead center. What a week for Buxton. Browns rookie Quinshon Judkins was arrested yesterday on a domestic violence and battery charge. More here. Make it five straight multi-goal games for Inter Miami's Lionel Messi. The 38-year-old continues to reset the MLS record books. Ndamukong Suh — former standout NFL defensive tackle and current host of The Athletic's 'No Free Lunch' podcast— formally announced his retirement from the NFL yesterday with a heartfelt note to his late father. Amanda Anisimova announced her arrival with a stunning Wimbledon upset over world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka on Thursday. It was the biggest win of the 23-year-old's career. But the American's dream quickly became a nightmare yesterday. Iga Świątek utterly outclassed Anisimova in the Wimbledon final in a 6-0, 6-0 match that lasted less than an hour. It was just the second time that scoreline has happened in a Grand Slam final in the Open Era, and the first since 1988. It was hard to watch. There's really not much else to say about this match. We can only hope today's men's final provides a little more competitive tennis. Lucky for us, this one should not disappoint: 📺 Wimbledon: Men's Singles Final 11 a.m. ET on ESPN Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner, again. How lucky are we? Their last Grand Slam final was one of the greatest matches the sport has ever seen. 📺 Scottish Open: Final Round 12 p.m. ET on CBS With earlier coverage on CNBC and Golf Channel. This is a terrific tournament just about every year, a part of the run-up to the Open Championship that very much stands on its own. Moreover, Rory McIlroy ended Saturday tied for the lead at 11-under. 📺 CWC: PSG vs. Chelsea 3 p.m. ET on TNT, truTV or DAZN To anyone out there who turned on the TV looking for this after seeing it listed in yesterday's Pulse, apologies for the production error. Anyway, to repeat: The final of the first edition of this international club football extravaganza features two of Europe's biggest brands. The Club World Cup is not the Champions League, but winning both in one spring and summer would be sweet for PSG. They're the best in the world right now. Get tickets to games like these here. The MLB All-Star break is almost here, and Jayson Stark has midseason awards across the board. Lots of fun debate surrounding the MVP race in both leagues. I was dragging while working late Thursday night and the new Clipse album, 'Let God Sort Em Out,' was the perfect antidote. As a 35-year-old massive hip-hop fan, this is pretty much perfect music. Also, a 13-song album in 2025? Thank you. — Chris Branch Advertisement Been listening to Joe Abercrombie's First Law trilogy audiobooks lately. The writing is good, but the guy who does the audiobook (Steven Pacey) is phenomenal, with one exception: he pronounces 'grimacing' as gri-MAYCE-ing'. If you can get past that, two thumbs up. — Levi Weaver Carlos Alcaraz, Steph Curry and numerous other elite athletes use juggling as a warmup to enhance cognitive function … and, well, have fun. Rustin Dodd tried it himself. Google 'Directive draw' or use Art Hub for your kid as summer drags. Good screen time ✅ — Chris Sprow Lena Dunham's new show on Netflix, 'Too Much.' If you were a fan of 'Girls' or Megan Stalter in 'Hacks,' or you just generally love a smart, hilarious, moving rom-com, get thee to this show! — Hannah Vanbiber Shout out once again to the cover-songs marching band in College Football 26's menus. 'Blinding Lights' might be the winner. — Jason Kirk Ahead of today's MLB Draft (bookmark this page for updates throughout), Cody Stavenhagen penned an awesome story on potential No. 1 pick Ethan Holliday and a baseball family generations in the making. Most-clicked in the newsletter yesterday: How sports bettors are feeling threatened by Donald Trump's 'Big Beautiful Bill.' Most-read on the website yesterday: Stark's midseason MLB awards. Ticketing links in this article are provided by partners of The Athletic. Restrictions may apply. The Athletic maintains full editorial independence. Partners have no control over or input into the reporting or editing process and do not review stories before publication.
