The Battle of the NL vs. AL… on paper
The lights will be shining bright in Dodger Stadium in a little over a week as baseball’s biggest stars travel to Los Angeles for All-Star Week! This is one of the few times on the calendar in which the MLB is the main attraction. All-Star week is loaded with events, and the schedule goes as follows!
Saturday July 16th:
All-Star Futures Game (6:00 PM Central), All-Star Celebrity Softball Game (9:15 PM Central)
Sunday July 17th:
2022 MLB Draft Day 1 (6:00 PM)
Monday July 18th: 2022 Home Run Derby (7:00 PM)
Tuesday July 19th:
92nd MLB All-Star Game (7:30 PM)
The Futures Game will be loaded with the league’s top prospects, while the celebrity game will be a star-studded event. Of course, we all know the main attraction. The Home Run Derby. Last year’s Derby was fantastic with Pete Alonso putting on a show! Sadly, we don’t have the participants for that yet, but if the MLB is reading this, Jazz Chisholm vs. Aaron Judge would be a great David vs. Goliath situation. However, the fan votes are in, and we do have the names of the starters for both the National League and American League teams. So, let’s see how they stack up against each other on paper and determine who wins the matchup.
So let’s break this down one position at a time. We’re going to base our decisions off of each players performance through the first half of this season, not their past performances or their name recognition.
First Base: Edge – Goldy & the National League
Second Base: Edge – Altuve & the American League
Shortstop: Edge – Trae Turner & the National League
Third Base: Edge – Devers & the AL
Catcher: Edge – Wash
Designated Hitter: Edge – Shohei Ohtani & the AL
Outfielders: Edge – American League
Pitchers who stand out for the AL:
Shane McClanahan, Justin Verlander, Shohei Ohtani, Martin Perez, Clay Holmes & Greg Soto
Pitchers who stand out for the NL:
Sandy Alcantara, Corbin Burnes, Max Fried, Clayton Kershaw, Josh Hader & Ryan Helsley
I’m hopeful that the starting pitching matchup we see is Sandy vs. McClanahan, because I believe they’ve been the two best pitchers in baseball to this point. But we could see Shohei repeat what he did last year and start for the AL while also leading off. In my opinion, the NL holds the edge on the pitching side, but I believe the AL has enough talented hitters to overcome it.
So who wins the Midsummer Classic? My money would be on the American League. I think they have the better hitters out of the two squads, which is what I believe has the greatest impact on the outcome of the game. All in all though, All-Star week is for the entertainment. So kick back and enjoy the fun.
BONUS TAKE
I want to give my pick for All-Star game MVP. I think most people will pick Aaron Judge and rightfully so. He’s leading the league MVP race at the moment. However, I’m going to go out on a limb and pick Rafael Devers. He’s been on fire this year and coming into the All-Star break. Something else to consider, the pitchers rotate often in the often All-Star game, so a player needs to be able to hit lefties and righties well if he’s going to have a good game. Most of Devers’ power comes against righties, but his average against lefties and righties is pretty similar, so I think he’ll have success against whoever is on the mound for the National League.
In the scenario where the National League wins, I think the MVP would end up being Sandy Alcantara. I could see him coming out and dominating the American League lineup, and as long as his teammates can score runs he can take home MVP. I think win or lose, Sandy will be dominant in the few innings he throws. He tends to conserve his energy for the later innings in his starts, but in this format he’ll be able to give use all his velocity from the jump. Don’t be surprised if Sandy doesn’t give up a hit.
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