Major League Baseball’s All Star Week in Cincinnati is already receiving rave reviews, yet the main showcase—the game itself—has yet to be played. The local slugger stole the show Monday night, as Reds Third Baseman Todd Frazier had a highlight real comeback to win the freshly-formatted Homerun Derby, much to the delight of the raucous hometown crowd and millions of baseball fans watching, tweeting, and admiring worldwide. The lively new “time clock” format, majestic tape-measure homers, and fantastic finish combined to reinvigorate an iconic event for MLB, and proved to be the perfect table setter for Tuesday night’s Midsummer Classic.

While the Homerun Derby demonstrated an impressive 8-man sample size of the current fusion of young phenoms and superstar veterans in the league today, the 86th All Star Game further embodies MLB’s wide range of talented players.  Both lineups are loaded with an impressive combination of speed and power, but, in this “Year of the Pitcher” it will be interesting to see if strikeout numbers continue to be super high in the All Star Game, just as they’ve been during regular season play.

Even though Great American ballpark is a superb hitters’ park, a forecast full of rain and two rosters full of power pitching should keep the game moderately low scoring.  It will be very interesting to see if NL Manager Bruce Bochy gives 3B Todd Frazier extended playing time, given his  status playing in front of the home crowd and also his momentous victory in Monday night’s Homerun Derby.  I would bet Frazier plays deep into the game and gets 3+ at bats.

The Lone Tribe Star

Jason Kipnis was–with no debate–the Indians’ MVP for the first half of the season, as he solidified the leadoff spot, took AL pitching by storm, and reestablished himself as one of the premier overall players in the league, ranking 3rd in the AL in WAR (4.7) at the All Star Break.  This exemplifies the eye-popping improvement by the numbers:

Kipnis 2014 Entire Season:  .240 BA, 25 doubles, 120 hits…in 500 at bats.

Kipnis 2015 All Star Break:  .323 BA, 27 doubles, 112 hits…in 347 at bats.

Unfortunately for Kip, the AL roster is loaded with second basemen this year, which may limit the JK Kid to only one at bat, probably in the middle innings, since Ned Yost probably won’t want to risk him facing tough lefthander Aroldis Chapman in a pivotal 9th-inning situation.

Diamond Dialogue:

*The American League features a starting lineup comprised entirely of right-handed hitters…the only other time that happened was when the National League trotted out an all-righty lineup in 1962.

*No Derek Jeter?  No Big Papi?  For the first time ever, there are no New York Yankees or Boston Red Sox players in the starting lineup…and no complaints from the guy writing this article either!

*The Kansas City Royals have more all star starters (4) in 2015 than they’ve had in the past 25 years combined.

*The last time Cincinnati hosted the All Star Game was in 1988 in Riverfront Stadium.  The AL won 2-1, as Oakland A’s catcher Terry Steinbach garnered unlikely MVP honors with a homerun and sacrifice fly.

*BONUS FACT: Steinbach is the only player in history to homer in his first overall MLB at bat and his first All Star Game at bat.

*The Cleveland Indians are the first team in MLB history to boast (4) starting pitchers with 100+ strikeouts at the All Star Break…but none of those pitchers cracked the AL All Star Roster.

Game & MVP Predictions

Lights out starting pitching with Zack Greinke heading the way, the hometown closer throwing 103 MPH in Aroldis Chapman, and a power-packed lineup anchored by Bryce Harper:  It would seem like the NL has a distinct advantage in 2015…So I’ll  go “oppo” and take the American League to defy the odds and pull out a 5-3 comeback victory, with Prince Fielder earning MVP honors with a huge late-inning 2-run HR in the 8th inning.  Count on Chris Sale to wow us with a couple of nasty strikeouts too.  I’ll also predict a Kipnis single to left field off Pittsburgh Pirates veteran, AJ Burnett.

Here are the starting lineups for the 86th Annual Midsummer Classic:

American League Stars National League Stars
CF
Mike Trout (R)
CF
Andrew McCutchen (R)
3B
Josh Donaldson (R)
3B
Todd Frazier (R)
1B
Albert Pujols (R)
RF
Bryce Harper (L)
DH
Nelson Cruz (R)
1B
Paul Goldschmidt (R)
RF
Lorenzo Cain (R)
C
Buster Posey (R)
LF
Adam Jones (R)
DH
Anthony Rizzo (L)
C
Salvador Perez (R)
SS
Jhonny Peralta (R)
2B
Jose Altuve (R)
LF
Joc Pederson (L)
SS
Alcides Escobar (R)
2B
DJ LaMahieu (R)
SP
Dallas Keuchel (L)
SP
Zack Greinke (R)

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