RJ Hamster
1st slugger joins the Home Run Derby
Tuesday, June 30
Welcome to The Pregame Lineup, a weekday newsletter that gets you up to speed on everything you need to know for today’s games, while catching you up on fun and interesting stories you might have missed. Today’s edition is brought to you by David Adler.
The first T-Mobile Home Run Derby participant just dropped — and you might remember the show he put on last year.
Junior Caminero will return to the Derby in 2026 after finishing as the runner-up in 2025 to champion Cal Raleigh. He’s the first of the eight sluggers who will compete for the Home Run Derby crown on July 13 at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia.
Caminero slugged 44 total home runs across three rounds in his first Derby last year, including four homers hit 470 feet or longer. He was very nearly the youngest champion in Home Run Derby history. Now he’ll have another chance to claim that title.
Caminero turns 23 years old this Sunday. The youngest Derby winner to date is Juan Gonzalez, who was 23 years and 265 days old when he won it back in 1993.
Caminero was made for the Home Run Derby. The Rays’ young star swings an electric bat. Caminero is known both for his epic home runs and his epic home run celebrations.
He hit 45 home runs last season, and he has 22 more in the first half of 2026. Caminero’s been a top-five home run hitter in the Majors since the start of 2025.
Most home runs, 2025-26
- Kyle Schwarber: 86
- Shohei Ohtani: 73
- Aaron Judge: 70
- Cal Raleigh: 68
- Junior Caminero: 67
Last season, Caminero promised only one thing before the Home Run Derby: “I’m going to put on a show.”
He did that. No doubt he’ll do it again in a few weeks.
Caminero, who was a first-time All-Star last season, is also a finalist to start the 2026 All-Star Game for the American League at third base.
As more players are announced, you can keep up with the Home Run Derby field right here.
This year’s Home Run Derby also has a new format. Read a breakdown of the changes here.
SKUBAL VS. SCHLITTLER
Tonight just might be the pitchers’ duel of the year.
It’s a back-to-back Cy Young winner vs. this year’s frontrunner. The reigning most dominant pitcher in the world vs. the up-and-coming ace trying to seize that title for himself.
It’s … [drumroll] … Tarik Skubal vs. Cam Schlittler.
Pitching matchups don’t get any better than this one. The two aces go head-to-head when the Tigers face the Yankees at Yankee Stadium at 7:05 p.m. ET (Amazon Prime Video / TBS / MLB.TV).
Will it be a passing-of-the-torch game from Skubal to Schlittler? Or will it be a game where Skubal reasserts his claim to MLB’s pitching throne?
Schlittler is 8-4 this season with an American League-leading 1.62 ERA and 118 strikeouts. He’s the favorite to win his first career Cy Young … and even Skubal knows it.
“He’s the best pitcher in the American League right now,” Skubal said of Schlittler ahead of their showdown. “Seeing his stuff, it’s pretty dynamic and electric. … He’s performed in big moments, too. I think he’s a pretty impressive player at that stage in his career.”
Of course, when you ask Schlittler about Skubal, he’ll sing the same praises.
“He is a great player and the Tigers have a great team over there, so it should be an exciting matchup,” Schlittler said. “Realistically, it’s me vs. their lineup. At the same time, you have to realize, for the most part, it might be a close game. You have to have a little extra for that and be aware that he is the best pitcher in the game.”
Skubal is 3-4 with a 3.32 ERA and 66 strikeouts in 10 starts this season. Since he returned from elbow surgery a few weeks ago, he hasn’t reached Peak Skubal levels … yet. But who would doubt that Skubal will rise to the occasion in his duel with Schlittler in the Bronx?
2 DAYS LEFT TO CHOOSE ALL-STAR STARTERS
Phase 2 voting of All-Star voting is underway — and you only have two more days to decide who will join Shohei Ohtani and Ernie Clement as starters in the 2026 All-Star Game.
Voting is open now until noon ET on Thursday. The All-Star Ballot will continue to be available exclusively online and via mobile devices at MLB.com/vote, all 30 club websites, the MLB App and the MLB Ballpark App. Fans can vote once per day during Phase 2.
We’ve got the standings after the first day of voting. Here’s who’s in the lead right now — but things could change between now and Thursday.
AMERICAN LEAGUE
- First base: Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (Blue Jays)
- Second base: Ernie Clement (Blue Jays) (clinched start)
- Third base: Junior Caminero (Rays)
- Shortstop: Bobby Witt Jr. (Royals)
- Outfield: Mike Trout (Angels), Byron Buxton (Twins), Aaron Judge (Yankees)
- Catcher: Shea Langeliers (A’s)
- DH: Yordan Alvarez (Astros)
NATIONAL LEAGUE
- First base: Freddie Freeman (Dodgers)
- Second base: Ozzie Albies (Braves)
- Third base: Max Muncy (Dodgers)
- Shortstop: CJ Abrams (Nationals)
- Outfield: Brandon Marsh (Phillies), Juan Soto (Mets), Michael Harris II (Braves)
- Catcher: Drake Baldwin (Braves)
- DH: Shohei Ohtani (Dodgers) (clinched start)
Vote now for the All-Star Game starters >>
GAMES OF THE NIGHT
Besides Skubal vs. Schlittler, here are two more games to watch tonight.
Pirates at Phillies (6:40 p.m. ET, MLB.TV)
Cristopher Sánchez is making a bid to start the All-Star Game on his home turf in Philadelphia next month, and this will be his final outing before the All-Star rosters are announced on Saturday. But the ace lefty needs a bounceback against the in-state rival Pirates coming off one of his worst starts of the season against the Nationals last Thursday.
Rangers at Guardians (6:40 p.m. ET, MLB.TV)
The Rangers’ five-game winning streak has them over .500, at 43-42, for the first time since April 25, when they were 14-13. They’re in first place in the AL West. And they have ace Jacob deGrom on the mound tonight trying to pitch his way to his sixth career All-Star Game.
MAXIMUM MUNCY ACHIEVED
We have finally reached Maximum Muncy.
Last night, in the same game, Max Muncy was playing third base and batting seventh for the A’s … and Max Muncy was playing third base and batting seventh for the Dodgers.
Yes, baseball’s two Max Muncys — who are unrelated — finally came together on the same field in peak fashion.
It’s just the third time in modern MLB history that two players with the same name faced off against each other … playing the same position … and hitting in the same spot in the lineup.
Actually, three times for such a crazy circumstance seems pretty high. But it did indeed happen twice before, both in the same series between the Blue Jays and Marlins in June 2000, when Alex Gonzalez and Álex González both hit seventh and started at shortstop.
By now, the parallels between the Maxes Muncy are well-documented — both are third basemen, both were drafted by the A’s (one in 2012, the other in 2021), both have homered on the same day before — and, yes, both have the same birthday (Aug. 25).
But yesterday’s Max Muncy Game might take the cake.
Heck, the younger Max Muncy (the one on the A’s) has been waiting for this moment since he was eight years old. He started following the older Max Muncy (the one on the Dodgers) when his grandparents discovered him while he was still in college at Baylor.
Dodger Muncy reflected after yesterday’s game about playing against his younger “self,” saying: “It’s a strange feeling. You’re standing at third base, and they’re announcing that you’re hitting, and it’s not you. Thankfully, it’s only just a couple of games, because I don’t know if I’d ever get used to it. But yeah, strange.”
Read more about Maximum Muncy Day here >>
© 2026 MLB Advanced Media, L.P. MLB trademarks and copyrights are used with permission of Major League Baseball. Visit MLB.com. Any other marks used herein are trademarks of their respective owners.
Please review our Privacy Policy.
You (pahovis@aol.com) received this message because you registered to receive commercial email messages from MLB.com.
Please add info@marketing.mlbemail.com to your address book to ensure our messages reach your inbox. If you no longer wish to receive commercial email messages from MLB.com, please unsubscribe or log in and manage your email subscriptions.
Postal Address: MLB.com, c/o MLB Advanced Media, L.P., 1271 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020.
