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. Thanks for being here.

 

It’s time to pick the All-Star starters.

 

Phase 2 voting is open to pick the All-Stars on the 2025 PRO SPIRIT MLB All-Star Ballot, and we’re down to the finalists at every position. You can cast your ballot now — one time a day, every day — up until Wednesday at noon ET.

 

Here are five key races on the All-Star ballot.

 

1) Big Dumper’s time to shine 

 

No Mariners catcher has ever won the fan vote to start the All-Star Game. It’s time for Cal Raleigh to become the first. Raleigh’s historic first half — he leads MLB with 32 home runs —  makes the Big Dumper the big favorite to win the American League’s starting catcher spot over the Blue Jays’ Alejandro Kirk.

 

2) Acuña’s quest to be the hometown All-Star 

 

Ronald Acuña Jr. didn’t play his first game until May 23. But he’s been so hot that it doesn’t even matter. Acuña has a National League outfield spot in his sights — and he’s Atlanta’s only hope for a hometown starter with the All-Star Game at Truist Park. Acuña, the Braves’ lone finalist on the ballot, has to finish in the top three against Pete Crow-Armstrong, Kyle Tucker, Juan Soto, Andy Pages and Teoscar Hernández.

 

3) New York-L.A. showdowns in the NL

 

There are heavyweight showdowns between Mets and Dodgers stars on the NL ballot. At first base, we’ve got Pete Alonso vs. Freddie Freeman. At shortstop, we’ve got Francisco Lindor vs. Mookie Betts. And in the outfield, we’ve got Soto vying against Pages and Hernández (among the other finalists). The Dodgers actually have a finalist at every position — in addition to Shohei Ohtani already locked in as the starter at DH — but Alonso, Lindor and Soto are formidable competition.

 

4) Can Wilson dethrone Witt? 

 

The AL shortstop race is one of the most exciting to watch. It’s Royals superstar Bobby Witt Jr. against A’s rookie sensation Jacob Wilson. And while you might think that Witt, last year’s AL MVP runner-up, is the favorite — not so fast. Wilson, whose .338 batting average is second in the Majors, was the surprise leader over Witt in Phase 1. Can he do it again in Phase 2?

 

5) Will Trout make it a dozen All-Star Games? 

 

Mike Trout has made more All-Star teams (11) than any active player. He has a chance to make it 12 as a finalist in the AL outfield, where he’s going up against Riley Greene, Javier Báez and Steven Kwan for one of the two remaining spots alongside Aaron Judge. Trout is one of the greatest All-Star Game performers ever, with a .412 batting average, two home runs and five extra-base hits in his seven All-Star Games played.

 

— David Adler

If you love big-time pitching matchups at historic venues, MLB.TV’s Free Game of the Day has you covered, as one of the game’s top flamethrowing prospects squares off against a dominant ace at Fenway tonight at 7:10 ET.

After becoming the first starting pitcher in at least six decades to strike out the first five batters he faced in his MLB debut, Reds phenom Chase Burns will look for an encore in Boston. Ranked as the No. 11 overall prospect according to MLB Pipeline, Burns limited the Yankees to three runs and six hits with no walks and eight strikeouts while throwing 81 pitches.

“I felt like after the first batter, I kind of settled in there,” Burns said of his debut. “I was amped up, so it was fun.”

The Red Sox will send Garrett Crochet to the hill for his 18th start with Boston since being acquired in a blockbuster deal with the White Sox in December. The big lefty has been as advertised, posting a 2.06 ERA with 135 strikeouts while leading the AL with 109 1/3 innings pitched.

— Ed Eagle

• Padres at Phillies (6:35 p.m. ET, MLB.TV): The Phillies’ rotation has produced a 2.48 ERA so far in June, led by Cy Young candidate Zack Wheeler, who has posted a 0.78 ERA for the month. The righty has a career 1.94 ERA against the Padres, including the postseason. Not only do the Phils have their ace on the mound, they also reinstated two-time MVP Bryce Harper from the 10-day injured list ahead of the series opener.

• Yankees at Blue Jays (7:07 p.m. ET, MLB.TV): Taking the mound for the second time since coming off the IL, Max Scherzer looks to beat the Yankees for the first time since 2013, when he was with the Tigers. Coming into the four-game set, Toronto is three games back of New York for first in the AL East, with the Rays sitting in second. A side note: The Yankees are only 10-12 against AL East teams this season.

When Last Week Tonight host John Oliver announced his desire to curate an alternate identity for a Minor League team, there was no shortage of applicants. In fact, more than 40 teams threw their hats — and jerseys, and everything else — in the ring.

 

Ultimately it was the Erie SeaWolves, the Detroit Tigers’ Double-A affiliate, who won the right to be rebranded for four games this summer as the Moon Mammoths, in honor of a prehistoric beast discovered near Erie by scuba diver George Moon. Scott Chiusano has the full lowdown, and it’s well worth your time.

 

How did Erie beat out the field? It captured Oliver and his team’s imagination with a compelling e-mail that included 11 bullet-pointed selling points. Among them, the SeaWolves pioneered something called the cotton candy hot dog — we’ll pass, but we’re sure they’re great — and celebrated a championship they didn’t actually win.

 

Not on their list: George Moon’s discovery. But thanks to a clutch e-mail, the legend of the Moon Mammoths will officially touch down during Erie’s game on July 19, with Oliver (and George Moon) expected to be in attendance. Want to join them? Standing room tickets are still available, and you can get official Moon Mammoths gear right here.

 

— Bryan Horowitz

• Each base may be separated by 90 feet, but as White Sox rookie Chase Meidroth showed with a crafty slide on Sunday, sometimes going 89 1/2 feet can get the job done.

 

• Even after three MVPs and the first 50-50 season ever, Shohei Ohtani is still finding ways to amaze us, as he did Saturday, when he threw his fastest pitch since joining the Majors: a 101.7 mph four-seamer. Even better, the pitch produced two outs (and got a smile out of Ohtani).

 

• How could a hitter possibly be disappointed with a home run? When the hitter is Trea Turner and he’s a triple shy of becoming the first player in history to hit for his fourth career cycle. Paul Casella shares what was going through Turner’s mind with a shot at history.

 

• The baseball world lost a giant on Saturday, when Dave Parker passed away at 74, a month before he’ll be inducted into the Hall of Fame. Andrew McCutchen, another Pirates icon, had nothing but fond memories of his encounters with Cobra: “You knew when he was in the building.”

• You’ve never seen a ceremonial first pitch like this … trust us.

Can you guess today’s mystery player using clues like age, league, division, position and place of birth? You’ll have nine tries to get it right. Good luck! Play here >>

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