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  • Meet the All-Stars: What to know about baseball’s best coming to Philly

    Meet the All-Stars: What to know about baseball’s best coming to Philly

    The stars are coming to town.

    Citizens Bank Park will host the 96th All-Star Game on July 14, a showcase for the game’s best with a healthy contingent of Phillies.

    After two phases of fan voting, Major League Baseball announced the starters on Saturday along with the reserves and pitchers. The remaining roster spots were determined through a players’ ballot and the commissioner’s office.

    Let’s meet the cast of stars who were selected to play in South Philly (statistics through Sunday):

    (Editor’s note: This story has been updated with roster moves on Tuesday).

    American League starters

    First base: Nick Kurtz, Athletics

    All-Star selections: First

    2026 stats: .275/.415/.512, 20 HR, 66 RBIs

    What to know: Kurtz gets the starting spot at first after top vote-getter Vladimir Guerrero Jr. declined to play as he recovers from a lower back issue that has plagued him for weeks. The 23-year-old Kurtz won the AL Rookie of the Year last season and is on pace to have an even better season in 2026.

    All-Star stat: Kurtz is an on-base machine. He leads baseball with 76 walks and is second in walk percentage (.189) and on-base percentage (.415). And when he makes contact, he mashes. He’s in the 99th percentile in hard-hit percentage, up from the 92nd last season.

    Second base: Ernie Clement, Blue Jays

    All-Star selections: First

    2026 stats: .293/.316/.429, 7 HR, 29 RBIs

    What to know: Clement was the top vote-getter in the AL for Phase 1, earning him a starting nod. It’s the latest achievement for an unlikely star, who has become a fan favorite in Toronto and delivered a record-setting postseason performance with 30 hits during the Jays’ run to the 2025 World Series.

    All-Star stat: Clement is among the game’s toughest hitters to strike out with a 9.9% whiff rate, which is in the 97th percentile among MLB hitters.

    Shortstop: Bobby Witt Jr., Royals

    All-Star selections: Third

    2026 stats: .290/.362/.466, 12 HR, 36 RBIs, 30 SBs

    What to know: A Team USA teammate of Bryce Harper and Kyle Schwarber in the World Baseball Classic in March, Witt Jr. is a five-tool player who is in the 99th percentile in sprint speed and is second in fielding range (outs above average). He’s averaged 23.4 home runs, 81.8 RBIs, 35.6 stolen bases, and an .842 OPS in his five major league seasons.

    All-Star stat: Witt Jr. leads the American League with 4.7 WAR (Baseball Reference), and is fourth in baseball.

    Third base: Junior Caminero, Rays

    All-Star selections: Second

    2026 stats: .288/.378/.561, 26 HR, 56 RBIs

    What to know: The 23-year-old Caminero, who also will compete in the Home Run Derby, is starting his second straight All-Star Game, but this is his first time being voted in. Nicknamed “La Máxima,” Caminero has a brother named Girardi, after former Phillies manager Joe Girardi, then the manager of the Yankees.

    All-Star stat: Caminero has elite bat speed, averaging 79.9 mph, tops in baseball, and has a hard-hit rate of 51.7%, a career best and in the 93rd percentile in MLB.

    Outfield: Aaron Judge, Yankees

    All-Star selections: Eighth

    2026 stats: .248/.375/.533, 17 HR, 38 RBIs

    What to know: The reigning AL MVP won’t play in the game because of a fractured rib that has kept him out since early June and will sideline him likely into August.

    All-Star stat: Not much has stood out from Judge’s 2026 season, on pace to be his worst non-COVID season since 2019. But he’s Aaron Judge, and he has the Yankees fan base behind him voting.

    Outfield: Mike Trout, Angels

    All-Star selections: 12th

    2026 stats: .234/.394/.472, 17 HR, 36 RBIs

    What to know: The three-time MVP’s 90.5 career WAR is tops among active players. After playing in 130 games last season — his most since 2019 — Trout has played in 74 of the Angels’ 91 games this season, but has been out since June 18 with a strained right hamstring. With the Angels going nowhere again, will the Millville native and rabid Eagles fan finally ask to be traded? Expect that to be a topic of conversation during All-Star festivities with the Phillies among the teams in the market for a right-handed hitter.

    All-Star stat: A career .291 hitter, Trout is way down at .234, but his on-base percentage remains elite at .394. And with 17 home runs so far, he is on pace to surpass the 26 he hit last season, his most since his 40 in 2022.

    Outfield: Byron Buxton, Twins

    All-Star selections: Third

    2026 stats: .271/.328/.575, 25 HR, 45 RBIs

    What to know: Another potential trade candidate for the Phillies playing in the All-Star Game, Buxton has said he’s not interested in moving on from the Twins. The 32-year-old still has elite speed, ranking in the 98th percentile in sprint speed, and remains one of the game’s top center fielders.

    All-Star stat: After hitting a career high 35 home runs last season, Buxton is on pace to surpass that total in 2026. His 25 homers rank fifth in baseball.

    Catcher: Shea Langeliers, Athletics

    All-Star selections: First

    2026 stats: .264/.328/.494, 20 HR, 44 RBIs

    What to know: The 28-year-old Langeliers has already notched his fourth straight season with at least 20 home runs. Only Cal Raleigh (133) has more home runs among catchers since 2023 than Langeliers (102).

    All-Star stat: Langeliers posted a career-best 3.9 oWAR (offensive wins above replacement) in 2025, second among catchers again only to Raleigh’s 4.1. Langeliers has a 2.4 oWAR in 2026, trailing only Tigers catcher Dillon Dingler (3.2).

    Designated hitter: Yordan Alvarez, Astros

    All-Star selections: Fourth

    2026 stats: .320/.429/.637 29 HR, 67 RBIs

    What to know: Alvarez, who won AL Rookie of the Year in 2019 and finished third in MVP voting in 2022, is having another big season, topping baseball in OPS, on-base percentage, and slugging.

    All-Star stat: Alvarez’s expected slugging percentage, which measures a hitter’s quality of contact, is the best in MLB at .718, a career high.

    National League starters

    First base: Freddie Freeman, Dodgers

    All-Star selections: 10th

    2026 stats: .293/.383/.502, 15 HR, 49 RBIs

    What to know: Freeman, 36, has appeared in every All-Star Game from 2018 to 2026, the only player in baseball to do so. This will be his sixth start and third with the Dodgers.

    All-Star stat: One of the best pure hitters in the game, Freeman’s expected weighted on-base average (which measures the quality of a hitter’s contact regardless of factors beyond their control like defensive player abilities and dimensions of the ballpark) of .391 is in the 96th percentile and is up 40 points from 2025.

    Second base: Ozzie Albies, Braves

    All-Star selections: Fourth

    2026 stats: .271/.322/.445, 14 HR, 49 RBIs

    What to know: Albies topped Phillies second baseman Bryson Stott in Phase 2 of the All-Star vote. After getting off to a hot start (.908 OPS, seven homers, 20 RBIs) in the first month of the season, Albies has a .687 OPS since May 1.

    All-Star stat: Along with decent power and speed, Albies has been one of the toughest hitters to strike out this season. His strikeout percentage of 11.9% is in the 94th percentile in the game.

    Shortstop: CJ Abrams, Nationals

    All-Star selections: Second

    2026 stats: .269/.348/.498, 18 HR, 61 RBIs

    What to know: The speedy Abrams has improved his power metrics in his fourth full season with the Nationals. He has almost eclipsed his career high of 20 homers set in 2024 and has almost done the same with RBIs (his career best of 65 also came in 2024).

    All-Star stat: Abrams’ slugging percentage is up 65 points from last season, and his average exit velocity has risen to a career-best 90 mph, which puts him in the 60th percentile among major leaguers.

    Third base: Max Muncy, Dodgers

    All-Star selections: Third

    2026 stats: .264/.358/.504, 17 HR, 39 RBIs

    What to know: Muncy beat out the Phillies’ Alec Bohm to become the first Dodger to start an All-Star Game at third base since Ron Cey in 1977.

    All-Star stat: In addition to boosting his batting average and maintaining his power stroke, the 35-year-old Muncy is having his best defensive season at third base. His outs above average is in the 93rd percentile of all major leaguers, by far the best of his career at third base.

    Outfield: Brandon Marsh, Phillies

    All-Star selections: First

    2026 stats: .309/.341/.511, 15 HR, 46 RBIs

    What to know: Marsh has broken through as an All-Star starter in his fourth full season with the Phillies, proving that he can hit enough against lefties to be an everyday player. A career .208 hitter against lefties entering this season, Marsh is batting .264 against southpaws in 2026.

    All-Star stat: While Marsh is swinging at almost anything (his 38.6% chase rate is in the bottom 10% of the league and is the highest of his career), he is crushing pitches in the zone. He is among the best in the game with a 46.1% launch angle sweet spot rate (99th percentile).

    Outfield: Juan Soto, Mets

    All-Star selections: Fifth

    2026 stats: .299/.407/.559, 18 HR, 43 RBIs

    What to know: The Mets’ $765 million man is having an elite season even if his team has underwhelmed, sitting in last place in the NL East. He leads baseball with a .407 on-base percentage and has more walks (47) than strikeouts (38). His walk-to-strikeout ratio is second in the National League to the Giants’ Luis Arraez.

    All-Star stat: Soto, along with the Astros’ Yordan Alvarez and Nationals’ James Wood, is in the top three in baseball in two of the most comprehensive contact quality metrics, expected weighted on-base average and expected slugging.

    Outfield: Andy Pages, Dodgers

    All-Star selections: First

    2026 stats: .267/.332/.471, 16 HR, 63 RBIs

    What to know: The 25-year-old leads the NL in RBIs, building off a 27-homer season in 2025 while playing elite defense in center field.

    All-Star stat: Pages has cleaned up batting with runners in scoring position this season. He’s among the league leaders with a .350 batting average with runners in scoring position, driving in 51 of his 63 RBIs.

    Catcher: Drake Baldwin, Braves

    All-Star selections: First

    2026 stats: .251/.336/.451, 15 HR, 43 RBIs

    What to know: The National League Rookie of the Year in 2025 got off to a strong start to his second season, batting .303 with 13 home runs and 38 RBIs through May 18, but an oblique strain in his right side sidelined him for almost a month. He’s struggled in his return, batting .104 in 17 games.

    All-Star stat: Although Baldwin is still trying to regain his early-season stroke, he is hitting the ball with an elite combination of launch angle and exit velocity. His 16% barrel rate is in the 95th percentile among major leaguers, and is up from 11% in his rookie season.

    Designated hitter: Shohei Ohtani, Dodgers

    All-Star selections: Sixth

    2026 stats: .288/.404/.522, 18 HR, 51 RBIs

    What to know: Schwarber is having another monster season at DH, but no one is moving Ohtani, the unicorn of baseball, out of a starting spot on the All-Star team. He led baseball in fan voting during Phase 1, ensuring that he would bypass the next phase and lock up a starting spot at DH.

    All-Star stat: Ohtani is putting together another MVP-level season that will be hard to beat, simply because not only is he an elite hitter, but he’s among the game’s best pitchers. His 1.79 ERA leads baseball, buoyed by an elite barrel percentage (3.8%) that ranks in the 93rd percentile.

    AL pitchers

    Bryan Baker, Rays

    All-Star selections: First

    2026 stats: 1.83 ERA, 23 saves

    What to know: Baker is second in saves in his first season as the Rays’ closer, holding opponents to a .143 batting average.

    Dylan Cease, Blue Jays

    All-Star selections: First

    2026 stats: 2.79 ERA, 137 Ks, 2.26 FIP

    What to know: In his first season with the Jays after signing a $210 million deal, Cease leads the AL in strikeouts.

    Aroldis Chapman, Red Sox

    All-Star selections: Ninth

    2026 stats: 2.36 ERA, 18 saves

    What to know: The 38-year-old flame-throwing closer is still missing bats, with 35 strikeouts in 26⅔ innings, but his 30% whiff rate is his lowest in six seasons.

    Jacob Latz, Rangers

    All-Star selections: First

    2026 stats: 1.71 ERA, 18 saves, 0.619 WHIP

    What to know: After losing out for a spot in the rotation entering the season, Latz moved to the bullpen and thrived. He took over officially as closer in late April. Latz posted a 1.13 ERA with 11 saves in June to win AL Reliever of the Month.

    Parker Messick, Guardians

    All-Star selections: First

    2026 stats: 2.80 ERA, 1.085 WHIP

    What to know: Messick wasn’t even assured of a rotation spot entering the season, but the rookie has emerged as one of the best young pitchers in the game. Hitters are batting just .147 against his four-seam fastball.

    Drew Rasmussen, Rays

    All-Star selections: Second

    2026 stats: 2.78 ERA, 0.897 WHIP

    What to know: Rasmussen followed up an All-Star season in 2025 with an even better one in 2026. He leads the AL in WHIP, and is in the 97th percentile in walk rate (4.5%).

    Joe Ryan, Twins

    All-Star selections: Second

    2026 stats: 3.36 ERA, 1.045 WHIP

    What to know: Ryan figures to be one of the more popular pitchers mentioned in trade deadline speculation. He has anchored the Twins’ rotation for a second straight All-Star season.

    Cam Schlittler, Yankees

    All-Star selections: First

    2026 stats: 2.08 ERA, 203 ERA+

    What to know: Schlittler’s four-seamer, which averages 97.7 mph, has held opponents to a .181 batting average and a 32.5% whiff rate. His strikeout percentage (29.7%) is in the 92nd percentile.

    Cade Smith, Guardians

    All-Star selections: First

    2026 stats: 2.90 ERA, 26 saves

    What to know: Smith has led the majors in saves for much of the season, buoyed by a 35% strikeout rate, which is in the 98th percentile in the game.

    Ranger Suárez, Red Sox

    All-Star selections: Second

    2026 stats: 3.15 ERA, 1.161 WHIP

    What to know: The former Phillie is an All-Star in his first season in Boston. He throws five pitches with regularity, but his four-seamer has been particularly effective, holding hitters to a .212 batting average and a .231 slugging percentage. His status for the All-Star Game is uncertain after he suffered a left adductor injury in his start on Sunday.

    Louis Varland, Blue Jays

    All-Star selections: First

    2026 stats: 0.96 ERA, 18 saves, 12.4 SO/9

    What to know: In his first season as closer, Varland has been dominant, striking out 65 in 47 innings.

    Michael Wacha, Royals

    All-Star selections: Second

    2026 stats: 3.45 ERA, 1.160 WHIP

    What to know: The 35-year-old starter, who last made the All-Star Game in 2015, has been a workhorse for the Royals, pitching a league-high 114⅔ innings in 18 starts.

    Justin Verlander, P, Tigers

    All-Star selections: 10

    2026 stats: 12.27 ERA in one start

    What to know: The 43-year-old Verlander, who announced on Wednesday that he will retire at the end of the season, was added to the AL team as a “Legend Pick” by commissioner Rob Manfred. On the 60-day injured list with hamstring and hip injuries, Verlander will not pitch in the game but will be honored during the All-Star festivities.

    AL reserves

    Dillon Dingler, C, Tigers

    All-Star selections: First

    2026 stats: .265/.327/.521, 19 HR, 60 RBI

    What to know: Dingler’s .521 slugging percentage is second among catchers only to fellow All-Star Hunter Goodman. He is also a Gold Glove-caliber backstop with elite numbers for pitch framing, blocks above average, and pop time.

    Adley Rutschman, C, Orioles

    All-Star selections: Third

    2026 stats: .254/.323/.451, 8 HR, 45 RBIs

    What to know: Rutschman remains an elite defensive catcher, ranking in the 97th percentile in caught stealing above average. He also has an impressive 16.3% whiff rate, meaning he rarely swings and misses.

    Travis Bazzana, 2B, Guardians

    All-Star selections: First

    2026 stats: .249/.339/.412, 7 HR, 27 RBIs, 12 SB

    What to know: The first overall pick of the 2024 draft, Bazzana, who’s from Australia, has impressed with his discipline at the plate and speed on the bases. His walk percentage (11.6%) and chase rate (25.6%) are near the 75th percentile in the majors, not bad for a 23-year-old rookie.

    Kevin McGonigle, SS, Tigers

    All-Star selections: First

    2026 stats: .284/.395/.422, 7 HR, 31 RBIs

    What to know: An Aldan native and Bonner-Prendergast graduate, McGonigle, 21, has arrived as a rookie star for the Tigers. Most notable is his plate discipline: He has more walks than strikeouts and is in the 99th percentile in chase rate. That contributes to a .395 on-base percentage, good for sixth in the majors.

    Ben Rice, 1B/DH, Yankees

    All-Star selections: First

    2026 stats: .267/.361/.559, 24 HR, 56 RBIs

    What to know: The 27-year-old Rice was beat out in fan voting for the starting spot at first base by Guerrero, but he had much better numbers than the Jays star. Rice’s .921 OPS is tied for seventh in baseball.

    Miguel Vargas, INF, White Sox

    All-Star selections: First

    2026 stats: .247/.363/.494, 20 HR, 56 RBIs

    What to know: Vargas has emerged as a power hitter with plate discipline in his fifth major league season. His barrel percentage has jumped to 15.2% from 9.4% in 2025. Meanwhile, he rarely chases (20.6% chase rate) and has a 13.7% walk rate, which ranks in the 97th percentile in the majors.

    Cody Bellinger, OF, Yankees

    All-Star selections: Third

    2026 stats: .251/.348/.426 11 HR, 50 RBIs

    What to know: Bellinger has regained the elite plate discipline that was a staple of his game when he won NL MVP with the Dodgers in 2019. His 13.6% walk rate is in the 91st percentile and is way up from last season (8.7%).

    Randy Arozarena, OF, Mariners

    All-Star selections: Third

    2026 stats: .286/.375/.451, 9 HR, 41 RBIs

    What to know: The Mariners’ lone representative, Arozarena is striking out less (22.1%, down from career 25.5%) and is about 30 points higher in batting average and on-base percentage in putting together a solid age-31 season.

    Riley Greene, OF, Tigers

    All-Star selections: Third

    2026 stats: .292/.380/.474, 13 HR, 44 RBI

    What to know: One of three Tigers in the game, Greene, 25, is hitting for a higher average this season after batting .260 over the previous two seasons. But his power numbers are down for a guy who averaged 30 homers from 2024-25, and strikeouts remain an issue: He led the majors with 201 in 2025 and has 101 this season.

    Yandy Díaz, DH, Rays

    All-Star selections: Second

    2026 stats: .321/.404/.489, 12 HR, 53 RBIs

    What to know: Díaz is having perhaps his best season of an underrated career, blending power with a disciplined approach at the plate. His 13.3% strikeout rate is in the 89th percentile in the majors.

    Willson Contreras, 1B, Red Sox

    All-Star selections: Fourth

    2026 stats: .284/.378/.542, 20 HR, 59 RBIs

    What to know: Contreras replaces Vladimir Guerrero Jr. on the AL roster and joins his brother William in the All-Star Game. Contreras is on pace for his best season in his first year in Boston with a career-high .921 OPS.

    NL pitchers

    Chase Burns, Reds

    All-Star selections: First

    2026 stats: 10-1, 2.40 ERA

    What to know: The second pick of the 2024 draft has blossomed in his first full season. His 52.8% whiff rate is fourth in baseball as is his strikeout rate (49.7%).

    Jhoan Duran, Phillies

    All-Star selections: First

    2026 stats: 1.52 ERA, 21 saves, 0.944 WHIP

    What to know: Duran has given the Phillies everything they hoped for when they acquired him at the 2025 trade deadline. His success starts with his four-seamer, which averages 100.2 mph and has held opponents to a .148 batting average against it. His 39.5% strikeout rate is the best of his career.

    Raisel Iglesias, Braves

    All-Star selections: First

    2026 stats: 1.53 ERA, 17 saves, 1.057 WHIP

    What to know: This All-Star selection has been a long time coming for the 12-year veteran Iglesias, who is fifth in the NL in saves. A master of getting hitters to swing at pitches out of the zone, Iglesias, 36, is in the 99th percentile in chase rate (39.2%, a career high).

    Jesús Luzardo, Phillies

    All-Star selections: First

    2026 stats: 3.75 ERA, 125 strikeouts

    What to know: Luzardo replaced the Marlins’ Max Meyer to become the sixth Phillies All-Star. After a rough start to the season when he sported a 5.50 ERA in his first six starts, Luzardo has been a different pitcher since May 1, posting a 2.87 ERA in his last 12 starts.

    Braxton Ashcraft, Pirates

    All-Star appearances: First

    2026 stats: 9-3, 3.24 ERA, 1.098 WHIP

    What to know: The 26-year-old Ashcroft, who replaced the Brewers’ Jacob Misiorowski, has been a pleasant surprise for the Pirates this season. He’s allowed one run or fewer in nine of 18 starts. Opponents are batting .150 against his curveball, which has an elite 40.3% whiff rate.

    Mason Miller has an 0.98 ERA this season.

    Mason Miller, Padres

    All-Star selections: Second

    2026 stats: 0.98 ERA, 22 saves, 0.818 WHIP

    What to know: Miller might be the most intimidating closer in the game with a four-seamer that averages 101.2 mph. His slider is the deadliest put-away pitch in the game with a strikeout rate of 59.7%.

    Riley O’Brien, Cardinals

    All-Star selections: First

    2026 stats: 3.72 ERA, 22 saves

    What to know: The 31-year-old O’Brien, who replaced Pirates ace Paul Skenes, is tied for third in the NL with 22 saves. His success is driven by a devastating sweeper, which opponents are batting just .033 against and has led to a 48.6% whiff rate.

    Eduardo Rodriguez, Diamondbacks

    All-Star selections: First

    2026 stats: 7-3, 2.25 ERA

    What to know: Another NL pitcher who had to wait awhile to make his first All-Star team, Rodriguez has been stellar for Arizona in his 11th season. He has given up one run or fewer in 11 of his 18 starts this season.

    Chris Sale, Braves

    All-Star selections: 10th

    2026 stats: 9-6, 2.27 ERA

    What to know: The 37-year-old Sale is still elite, relying on a four-seamer and slider almost 80% of the time. And he can still fool hitters with the best of them — his 35.4% chase rate is in the 92nd percentile of all pitchers.

    Cristopher Sánchez, Phillies

    All-Star selections: Second

    2026 stats: 10-3, 2.00 ERA, 5.91 SO/BB

    What to know: The unlikely ascent from fringe minor leaguer to Cy Young candidate has continued this season. Sánchez leads all pitchers with 5.7 WAR and didn’t allow a run for 50⅔ innings earlier this season, the most ever for a left-handed pitcher. It all starts with his changeup, against which hitters are batting .142 this season.

    Logan Webb, Giants

    All-Star selections: Third

    2026 stats: 3.66 ERA, 1.168 WHIP

    What to know: Webb, who led the NL in innings the past three years, got off to a rough start to the season. He had a 5.06 ERA in his first eight starts but has turned it around over his last seven with a 2.18 ERA.

    Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Dodgers

    All-Star selections: Second

    2026 stats: 9-5, 2.49 ERA, 0.879 WHIP

    What to know: Last year’s postseason hero has been just as good as in 2025. In fact, he has the same ERA (2.49) as last season and has lowered his WHIP. He’s also lowered his walk rate to an elite 5.3%, which puts him in the 92nd percentile of pitchers.

    NL reserves

    William Contreras, C, Brewers

    All-Star selections: Third

    2026 stats: .295/.358/.416, 9 HR, 51 RBIs

    What to know: Contreras has been the most productive catcher offensively over the past four seasons. And he’s durable, averaging 149 games in his last three full seasons.

    Hunter Goodman, C, Rockies

    All-Star selections: Second

    2026 stats: .254/.318/.552, 27 HR, 51 RBIs

    What to know: Goodman has developed into one of the best power-hitting catchers in the game over the past two seasons. He’s on his way to a second straight 30-homer season and ranks fourth in the NL in slugging percentage.

    Luis Arraez, 2B, Giants

    All-Star selections: Fourth

    2026 stats: .326/.362/.461, 4 HR, 33 RBIs

    What to know: The toughest guy to strike out in baseball, Arraez is a career. 318 hitter, and has led the league in hits twice in his career, and is second this season.

    Bryce Harper, 1B, Phillies

    All-Star selections: Ninth

    2026 stats: .270/.370/.522, 20 HR, 57 RBI

    What to know: After coming up short in the fan vote, Harper was “grateful” to be picked for the team by commissioner Rob Manfred. He’s certainly deserving of the spot with an OPS over .900 and his 12th 20-homer season while playing every game. After all, an All-Star Game at Citizens Bank Park without the Showman wouldn’t seem like much of a show at all.

    Otto Lopez, SS, Marlins

    All-Star selections: First

    2026 stats: .346/.376/.520, 9 HR, 43 RBI, 17 SB

    What to know: Baseball’s batting leader also is tops in hits (123) and doubles (25) during what has been a career year for the 27-year-old.

    Matt Olson, 1B, Braves

    All-Star selections: Fourth

    2026 stats: .271/.341/.531, 22 HR, 54 RBI

    What to know: Olson, who has nine seasons of 20-plus home runs, is having a resurgent power season. His slugging percentage has surged to .531 this season after sitting at a combined .471 in 2024 and 2025. And more than half his batted balls are considered hard hit, putting him in the 92nd percentile among all hitters.

    Sal Stewart, INF, Reds

    All-Star selections: First

    2026 stats: .254/.339/.466, 17 HR, 61 RBI

    What to know: The 22-year-old is one of two rookies to represent the Reds at the All-Star Game, along with pitcher Chase Burns. Stewart, who has played mostly third and first base this season, is tied for fourth in the NL in RBIs.

    Corbin Carroll, OF, Diamondbacks

    All-Star selections: Third

    2026 stats: .266./.356/.506, 13 HR, 45 RBI

    What to know: An All-Star for the third time in his four full seasons, the 25-year-old Carroll is having another strong season with an .862 OPS. The speedy outfielder again leads the majors in triples, a crown he was won for four straight seasons.

    Pete Crow-Armstrong, OF, Cubs

    All-Star selections: Second

    2026 stats: .292/.383/.527, 19 HR, 49 RBI, 23 SB

    What to know: Entering June, PCA was batting .231 with a .713 OPS and a 25.6% strikeout rate. Then June rolled around (along with a late-May switch to the leadoff spot), and he took off with an epic month. He posted a 1.249 OPS with 40 hits, 11 home runs and a .381 batting average to surge back into All-Star contention.

    Jordan Walker, OF, Cardinals

    All-Star selections: First

    2026 stats: .292/.352/.529, 20 HR, 67 RBI

    What to know: The 24-year-old Walker is having a breakout season for the surprising Cardinals. It’s been fueled by elite bat speed (79.1 mph), which trails only Junior Caminero (79.9) as the best in the majors.

    James Wood, OF, Nationals

    All-Star selections: Second

    2026 stats: .266/.393/.533, 23 HR, 56 RBI

    What to know: The 23-year-old is having an exceptional offensive season. It’s a combination of solid contact and an elite ability to get on base — he is in the 99th percentile among hitters in hard hit and walk percentages. He’s also been durable, playing in every game this season.

    Kyle Schwarber, DH, Phillies

    All-Star selections: Fourth

    2026 stats: .254/.370/.567, 30 HR, 55 RBI

    What to know: Schwarber is back in the All-Star Game for a second straight season and third time as a Phillie. His 30 home runs lead the majors along with his .567 slugging percentage.

    Players selected who will not play

    • Vladimir Guerrero Jr., 1B, Blue Jays
    • Max Meyer, P, Marlins
    • Paul Skenes, P, Pirates
    • Jacob Misiorowski, P, Brewers
  • Cristopher Sánchez battles through a scrape, pitches seven scoreless innings in Phillies’ shutout win vs. Pirates

    Cristopher Sánchez battles through a scrape, pitches seven scoreless innings in Phillies’ shutout win vs. Pirates

    Cristopher Sánchez unleashed a first-pitch strike in the second inning and called for a trainer.

    Uh-oh.

    Three words the Phillies never want to see in the same sentence: “Cristopher Sánchez” and “trainer.” But there they were Tuesday night, and well, Citizens Bank Park held its collective breath.

    Sánchez, it turned out, cut loose a changeup and scraped the top of his left thumb, the evidence of which was a blood stain between the red pinstripes on his white pants. He smiled, even chuckled with a few teammates, and a few dabs later, the ace lefty was firing again.

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    Crisis averted. Sánchez kept throwing his signature changeup without incident, allowing three hits in seven scoreless innings. And the Phillies cakewalked, 8-0, over the Pirates to move within 2½ games of the first-place Braves, who lost at home to the Cardinals.

    Oh, and postgame fireworks went off as planned for the 41,710 paying customers.

    Scrape? What scrape?

    “Yeah, just a little scratch on the finger,” Sánchez said through a team interpreter. “It happens sometimes when I throw the changeup because of the touch with the finger. So, it’s no big deal.”

    But that momentary pit-of-their-stomach feeling as assistant athletic trainer Christian Bermudez went out to see Sánchez underscores the precariousness of this entire thing.

    Justin Crawford drove in the Phillies’ first two runs with a two-out single in the second inning Tuesday night at Citizens Bank Park.

    Look, there isn’t any replacing Sánchez, whose next home start may come for the National League in the All-Star Game in two weeks. He sits atop the rotation with a 2.00 ERA, second in the majors behind only the Brewers’ Jacob Misiorowski (1.45).

    But the Phillies lack the organizational pitching depth to cover for any of their starters if they miss even a turn or two. They already have back-of-the-rotation worries, with Aaron Nola’s 6.04 ERA and Andrew Painter’s return to triple A. The fifth-starter spot is occupied by Alan Rangel, who has twice been used behind an opener.

    One injury, and it all comes down like a Jenga tower.

    Surely, then, an anxious feeling came over interim manager Don Mattingly when Sánchez waved to the dugout.

    The Phillies still need a right-handed bat. Let’s take an early dive into some options before the trade deadline.

    “Yeah, a little bit,” Mattingly said. “Especially in the second [inning], right? You’re like, ‘Oh, not tonight.’ But once you get out there, you kind of see what it is. It’s not like a cut on a nail or anything like that where you feel like it’s going to keep getting extended. They did a nice job of stopping that.”

    Justin Crawford gave Sánchez a 2-0 lead by cueing a two-out single inside the third-base line. It was up to Sánchez to keep it that way because the Phillies didn’t break things open until scoring three runs in both the seventh and eighth innings.

    Trea Turner, on his 33rd birthday, had an RBI double in the seventh and a two-run homer in the eighth.

    Trea Turner, on his 33rd birthday, levied most of that damage, with an RBI double in the seventh and a two-run homer in the eighth. Don’t look now, but he’s 19-for-55 (.345) over the last 13 games, a welcome sign for an offense that is looking for more production from the right side of the plate.

    “Is he going yet?” Mattingly said, mimicking questions about when Turner will get going at the plate. “I don’t know if he’s going yet or not. But to see Trea get a big hit down the line and then the home run, it really extends that lead where it saves us [from using] an arm in the bullpen.”

    Sánchez leaned on his changeup, as usual, but continued to spin more sliders. After throwing 26 in his last start, he mixed in 17 against the Pirates, six of which came in his first 19 pitches.

    No matter what he throws, Sánchez owns the Pirates. Six weeks ago, he struck out 13, a career-high, in a six-hit shutout in Pittsburgh. This time, he didn’t give up a hit until Nick Gonzales punched a two-out single in the fourth inning.

    Sánchez is lined up to pitch Monday in Kansas City and July 11 in Detroit, the closing arguments in his case to start three days later (it would be his bullpen day) in the All-Star Game.

    As you may have heard, it will be held in South Philly.

    “[It would be] another goal, another dream come true and more when you think about it in this beautiful city,” Sánchez said. “The fans deserve that and even more.”

    Is there a better duo in baseball than Zack Wheeler and Cristopher Sánchez? We asked the experts.

    Symbolically and strategically, Sánchez is a sensible choice to start for the NL. Misiorowski throws harder than any pitcher in history, with a fastball that’s been clocked at 105.5 mph. But Sánchez has allowed seven earned runs in 73 innings for a 0.86 ERA in 11 home starts. Since 2024, he has a 1.76 ERA in 280⅔ innings over 43 starts at home.

    In his latest gem, he pitched out of one quasi jam, a two-on, two-out spot in the fourth inning, by striking out Endy Rodríguez on a signature changeup, and sidestepped a one-out double by Billy Cook in the fifth inning.

    But even with a 100-degree heat wave rolling into town, it was no sweat compared to the Phillies’ dodging an injury to their ace. As Sánchez received a quick fix on the mound, Turner and other infielders looked on and laughed.

    “They were just giving me a hard time and joking around on the mound,” Sánchez said. “You know, these guys are terrible.”

    As long as the Phillies keep their pitchers healthy, the good times can keep rolling.

  • Bryce Harper silences Nationals fans as Phillies mount ‘another crazy ninth inning’ rally for 10-5 win

    Bryce Harper silences Nationals fans as Phillies mount ‘another crazy ninth inning’ rally for 10-5 win

    WASHINGTON — In the right field corner of Nationals Park, a group of entirely shirtless fans took over Section 236.

    They were steadily growing in number on Thursday night, while the Phillies — yet again — fell behind early against the Nationals. The fans, who were waving their discarded shirts and chanting for most of the game, were participating in a movement known as “Tarps Off.”

    It’s a trend that is not unique to this series, and not unique to the Nationals. But the Phillies took notice of this particular group in right field earlier this week, when their chants started to include expletives directed at former Nationals Bryce Harper and Trea Turner.

    Derek Hill brings value to Phillies’ lineup, even when at-bats are limited: ‘He fits right in with our group’

    The “F— Bryce Harper” chants resumed in full force on Thursday. And so when Harper blasted a two-run home run to break a 5-5 stalemate in the ninth inning, he made sure he acknowledged them. As he rounded the bases, he flashed a finger — which he clarified was his ring finger — toward the upper deck in right field.

    “Obviously, everybody heard it,” Harper said. “We heard it the other night. I mean, they were doing same thing to Trea — which is crazy, because they should probably know their history a little bit with them winning the World Series here — but yeah, it’s part of it. I love coming in here and playing here.”

    By the time Derek Hill stepped into the box and hit another homer, capping a five-run ninth inning and the 10-5 win, the Tarps Off group had mostly dispersed.

    The Phillies secured the series victory over Washington with their third consecutive comeback win. Each of them had involved a go-ahead home run in the ninth inning.

    “We just have that never-quit mentality,” said Brandon Marsh.

    Phillies pitcher Cristopher Sánchez had his shortest outing on Thursday since April 7.

    And in each ninth inning, the Phillies had a different hero. On Tuesday, it was Bryson Stott. On Wednesday, it was Hill. And on Thursday, it was the former face of the Nationals franchise.

    “You guys know everywhere I go, I get booed and they say my name or boo or anything else. I love it. It’s all part of it,” Harper said. “It’s weird coming from a fan base that I sweated for for seven years, but there’s a lot of people around here that enjoy me, so it’s all part of it, it’s all fun.”

    Their latest comeback helped the Phillies recover from an uncharacteristic start from Cristopher Sánchez. The lefty wasn’t as sharp as usual, and it seemed like Washington capitalized on every mistake he made to jump out to a four-run lead in the first inning.

    Curtis Mead started it off. The former Phillies prospect they traded to Tampa Bay in 2019 to acquire Sánchez blasted a homer over the bullpen in left field. Sánchez couldn’t rebound, hitting the next batter and allowing three singles before finally getting out of the first.

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    “I thought probably his command tonight was not as good as we’ve seen,” said interim manager Don Mattingly. “Seemed like the changeup command was not great tonight. Stuff was good, he was throwing the ball good. Probably a little unfortunate on some plays, that if you get an out here and out there, it limits some of that damage.”

    The defense didn’t help Sánchez, costing him quite a few pitches en route to his shortest outing — five innings — since April 7. J.T. Realmuto committed a throwing error in the third inning trying to catch Dylan Crews stealing second, and Alec Bohm booted a ball at third.

    Sánchez struck out six batters, including five on his slider.

    “I missed a couple pitches, and they got me, but outside of that, I think I felt great today,” he said through team interpreter Diego D’Aniello.

    Brandon Marsh’s (right) two-run homer helped the Phillies chip away at a 5-0 deficit.

    After the Phillies fell behind 5-0, their relievers locked things down as the offense chipped away. Marsh hit a two-run homer in the sixth inning to put the Phillies on the board. In the seventh, they capitalized on two singles and four walks to tie the game, as Washington’s bullpen — which has a National League-worst 5.05 ERA — collapsed again.

    “We were very patient there in the seventh,” Mattingly said. “In the strike zone. We talked about it, hitting there. … [Justin Crawford] gets a hit, Trea gets a hit, gets it started, and then you’re into [Kyle Schwarber], and he walks, Harp walks, and it just kind of snowballs.”

    Chase Shugart, José Alvarado, Orion Kerkering, and Tim Mayza each pitched a scoreless inning for the Phillies. Kerkering was the only reliever to allow a hit. He gave up a leadoff double in the eighth and then battled back to strike out two consecutive pinch-hitting lefties with his fastball and induced a groundout to preserve the 5-5 tie.

    Phillies’ Don Mattingly named to National League coaching staff for the All-Star Game

    It set the stage for some more ninth-inning magic.

    “Everyone heard what those group of dudes were saying up there,” Marsh said. “I feel like Harp gets a lot of heat just for being who he is and how good he is, and I feel like it just comes with being one of the best players to ever play.

    “Him coming in clutch for us in that moment, I mean, I don’t even know the word to describe it. The boys needed it, and he came through for us, and another crazy ninth inning.”

  • Bryce Harper and Kyle Schwarber put on a show in Phillies’ rout of the Mets: ‘What a night to be able to have’

    Bryce Harper and Kyle Schwarber put on a show in Phillies’ rout of the Mets: ‘What a night to be able to have’

    In three weeks, in the same sold-out ballpark, in front of another national television audience, Kyle Schwarber and Bryce Harper will probably be in the All-Star Game, maybe even the Home Run Derby.

    But they won’t put on a show like this.

    They can’t possibly.

    Can they?

    Whatever happens in the Bank’s All-Star closeup, take this to the bank: The Phillies’ stars put on dueling talent shows for the ages in Saturday night’s 15-3 demolition of the rival Mets. And, no, that isn’t mouth-agape hyperbole over feats we can’t believe we just saw.

    Bryce Harper hits for first-career cycle in five innings, Kyle Schwarber hits three homers vs. Mets

    “They stole the show from me, that’s for sure,” ace Cristopher Sánchez said, laughing, after a one-run, six-inning gem reduced his ERA to 1.84. “It was perfect.”

    It started with Schwarber, who became the fourth player in Phillies history (dating back to 1883, by the way) to smash two homers in one inning before adding a third later in the game for good measure.

    Not to be outdone, Harper tripled in the fifth inning to hit for the cycle for the first time in a career that has spanned 15 seasons and will eventually take him to the Hall of Fame. And it took him only four at-bats, to boot.

    Only once before did teammates do those two things — at least three homers and a cycle — in one game: Lou Gehrig and Tony Lazzeri, Hall of Fame Yankees, in 1932.

    “We were wondering that in the dugout,” Harper said. “We didn’t think there was going to be two guys that did it. But to have those two names up against ours is pretty cool. It’s a pretty awesome moment for both of us.”

    Kyle Schwarber became the fourth Phillies player to homer twice in one inning when he did so in the third.

    Or as Schwarber put it, after he and Harper had four hits apiece in a 17-hit Phillies onslaught: “It was a pretty cool overall night, in general.”

    For Harper, it began a few minutes before 3 p.m. with something he rarely does. He took early batting practice on the field, an exercise he prefers to do underneath the stands in the controlled environment of the indoor cage.

    But Harper was in a 1-for-22 funk, even though he’s been mostly pleased with his approach at the plate. He swung mostly at strikes and hit balls hard, but as he said, “it feels like there’s a big, old glove out there.”

    So, Harper went out to the field with one objective.

    “I was trying to hit home runs,” he said. “Haven’t hit really many balls over the fence in a while, so I felt like just going out there and just trying to hit some balls in the third deck. Sometimes that helps.”

    The Phillies still need a right-handed bat. Let’s take an early dive into some options before the trade deadline.

    OK, but hitting a fastball from Mets ace righty Freddy Peralta into the right-field seats on his first swing of the game for his first homer in 10 days?

    That’s absurd. But it fits with the night’s theme.

    Harper was using different lumber, too. He switched to a 34-inch, 35-ounce bat instead of his usual 34-inch, 31½-ounce model — “My heavy bat from the cage,” he said — because he thought he was out in front of too many pitches.

    “That bat’s from 2023, just an old, heavy bat that I swing every day in the cage,” Harper said. “It’s just my workout-routine bat. I said to [hitting coach Kevin] Long about a month ago, I was like, ‘Man, I should use this thing in a game,’ and I never did. Finally I was like, ‘Screw it. I’m going to do it today.

    “I don’t know if it translated to the game or anything else. But what a night to be able to have.”

    Tell Schwarber about it. He led off an eight-run third inning by golfing a 456-foot drive halfway up the second deck in right field. By the time Schwarber’s spot in the lineup came back around, the Phillies had an eight-run lead. It ballooned to 11-0 with another Schwarbomb, 457 feet to almost the same spot.

    “That was cool,” said Schwarber, who didn’t do anything unusual before the game. “First time I’ve done it in my career.”

    In fact, the only other Phillies players to do it were Andy Seminick (1949), Von Hayes (1985), and Trea Turner (2023).

    Why stop there? Schwarber tacked on a third homer in the seventh inning, skying a ball around the right-field foul pole. It marked the fifth time in his career that he hit at least three homers and raised his majors-leading total this season to 28.

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    “That’s what he tries to do, man,” Harper said of the sport’s most prolific home-run hitter. “It’s way different. Just the way he kind of connects to the baseball. He uses the ground so well. He’s got such a simple, short swing. It’s pretty impressive, you know?”

    Almost as impressive as, say, scoring all the way from first base on Harper’s cycle-capping triple.

    Everyone in the dugout was aware of Harper’s pursuit of the cycle. After his first-inning homer, he was typically overaggressive in hustling to turn a single into a double on a liner to right-center before ripping a single in the third inning.

    “We kind of talked about it before, and I was like, ‘Hey, you’ve just got to aim at Monty’s Angle,’” Schwarber said, referring to the area where the wall juts out in left-center field. “And then he gets up there and he hits the ball to center field. I’m like, ‘I’m going to run through the stop sign.’

    “I was pretty predetermined on going, and I’m glad [third base coach Anthony Contreras] was on the same page, too, with sending me.”

    Not that they had much choice. Harper was intent on not stopping around second base, the helmet flying off his head between first and second.

    Harper joked that Schwarber was well-rested because he “jogged a lot tonight.” And when he slid into third, Harper raised both arms skyward, then pumped his right arm and doffed his helmet.

    It was only the 11th time in 144 seasons that a Phillies player hit for the cycle. J.T. Realmuto and Weston Wilson did it in 2023 and 2024, respectively. But it’s happened only five times in the last 63 years.

    And never to Harper. Well, not since college.

    “Super Regionals,” he said. “Seven-for-seven, four homers and a cycle.”

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    Where does a cycle rank for a two-time MVP with 379 career homers?

    “It’s up there,” he said. “Doing that at the big-league level is really cool.”

    And it makes you wonder what Schwarber and Harper could possibly have in store for an All-Star encore. Neither will commit to the Home Run Derby until they know if they’ll be named to the All-Star team.

    But, really, is there any doubt?

    “A crowd like [Saturday] shows you how electric it’s going to be, for not only that [Home Run Derby] night but the whole week in general,” Schwarber said. “I think it’ll be really special to have the All-Star Game here in Philly, and our fans are going to be able to show up for that.”

    The Phillies’ biggest stars just gave everyone one heck of a preview.

  • Death to prediction markets profiting on war | Will Bunch Newsletter

    Iranian schoolgirls, U.S. troops, Israeli villagers, random Emiratis, Pakistani rioters, and maybe a couple of folks in a bar in Texas. The deadly fallout from Donald Trump’s war of choice in Iran has spread halfway around the globe and back again. With each passing hour, it feels like more of the entire world is sucked into this war. If only there were a name for something like that.

    If someone forwarded you this email, sign up for free here.

    Why are Americans allowed to place bets on death and destruction?

    An advertisement by the American company Polymarket shows Zohran Mamdani and Andrew Cuomo ahead of the New York City mayoral election on Nov. 4, 2025, in New York.

    Donald Trump’s splendid and not-so-little war that started during a Saturday rush hour in Tehran and has spread like a coronavirus to numerous other countries is entering its fourth day on Tuesday — far too early for one of journalism’s oldest clichés: the “winners and losers” piece.

    Except for these winners: a few “lucky” — if that word can even apply to such a ghoulish enterprise — gamblers who woke up Saturday morning and learned that the first deadly explosions across Iran had already made them a lot richer, regardless of who wins or loses on the battlefield.

    The initial weekend of war wasn’t even over before we learned that Polymarket, one of the two leading prediction markets that are the inevitable next downward spiral of our national sports gambling addiction, was hit by suspicious trading by six individuals who showed up to bet big on when the war would commence.

    One trader up for particular attention earned a reported $553,000 over the weekend by placing large bets on when Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei — killed in the war’s initial minutes, reportedly — would be deposed. The handle on that well-timed, if macabre, gambler? “magamyman.”

    My man, you aren’t even trying to hide it.

    Polymarket’s brush with possible insider trading on predictive bets over the Iran war that is now a reality came as its customers bet a stunning half a billion dollars on the long-rumored conflict.

    Many of them, presumably, are just regular schlubs desperate to get ahead in a dog-eat-dog economy. But it’s also hard not to contemplate that some may have had real advance knowledge of Pentagon war planning that loose-lipped insiders were audibly discussing in Joe’s Stone Crab just hours before the first cruise missile was fired.

    I know … it’s shocking that something in America’s death spiral of late-stage capitalism is actually a rigged game, right? Still, it’s hard to decide which is worse about this new low of predictive betting on a war that’s already killed scores of innocent schoolgirls and hospital patients, and at least six U.S. service members: the rank immorality of wagering on death and destruction, or the insider trading that corrupts this already unholy process even further?

    Over the weekend, even with the main focus on the latest missile attacks and changing Trump regime explanations for this undeclared war, there was growing outrage over the popularity of predictive betting on the news, especially when the news is deadly. Or, there’s the word the chief U.S. government official tasked with regulating Polymarket, Kalshi, or their rival firms has used to describe what’s happening.

    “Exciting.”

    Michael Selig, the lawyer tapped by Trump last year to head the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), which — controversially — regulates these prediction markets, seems less a regulator and more of a cheerleader, maybe as much as “magamyman.” As several states have pushed to regulate or ban predictive markets as akin to sports betting sites, also under its purview, Selig has worked hard to override them with a claim of federal supremacy.

    “The CFTC will no longer sit idly by while overzealous state governments undermine the agency’s exclusive jurisdiction over these markets by seeking to establish statewide prohibitions on these exciting products,” Selig wrote in a Wall Street Journal op-ed.

    It’s worth noting Selig’s moves came at the same time that six Democratic senators wrote the CFTC chair to urge him to ban gambling on outcomes that result in death or physical harm — inspired by outrage that people were betting on whether a NASA spacecraft would fail to launch, as well as predictions around the fate of the former Venezuelan strongman Nicolás Maduro, seized in January by U.S. troops. Not surprisingly, the high volume of Iran war betting has sparked fresh calls to ban predictive market betting altogether.

    “Life stops being something we live, but something we sell and trade,” Connecticut Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy posted on X, before saying he is studying legislation to ban prediction markets. “It will breed both corruption [and] emptiness.”

    Unlike sporting events, betting on political or social developments whose occurrence and timing are controlled and known by humans is incredibly prone to insider trading. In a case that seems to typify the fundamental flaw of non-sports prediction markets, and which Kalshi was forced to acknowledge in an internal investigation, an editor for the wildly popular YouTube star Jimmy Donaldson, better known as MrBeast, was caught betting $4,000 on predictions about what MrBeast would say in his next video.

    Because betting on influencer video topics is how far off the deep end we are going here. The addictive nature of online sports betting, which was once mostly banned until elite schemers realized how much money was to be made from increasingly desperate people, was always pointing American society in this warped direction.

    Zoom out and there’s a much bigger picture here: A society where the traditional pathways to prosperity are rigged for the Epstein class has created an entire ethos that seeks to match that level of wealth through unconventional not-40-hour-workweek paths, like online influencers, or by hitting the big one, whether that’s through buying a meme stock, betting on college basketball, loading up on the right crypto, or — now — gambling on stuff like when Israel is going to bomb women and children in Gaza.

    It seems no one near the top of the American kleptocracy is immune to cashing in, including — sigh — Big Media. It was bad enough that CNN partnered with Kalshi to promote predictive odds on events like Tuesday’s Texas primary, but now the venerable Associated Press picked Monday — amid all the negative publicity about the Iran war wagers — to announce its own deal with the site.

    Meanwhile, the only safe bet would be a prediction that no one in Washington, D.C., will be able to successfully stop this in the near future. It’s not only that reckless and potentially corrupt get-rich-quick maneuvers like crypto, artificial intelligence, and now these “exciting” predictive markets are simply in the Trump regime’s toxic money-grubbing DNA.

    To seal the deal, Donald Trump Jr. joined the advisory board of Polymarket last August, and his venture capital firm, called 1789 Capital, has reportedly invested tens of millions of dollars in the firm, as well. In a remarkable coincidence, two federal investigations into predictive markets that began during the Joe Biden presidency were shut down around the same time.

    Today’s dollars stained with blood from the Middle East are the, dare I say it, predictable result. Why merely wage war when you can also wager on it? Our leaders, whether in D.C. or our 50 statehouses, can’t shut down Polymarket, Kalshi, and all their imitators fast enough.

    Yo, do this!

    • Escaping from a global crisis is always a good time to get back to the basics, and for boomers of a certain age, nothing is more fundamental than the power chords and pounding drums of Led Zeppelin. Listening to and thoroughly enjoying Andrew Hickey’s A History of Rock Music in 500 Songs’ two-part episode on how the most classic of all classic rock bands came together at the end of the 1960s made me discover that there’s also an acclaimed 2025 documentary, Becoming Led Zeppelin, streaming on Netflix. Let’s watch it together.
    • The rising thermometer this week should serve as your reminder that the arrival of March means it’s also time for some baseball that actually counts. The World Baseball Classic, the sport’s World Cup knockoff that comes every three years, starts Thursday and runs through the March 17 final in Miami — site of 2023’s thrilling conclusion in which Japan’s Shohei Ohtani struck out the USA’s (and South Jersey’s) Mike Trout. Some 10 Phillies are competing, including Bryce Harper, Kyle Schwarber, and Brad Keller — on this year’s Team USA — and Dominican Republic ace Cristopher Sánchez, so let the games begin.

    Ask me anything

    Question: So one school of thought is that they are already trying to steal the midterms; another is that they really can’t. Where are you on the spectrum from mildly worried to totally anxious about this? Especially with Pa. being rather swingy. — Penthesilea (@hansklocker.bsky.social) via Bluesky

    Answer: Yes, this is something I’ve already thought about quite a bit, and my answer — for now, anyway — is pretty much smack in the middle of the spectrum. It’s clear Donald Trump intends to use every implement in the voter suppression toolbox — extreme gerrymandering, executive orders aiming to require voter ID, or banning mail-in ballots — that would warp the voting outcomes, without going full Mussolini and canceling the election altogether. But I don’t think that can work for him — partly because any orders will almost certainly be struck down in the courts, but mainly because it looks like a Democratic landslide too large to easily suppress is building momentum. Just look at Texas, where the scheme to gerrymander five new GOP seats depended heavily on Latinos continuing to shift Republican, when polls show the exact opposite happening. Of course, in 2020-2021, few folks thought he would go so far as an attempted coup (I did). Who knows how far he’ll go to maintain power this time around?

    What you’re saying about …

    Last week’s question about how to handle the new prediction markets — anticipating the mess that occurred with the wagers on the start of the Iran war — and the surge in sports betting drew a tepid response. But it was pretty unanimous that sites like Polymarket and Kalshi should, at the bare minimum, be regulated under state gambling laws, and not as commodities trades — if not banned altogether. Wrote Mary Clare Gumbleton, who would ban Polymarket and Kalshi: “It’s just unregulated corruption and an incredibly awful incentive to both lose your shirt (as it were) and game the system where a handful of corrupt people can make a lot of money.”

    📮 This week’s question: There’s only one thing on everyone’s mind: That crazy war in the Middle East. Now that Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu have started it, how on earth do we end it? Please email me your answer and put the exact phrase “Iran war end” in the subject line.

    History lesson on when the Iran thing really started

    A crowd of demonstrators tear down the Iran Party’s sign from the front of its headquarters in Tehran on Aug. 19, 1953, during the CIA-backed coup that ousted Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddegh and his government. The operation cemented the rule of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi for more than 25 years before the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

    It’s been a while since the last history lesson in this space, but the poor quality of the TV punditry about the four-day-and-counting Iran war screams out for better information. A lot of the folks advocating for this war of choice in the Middle East argue that we didn’t start the fire, that the roots go all the way back to the 1979 Iranian Revolution. That’s the year when Americans who never paid much mind to foreign affairs were shocked to see huge throngs in the streets of Tehran chanting “Death to America” and taking 52 hostages at the U.S. Embassy.

    What did we do to deserve this? Well …

    For most historians, and for many Iranians, the year that matters is not so much 1979, but 1953. In a post-World War II geopolitical environment where many nations sought to break free of imperialism, Iran in 1951 democratically elected a surprisingly left-leaning prime minister, Mohammad Mosaddegh, whose main project was to nationalize the then-British-controlled oil industry. This sparked great alarm in London, where U.K. leaders spent months lobbying Washington to join them in an effort to depose Mosaddegh in a coup that would advance Western oil interests.

    It’s a messy story. The United States wavered and even flirted with backing Mosaddegh for a time, according to histories of the period, but ultimately British leaders leaned on the Eisenhower administration and America’s ongoing anti-left “Red Scare” of that era to get the relatively new CIA and its man in Tehran — Kermit Roosevelt Jr., grandson of Teddy Roosevelt — on board with the plot. The Americans threw around money and anti-Mosaddegh propaganda, and eventually organized street protests ahead of the government’s ouster.

    To be sure, there is a never-ending debate over whether the U.S. involvement was central or just a subplot to the coup that gave power to the shah of Iran, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, who ruled the nation with ruthless brutality for the next 26 years. Certainly, the nation’s Islamic clerics — powerful then, as now — played a key part in ousting a secular government. But the American role was so great that Barack Obama apologized in his 2009 Cairo speech, stating as fact that the CIA played a key role in the “overthrow of a democratically elected Iranian government.”

    Whether the U.S. led the coup or was a bit player, the Iranian people have never forgotten our involvement or our close ties to the eventually despised shah. “The rancor has never melted,” a 24-year-old Iranian woman told the Associated Press in 2023, on the 70th anniversary of the coup, as she compared the American meddling to being “like wishing for an earthquake to get rid of a bad neighbor.”

    So did a state of war between the United States and Iran start in 1979, as some GOP lawmakers insist, or in 1953, or on Feb. 28 of this year? In arguably the world’s most violent neighborhood, the cycles of violence often seem to have no beginning and no end. An imperial America chose to jump into the middle of this mess 73 years ago, and now getting out feels more impossible than ever.

    What I wrote on this date in 2016

    He’s all but forgotten now, but up until his mysterious death 10 years ago, the flamboyant Oklahoma natural gas mogul Aubrey McClendon had reshaped the Pennsylvania landscape as king of the commonwealth’s fracking boom. The company that McClendon (known to sports fans as an owner of the NBA’s Oklahoma City Thunder) cofounded, Chesapeake Energy, promised riches to Pennsylvania landowners, but left a trail of lawsuits and pollution. Less than 24 hours after his indictment by a federal grand jury, McClendon drove at full speed into a bridge embankment and was killed instantly. I wrote: “In Pennsylvania, Aubrey McClendon is survived by a legacy mostly of conflict, of thick lawsuits, of protesters facing off against armed marshals, of lawmakers and a governor at war over the taxes that gas drillers never had to pay, of brackish water and leaking methane adding to the greenhouse gases that may someday strangle the planet — of a promise of buried treasure that wasn’t really all it was cracked up to be.”

    Read the rest: “The Greek tragedy of the billionaire who fracked up Pa.”

    Recommended Inquirer reading

    • America is now at war on two fronts. In one column, I tackled the ongoing conflict in the streets of America, and looked at the tragic death on a frigid Buffalo street of the Rohingya refugee, Nurul Amin Shah Alam — a disabled and nearly blind man who was arrested by Border Patrol agents, and then dumped at a closed coffee shop five miles from his family’s home. It was a low point that spotlighted the unrelenting cruelty of a xenophobic mass deportation crusade by the Trump regime that has brought a mounting death toll. On Saturday morning, I knocked out my instant reaction to the news that the Trump regime had joined Israel in an all-out attack on Iran, which was that the war is both unconstitutional without the consent of Congress and also a clear violation of international law.
    • In moments of national and global crisis such as this, it’s easy to forget that many of the political decisions that shape people’s everyday lives occur on the local level. Here in Philadelphia, the school district’s plan to modernize its schools while closing 20 older buildings came as a shock to city parents, and The Inquirer’s coverage, anchored by our Pulitzer Prize-winning city public schools reporter, Kristen A. Graham, has been all over this story. The newsroom has explained the plan in detail, and covered the community protests and the fights over individual buildings, as well as Philly’s move away from middle schools. One advocate told me The Inquirer’s aggressive coverage of the story is why two schools have now been removed from the plan. A healthy community is one that has a vibrant news media. You nurture a better Philadelphia when you support The Inquirer by subscribing.

    By submitting your written, visual, and/or audio contributions, you agree to The Inquirer’s Terms of Use, including the grant of rights in Section 10.

  • Cristopher Sánchez among pitchers impressing Phillies; Justin Crawford to start in spring opener

    Cristopher Sánchez among pitchers impressing Phillies; Justin Crawford to start in spring opener

    CLEARWATER, Fla. — After Cristopher Sánchez finished his bullpen session on Friday, Phillies manager Rob Thomson walked off from where he’d been observing behind the mound.

    As he passed by Mark Kolozsvary, the catcher who had been behind the plate, Thomson leaned over.

    “He any good?” he joked. “Make the team?”

    Sánchez, who looked very sharp in his session, is preparing to represent the Dominican Republic at the World Baseball Classic next month. He will make at least one start in a Grapefruit League game before he joins his federation for pool play in Miami.

    Phillies roster questions going into the first spring game: Fifth starter, bullpen picture, and more

    “I just want to box him up and send him up north,” Thomson said. “He’s been great.”

    Thomson said the Phillies expect Sánchez to pitch in the Dominican Republic’s first game of the tournament, which is against Nicaragua on March 6, but they don’t know the plan after that.

    He was one of several pitchers who impressed Thomson on Friday, the final workout day before the Phillies’ Grapefruit League slate opens on Saturday with a game against the Blue Jays. Also turning some heads was prospect Alex McFarlane, a 24-year-old right-hander who was added to the Phillies’ 40-man roster in December ahead of the Rule 5 deadline.

    Phillies pitcher José Alvarado throws in the bullpen during a workout on Friday in Clearwater, Fla.

    McFarlane had been somewhat “erratic” in a previous live batting practice session on Tuesday, but showed better command Friday.

    “Fastball, heavy sink, 97 [mph] or whatever it was,” Thomson said. “Slider for strikes. That’s what you’re going to see. I think a lot of times, first time out you see hitters, [pitchers] can be a little bit erratic, but he was more in the zone today. He was really good. … Very mature kid, too.”

    Another standout was José Alvarado, who struck out Adolis García and Bryce Harper in his live batting practice session. Thomson said Alvarado looked like he did last year around this time. The lefty had a strong 2025 spring, hitting 100 mph on the radar gun with his sinker multiple times and not allowing a run in nine Grapefruit League appearances.

    Three Phillies starting pitchers are breaking their routine to compete in the WBC during spring training

    That hot start cooled off quickly, though, when Alvarado was suspended 80 games for testing positive for a performance-enhancing drug.

    “He’s in a good spot, and I think we’re behind all that stuff,” Thomson said.

    Justin Crawford will start in center field in the Phillies’ spring opener on Saturday against the Blue Jays.

    ‘Satan’s corner’

    Justin Crawford is scheduled to play center field in Saturday’s Grapefruit League opener against Toronto. He will be sharing the outfield with García in right and Otto Kemp, who will play left.

    It will be a tough first test for Kemp, who has been getting more outfield work this spring as the Phillies believe he could be a platoon for Brandon Marsh. Rob Thomson has nicknamed the left field in TD Ballpark, the Blue Jays’ spring training home in Dunedin, ‘Satan’s Corner,’ because it is a particularly difficult place to play.

    Phillies coach’s infield drills take an unconventional approach to practice a basic skill: Watching the ball

    “The wind swirls down there. The sun, it seems like every time we go over there, there’s not a cloud in the sky,” Thomson said. “I’ve seen a lot of mistakes out there.”

    The biggest thing Thomson is looking for from Crawford this spring is to take the lead in the outfield as the center fielder.

    “Reads and routes, and taking charge,” Thomson said. “Florida for an outfielder, it’s brutal in spring training. High sky, wind, sun. I’ve seen gold glovers make a lot of mistakes out there. But that’s really what I’m looking for is just proper reads and routes and taking charge.”

    Extra bases

    Harper homered off Tanner Banks in a live batting practice session Friday. … Bryse Wilson is scheduled to start for the Phillies on Saturday against the Blue Jays (1:07 p.m., NBC Sports Philadelphia and 94.1 WIP).

  • Three Phillies starters are breaking their routine to pitch in the WBC during spring training

    Three Phillies starters are breaking their routine to pitch in the WBC during spring training

    CLEARWATER, Fla. — Most pitchers are creatures of habit and rely heavily on their routines. But every four years, some of those routines change for major league pitchers participating in the World Baseball Classic.

    The Phillies will send three members of their expected 2026 starting rotation to the tournament that starts on March 5: Cristopher Sánchez (Dominican Republic), Taijuan Walker (Mexico), and Aaron Nola (Italy).

    Next month, instead of the relaxed atmosphere of Grapefruit League games, they could be pitching in situations with higher stakes.

    Phillies coach’s infield drills take an unconventional approach to practice a basic skill: Watching the ball

    “It’s just a different feeling,” said Walker, who also pitched for Mexico in 2023. “The pride for you playing for your country, and the crowd is just different. The atmosphere is different because you get both crowds, both countries’ fans, and they got the instruments going. It’s loud. They never sit down. It’s just constantly going.”

    Mexico finished third in 2023 after being eliminated in the semifinals by Japan, which later defeated the U.S. in the championship game.

    Walker said he didn’t adjust his offseason training too much in preparation for the WBC. He completed the same weighted ball program that helped him add a tick to his fastball last offseason.

    Phillies pitcher Taijuan Walker (center) will pitch for Mexico in the WBC. He also helped Mexico to a third place finish in 2023.

    The WBC’s limits on pitch counts for each round allow him to continue to ramp up at a fairly normal pace. Pitchers are limited to 65 pitches in the first round, 80 in the quarterfinal, and 95 in the championship rounds, though they can exceed that to finish a plate appearance.

    “You’re already maybe two or three spring training games into it when WBC games start,” Walker said. “The only [different] thing is intensity-wise.”

    The high-stakes atmosphere of WBC games can make it difficult for pitchers to experiment in ways they might in a typical spring training, such as through introducing a new pitch. In bullpen sessions so far in camp, Walker has been working on his slider. But when he pitches for Mexico, he’ll be relying more on his best weapons, his splitter and cutter.

    The Phillies’ Trea Turner was still the fastest man in the league at 32. And it’s not due just to ‘genetics.’

    “If I’m working on a slider, I get to go throw 20 sliders and work on it. WBC games, we got to get outs,” he said.

    Mexico and Italy are in Pool B, alongside the U.S., Great Britain, and Brazil. Their round-robin games will take place in Houston. The Dominican Republic is in Pool D with Venezuela, Netherlands, Israel, and Nicaragua, and will play in Miami.

    Nola will be pitching in his first WBC next month, representing the country his great-grandparents are from. He started his offseason work in mid-November, about a month earlier than normal for him, to ease into his training.

    “Just to kind of get the arm moving,” Nola said. “I know how fast spring training games come when you get here, we don’t have as much time as we used to, so it’s actually been kind of nice to kind of be a little bit more ready, bodywise over here.”

    Nola also did long toss, which is not typically part of his offseason regimen.

    He said he likely would have done that anyway, even if he wasn’t already committed to Italy. Nola was limited to 94⅓ innings in 2025 due to an ankle sprain and rib fracture, the fewest innings he’s thrown since the COVID-19 shortened 2020 season.

    He decided toward the end of last season that he would commit to Italy, hoping to play with his brother. Nola pitched against Austin, a former professional catcher, who was with the Padres during the 2022 National League Championship Series against the Phillies.

    Phillies pitcher Aaron Nola will represent Italy for the first time in the WBC.

    Although Austin had to withdraw after accepting a role as bullpen coach for the Mariners, Aaron still wanted to play. He has never been to Italy, but is looking forward to teaming up with former Phillie Michael Lorenzen and current prospect Dante Nori, as well as the other new faces who play in the Italian Baseball League.

    “I wanted to experience it before I was done with baseball,” he said. “And every guy in here that has played in the past has loved it, said it’s a great experience. It’s gonna be fun to represent for Italy.”

    Of course, injuries are always a concern for any player. But the Phillies are optimistic that participating in the Classic could give Nola a head start on what they hope is a bounceback season.

    “Nola, I think, is going to benefit from playing the WBC, just to get the blood flowing a little bit earlier,” said manager Rob Thomson. “Nola’s always going to be ready; always going to work. But I think getting some competition is going to help him.”

    Murphy: What Bryce Harper said, what he couldn’t say, and how it reflects on Dave Dombrowski

    Extra bases

    The Phillies unveiled a new video board at Baycare Ballpark on Thursday. Its display of 3,200 square feet makes it the largest at any spring training ballpark. … Zack Wheeler (thoracic outlet decompression surgery) is scheduled to throw out to a distance of 120 feet again on Friday and will start spinning the ball. “We don’t have a date for bullpen yet, but he’s doing very well,” Thomson said.

  • Phillies are well-represented across the World Baseball Classic team pool

    Phillies are well-represented across the World Baseball Classic team pool

    All 20 rosters for the World Baseball Classic were announced on Thursday night, and the Phillies are well-represented.

    Bryce Harper and Kyle Schwarber will play for the United States under manager and Penn alum Mark DeRosa, joined by Brad Keller in the bullpen.

    Schwarber represented the U.S. at the 2023 World Baseball Classic, helping the team win a silver medal. Harper had plans to play for the 2023 team as well, but withdrew after undergoing elbow surgery the previous winter.

    “[Schwarber] was the chemistry guy for me, last time,” DeRosa said in December.

    Spring training preview: Outlook for Aidan Miller, level of concern for Bryce Harper, and more from Reddit AMA

    Cristopher Sánchez will join the Dominican Republic’s rotation, with outfielder Johan Rojas also named to the team.

    The Phillies’ other participants include José Alvarado (Venezuela); Taijuan Walker (Mexico); Garrett Stubbs and Max Lazar (Israel); Edmundo Sosa (Panama); and Aaron Nola (Italy).

    Several Phillies prospects were also named to rosters. Outfielder Dante Nori, the Phillies’ 2024 first-round selection and No. 6 prospect, will join Nola on Team Italy.

    Pitching prospect Jaydenn Estanista will play for the Netherlands. Estanista had a 4.84 ERA in 44⅔ innings last season between high-A Jersey Shore and double-A Reading. Mitch Neunborn, who pitched for Reading and triple-A Lehigh Valley last year, will represent Australia.

    Phillies prospect Dante Nori will represent Italy in the WBC.

    Gabriel Barbosa was named to Brazil’s roster. Barbosa had a 3.62 ERA across three levels in the Phillies’ system in 2025, finishing the season in double A.

    The Phillies will play an exhibition game against Team Canada in Clearwater, Fla. on March 4 before WBC pool play takes place March 5-10 in Tokyo, San Juan, Miami, and Houston.

    The quarterfinals will be held on March 13 in Miami and Houston, while the semifinals and finals are March 15-17 in Miami.