Cristopher Sánchez will get the ball for the National League in the 96th All-Star Game, with the hometown Phillies left-hander taking the mound at Citizens Bank Park. On the American League side, Toronto’s Dylan Cease is set to start, becoming the first Blue Jay to do it since Roy Halladay in 2009.
That Halladay connection pops up again on the NL side, too. The last Phillies pitcher to start the All-Star Game was also Roy Halladay, back in 2011.
This year’s game is being played in Philadelphia for the first time, with Citizens Bank Park hosting its first Midsummer Classic. The city’s last All-Star Game came exactly thirty years ago at Veterans Stadium. No Diamondbacks were part of that game, though future player Roberto Alomar was.
The AL enters with the edge in the all-time series, holding a 48-45-2 record and a 388-380 run advantage. The leagues have split the last four meetings, including 2025, when the NL won the first-ever swing-off tiebreaker after coughing up a 6-0 lead.
With Citizens Bank Park now checked off, the list of current ballparks that have never hosted an All-Star Game is down to three: new Yankee Stadium, Tropicana Field and Sutter Health Park. The last of those, home of the [THIS SPACE FOR RENT] Athletics, is an obvious outlier for now.
Yankee Stadium’s omission is less surprising given that the old park hosted the game in 2008, but the lack of one for the Rays still stands out, especially with Arizona having landed one fifteen years ago. The hope is for Tampa Bay to get a new park by 2029, though that remains doubtful.
There’s also a little Diamondbacks angle to watch. Corbin Carroll and Eduardo Rodriguez are on the NL roster, and it will be worth seeing when either one gets into the game.
Rodriguez, in particular, is finally making his All-Star debut in his 11th season. Babe Ruth holds the record for the longest wait before an All-Star appearance, but that came in his 20th season, when there wasn’t an All-Star Game for the first nineteen years.
If you exclude that era, only three players have had a longer wait than Rodriguez’s 11 seasons, with Raul Ibanez leading the group after being selected in his 14th season in 2009.
In Other News...
Diamondbacks Enter A Defining Stretch With Deadline Pressure Rising
With the trade deadline closing in, the Diamondbacks are stuck in the kind of in-between spot front offices dread. Mike Hazen has made it clear Arizona is hovering around .500 and still trying to figure out whether this team should lean into the race or start thinking more about the future, which makes the next few weeks feel especially important for a club with real postseason ambitions and obvious flaws to address.
First base stands out as the most obvious place to upgrade if Arizona decides to buy, and the current mix there has not given the lineup much stability. The bigger question is whether the Diamondbacks can get enough healthy pitching back to justify pushing forward, because the second half is already carrying some uncertainty and the deadline could force Hazen to choose between adding help, moving pieces, or doing a little of both. [Read more 🡒]
Corbin Carroll And Eduardo Rodriguez Put The Diamondbacks On Center Stage
Corbin Carroll and Eduardo Rodriguez will give the Diamondbacks a rare national spotlight at the All-Star Game, with both players representing a club that has spent the season trying to reinforce its place among the games better teams. For Carroll, the stage offers a chance to see how his swing holds up against elite pitching and maybe carry some confidence back into the second half, while Rodriguez gets the kind of showcase every pitcher wants, with top hitters waiting on the other side.
The real intrigue for Arizona is not just that two of its key players made the trip, but how they are used once the game starts to unfold. Carrolls at-bats will be watched for signs of rhythm and momentum, and Rodriguezs outing will draw attention based on when he enters and what kind of traffic, if any, he has to navigate. For a franchise still trying to turn progress into something more lasting, even a midsummer exhibition can feel like a small statement. [Read more 🡒]
Mike Hazens First Round Record Looks Better Than Some Fans Think
Mike Hazens first-round track record in Arizona looks a little different when it is measured beyond the usual instant-gratification debate. Since he took over as general manager, most of the clubs first-rounders have reached the majors in short order, and the overall group has been close enough to the industry norm that the picture is not nearly as bleak as some fans might assume. The bigger question is not just who got there, but who has actually moved the needle once they arrived.
Corbin Carroll has already separated himself from the rest of the class, while Drey Jameson and Bryce Jarvis are the only other Hazen first-rounders who have produced positive value so far. Even so, there is still some unfinished business in the group, with Ryan Waldschmidt, Jordan Lawlar and Tommy Troy all carrying the kind of remaining upside that could change the final accounting if they turn into real contributors. [Read more 🡒]