Hey, it's Zack.
Before I get into All-Star Week I want to highlight the players who owned the month of June. Two hitters. Two pitchers. Every one of them had a month worth remembering.
JUNE PERFORMERS
Junior Caminero | Tampa Bay Rays | 3B
.327 average. 10 home runs. 24 RBI. AL Player of the Month. He closed out June homering in six consecutive games becoming the youngest player in MLB history to do so surpassing Ken Griffey Jr. At 22 years old he is firmly in the AL MVP conversation. He is also starting at third base tonight in Philadelphia.
Pete Crow-Armstrong | Chicago Cubs | OF
.381 average. 11 home runs. 20 RBI. 8 stolen bases. NL Player of the Month. OptaSTATS found that his June puts him in company with only two other players in baseball history to have a month like it. Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig. The NL MVP race just got more interesting.
Drew Rasmussen | Tampa Bay Rays | SP
0.82 ERA. 39 strikeouts in 33 innings. AL Pitcher of the Month. Quietly one of the best pitchers in the American League all season. June was his best month yet.
Logan Webb | San Francisco Giants | SP
0.71 ERA. 29 strikeouts in 38 innings. NL Pitcher of the Month for the first time in his career. On a team falling apart around him Webb has been the one constant. That deserves recognition.
Now let's talk about All-Star Week.
The All-Star Game is tonight at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia. The Home Run Derby was last night on Netflix, with the Cardinals’ Jordan Walker taking home the trophy and $1 million. Pretty good night for him. The draft was this weekend. It has been a busy week for baseball.
I have been to All-Star Week twice. 2015 and 2016 with the Orioles. Here is what it actually looks like from the inside.
THE ENTRANCE
Let me start with what most people do not think about when they watch All-Star Week.
The selection itself.
You usually find out a week before, sometimes just a few days. The call comes and everything shifts immediately. You call your wife first, then your parents, and then it spreads from there. Within hours everyone knows and everyone is scrambling to figure out flights, hotels and tickets. Family members who have never been to an All-Star Game are suddenly trying to get there. It is organized chaos in the best way. Getting that call is one of the best moments of your career.
But for every player who gets it there is one who does not. And sometimes that player has the numbers to back it up.
In 2014 I was not selected. I had a 1.30 ERA and 15 saves through the All-Star break in my first full season as a closer. By any measure those are All-Star numbers. But I was new to the position and had not yet established myself as a name people thought of when they talked about elite closers in the American League. The numbers were there but the reputation was not. That is how it works early in your career and it pushed me to make sure it did not happen again.
In 2015 the call finally came.
THE DELIVERY
Here is what All-Star Week actually looks like from the inside.
It is a whirlwind from the moment you arrive. The schedule is packed with events, appearances, media obligations and red carpets. You are moving constantly.
Then there is the gear. Every major sponsor comes through with something. Custom cleats, a custom glove, custom bats and a bag full of items you cannot buy anywhere else. Every piece has the All-Star logo on it and is specific to that year and that city. You look at it and think this is going on a shelf for the rest of my life. It is unlike anything you receive during the regular season.
What surprised me the first time was how much I enjoyed being around the other players. You spend an entire season trying to get these guys out and All-Star Week puts you on the same side in the same locker room. You get to actually talk to people you have only ever faced as opponents. The conversations with coaches and managers from other teams are completely different when nobody is trying to beat each other. I took things from those conversations back into the second half of the season.
The Home Run Derby is its own experience. Both times I was there I had a teammate in it. Manny Machado in 2015 in Cincinnati and Mark Trumbo in 2016 in San Diego where Trumbo was the number one seed and Giancarlo Stanton won with a then-record 61 total home runs across three rounds. Both times my son was on the field with me. Watching him take it all in is one of my favorite memories from those weeks. Last night I watched it with him on the couch instead of on the field. That never gets old.
The game itself goes by faster than you think. You are in a different uniform warming up next to pitchers you have never thrown alongside and everything feels slightly unfamiliar. Then your name gets called and you walk out of a bullpen in a stadium you have only visited as an opponent and suddenly you are pitching in the All-Star Game.
I closed out the 2016 All-Star Game in San Diego. The inning was over before I had time to process where I was or what I had just done. That is the thing about big moments in baseball. You are so locked in that you do not fully feel them until later. I was also the first Orioles pitcher to save an All-Star Game since Don Aase in 1986. Thirty years between us. Honestly I did not fully appreciate what that meant until I got back to my teammates after the break and they brought it up. Sometimes it takes someone else pointing it out for you to realize what you just did.
THE SAVE
Think about what you are watching tonight.
Every player on that field earned their way there. Cristopher Sanchez is starting for the NL after one of the best first halves any pitcher has had in years. Junior Caminero is at third base at 22 years old. Bobby Witt Jr. is at shortstop. These are players having the kind of seasons that define careers.
But there is also a player who did not make it and knows he should have. Zack Wheeler has not hidden his frustration about being left off this roster. He has been one of the best pitchers in baseball for years and this season is no different. He is in Philadelphia this week but not as an All-Star.
That is how it works sometimes. Roster spots are limited and it does not always come down to numbers. Every player who has been left off knows that feeling regardless of where they are in their career.
I was lucky enough to go twice. Enjoy the game tonight. It goes faster than you think.
Talk soon, Z
The Save is a personal newsletter based on my own experiences, opinions, and recollections. The opinions expressed here are mine alone and do not represent any team, organization, union or employer past or present. When discussing players, contracts or organizational decisions I am sharing my perspective as a former player — not making legal or financial claims. When I share stories involving others I am telling them from my point of view. When I share tips or lessons I am sharing what worked for me. Always do your own research and consult professionals when making important decisions.
You Don't Have to Guess When, Only Which Way
That's a perp. No expiry, no rollover fees, no options complexity. Just a straight trade on direction, held as long as you want it. $90T trades on this market offshore every year. Kalshi just made it the first legal, CFTC-regulated version in the US.
Using leverage increases risk of loss. Leverage is subject to the Firm's review and the customer's risk profile.