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Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Fernando Tatis Jr., Shohei Ohtani lead way for All-Star Game starters

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Shohei Ohtani, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Fernando Tatis Jr. are heading to their first All-Star Game — as starters.

The three headline stars of 2021 dominated the second phase of fan voting at their respective positions to earn starting spots for the 91st All-Star Game scheduled for July 13 at Coors Field in Denver. Guerrero and Tatis were the leading vote-getters in each league, while Ohtani finished with the second-highest percentage in the American League.

Ohtani, voted in as the AL’s designated hitter, has thrilled fans all season with his two-way performance, long home runs and electrifying speed on the bases. He leads the majors with 28 home runs, including an MLB-leading 12 of 425 feet or more. He’s hitting .277, leads the majors with 49 extra-base hits and ranks third in the majors with 63 RBIs. Ohtani is also tied for the AL lead with four triples and has stolen 11 bases.

While Ohtani had a disastrous start pitching Wednesday night at Yankee Stadium when he failed to finish the first inning, he is still 3-1 with a 3.60 ERA, 83 strikeouts and a .194 batting average allowed over 60 innings. Not since Babe Ruth in 1919, and briefly with Ohtani in 2018 before he underwent Tommy John surgery, has the sport seen such a dominant two-way player.

“He’s a joy for this,” Angels manager Joe Maddon said after Ohtani hit two home runs on Tuesday. “He’s what baseball needs as both a player and as an example.”

Ohtani was on fire at the plate in June, hitting .309 with 13 home runs, including 11 homers in 13 games from June 15 to June 29.

“He’s a generational talent, that’s for sure,” said fellow All-Star starter Aaron Judge of the Yankees.

Ohtani has also committed to participate in the Home Run Derby on July 12, with Pete Alonso of the Mets defending his title.

The runner-up in the Home Run Derby as a rookie in 2019, Guerrero makes his first All-Star team after securing 75% of the vote among the three AL finalists at first base. The 22-year-old is in pursuit of a Triple Crown, leading the AL with 66 RBIs, ranking second to Ohtani with 26 home runs and trailing Michael Brantley in batting average, .340 to .336.

He gets to his first All-Star Game two years before his Hall of Fame father, as Vladimir Guerrero Sr. made the first of his nine All-Star appearances at age 24.

Tatis has had a roller coaster of a season, missing nine games early on after partially dislocating his shoulder on a swing on April 5, hitting .163 through his first 12 games and then later missing another 10 days after testing positive for COVID-19. When he has played, however, he has crushed the ball, leading the National League with 26 home runs in just 63 games while hitting .300/.387/.705 for an MLB-leading 1.092 OPS.

Tatis beat out Javier Baez of the Cubs and Brandon Crawford of the Giants at shortstop with 64% of the vote, matching Guerrero as a first-time All-Star at 22.

After an initial round of fan voting, the top three at each position entered the second phase. Ohtani beat out J.D. Martinez and Yordan Alvarez at designated hitter with 64% of the vote, while Guerrero outdistanced Yuli Gurriel and Jose Abreu with 75%.

The other starters:

AMERICAN LEAGUE

C: Salvador Perez, Royals (seventh All-Star Game). He earns his sixth starting assignment.

2B: Marcus Semien, Blue Jays (first). With 20 home runs, he beat out Jose Altuve.

3B: Rafael Devers, Red Sox (first). He’s hitting .288 with 20 home runs and an MLB-leading 69 RBIs.

SS: Xander Bogaerts, Red Sox (third). He edged out Bo Bichette and Carlos Correa to receive his second All-Star start.

OF: Mike Trout, Angels (ninth). He’s out until after the All-Star break with a calf injury and will be replaced in the starting lineup.

OF: Aaron Judge, Yankees (third). He also started in 2017 and 2018.

OF: Teoscar Hernandez, Blue Jays (first). He barely edged out the injured Byron Buxton for the third spot.

NATIONAL LEAGUE

C: Buster Posey, Giants (seventh). After sitting out 2020, Posey is hitting .330 with 12 home runs and will start for the first time since 2017.

1B: Freddie Freeman, Braves (fifth). The 2020 NL MVP has been heating up of late and beat out Max Muncy and Anthony Rizzo.

2B: Adam Frazier, Pirates (first). Frazier entered Thursday hitting .327 and becomes the first Pirates player voted in as a starter since Andrew McCutchen in 2015 (Josh Bell started at DH in 2019).

3B: Nolan Arenado, Cardinals (sixth). The eight-time Gold Glover will make his fourth straight start at third base for the NL, although with a new team this time.

OF: Ronald Acuna Jr., Braves (second). The 23-year-old leads the NL in runs while ranking among the league leaders in home runs and steals.

OF: Nick Castellanos, Reds (1st). He began Thursday leading the majors in batting average (.346), hits (102) and doubles (27).

OF: Jesse Winker, Reds (1st). Winker and Castellanos will become the first Reds outfielders to start an All-Star Game since Ken Griffey Jr. in 2007. Winker edged out Mookie Betts for the third spot.

The rest of the All-Star rosters, chosen through a combination of player voting and commissioner’s office selections, will be announced on July 4 at 5:30 ET on ESPN.

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Aroldis Chapman implodes as Yankees lose crusher to Angels

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Shohei Ohtani spotted the Yankees seven runs before the first inning ended Wednesday night.

Eight innings, two rain delays and some five hours later, Aroldis Chapman and Lucas Luetge returned the favor to place the dagger and twist it in a downright brutal loss.

After Chapman walked the bases loaded and allowed a game-tying grand slam, Luetge relieved him and gave up three more runs to send the Yankees to an 11-8 loss to the Angels.

“Terrible loss,” manager Aaron Boone said.

“It’s about as bad as it gets right there,” added Giancarlo Stanton. “We gotta pick this s–t up. That’s it.”

The Yankees (41-39) had led 7-2 after the first inning and entered the ninth with an 8-4 lead. It served as the latest stunner in their inconsistent season, which has packed plenty of drama into their four-game set against the Angels (39-41) before it wraps up Thursday. On Monday, Boone opened the series by saying the Yankees’ “season is on the line” before a fourth straight loss. Tuesday, general manager Brian Cashman said the Yankees “suck right now,” before they exploded for an 11-5 win.

A frustrated Aroldis Chapman looks up to the sky after giving up a game-tying grand slam in the ninth inning in the Yankees’ crushing 11-8 loss to the Angels.
AP

Wednesday, Chapman was booed off the mound by the remaining fans at Yankee Stadium after giving up the grand slam to Jared Walsh on a slider. It marked the second time he had coughed up a lead in as many appearances — this one dropping the Yankees to 8 ½ games back of first place in the AL East.

“The big problem is the control of my fastball,” said Chapman, who was pitching for the first time since blowing a save against the Royals a week ago. “[I] got to find myself again with that pitch and come back and return to be Chapman that started the season.”

Luetge relieved him and issued a walk and a single before pinch-hitter Luis Rengifo came through with a two-run, two-out single to put the Angels ahead 10-8. Taylor Ward added an RBI double as the Angels batted around, leading to the crowd mustering a “Fire Boone” chant before the inning mercifully ended.

“Talk is cheap right now,” Boone said. “We need to go out and play full games and start hammering some people.”

Stanton agreed that the time for talks has already passed.

“At the end of the day, [if] we don’t turn up ‘W’s,’ you can talk f–king until you’re blue in the face,” Stanton said.

Long before disaster struck, the Yankees had discovered the best way to contain Ohtani the hitter: quickly knock out Shohei Ohtani the pitcher.

After the Angels two-way star had crushed three homers in the first two games of the series, he took the mound Wednesday and gave up a career-high seven runs and recorded just two outs. The Angels’ leadoff hitter threw 41 pitches and walked four batters as his highly anticipated Yankee Stadium pitching debut ended in a fizzle.

Domingo German was hardly sharp himself, giving up three runs in three innings, though he left with a 7-3 lead.

The game featured a pair of rain delays — the first lasting 42 minutes in the bottom of the third and the second taking 91 minutes after the top of the fifth — with thunderstorms rolling through The Bronx.

After the lengthy second delay, which the Yankees entered with a 7-4 lead, Darren O’Day and Jonathan Loaisiga (two) combined for three perfect innings to protect the lead. Brett Gardner padded it in the eighth with a solo home run to make it 8-4 before the ninth inning from hell — a harsh reward for the crowd that stuck around to see it all fall apart.

“Feel terrible for them,” Boone said. “They deserve better than this, especially staying late. We’re past one in the morning, whatever we are, hanging in there to want to see us finish that off. Obviously we certainly share in their frustration.”

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Shohei Ohtani’s dominance painful reminder for Yankees

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You can let your imagination run wild every which way when it comes to Shohei Ohtani and his alternate life as a Yankee.

Did you see him go deep twice more Tuesday night against Jameson Taillon at Yankee Stadium, giving him three homers in two games here, only for the Yankees to prevail, 11-5, ending their losing streak at four? Man, does he make it look easy, flicking balls over the Yankees’ inviting right-field wall. Would he make a run at Roger Maris’ American League and franchise record of 61 in pinstripes?

Then again, Ohtani’s path to his current status as AL Most Valuable Player favorite has not been linear, not unlike how many of the Yankees’ youngsters have swayed to and fro in their development. How would this demanding fan base have stomached Ohtani’s brutal 2020 (.190/.291/.366 slash line and 37.80 ERA), and how would Ohtani have stomached the resulting agita?

If nothing else, an Ohtani-Yankees union, even if it never attained this sort of peak in pinstripes, would’ve kept Giancarlo Stanton’s contract out of The Bronx, reason enough for the Steinbrenners to regard this swing and miss with great regret.

Ohtani now leads the major leagues with 28 homers, and in his penultimate at-bat Tuesday, he sent Brett Gardner to the center-field warning track, at 388 feet considerably deeper than his first homer (356), for a long seventh-inning fly out; he grounded out to first to end the game, Luke Voit barely beating the speedster to the bag. He is a marvel offensively, a bundle of athleticism and excitement, and oh by the way, he’ll start on the mound — and hit — for the Angels on Wednesday night.

Shohei Ohtani belts the second of his two homers in the Yankees’ 11-5 win over the Angels.
Bill Kostroun

“To see what he’s doing this year, especially the last two nights, is pretty impressive,” said Aaron Judge, who knocked a two-run homer for the Yankees. “It feels like any pitch that’s over the plate, it’s going to get hit and it’s going to get hit hard. … He’s a generational talent, that’s for sure. We’re excited to see him on the mound [Wednesday].”

“He is what baseball needs, both as a player and as an example,” Angels manager Joe Maddon said. “He’s all about the moment. He’s prepared, he’s ingratiating. … I enjoy watching him enjoy playing baseball.”

He also, through no fault of his own, is a key figure in Yankees history.

Remember the positive vibes percolating through Yankees Universe following the 2017 season? Sure, they had fallen short to the Astros, lasting seven games in the AL Championship Series, but their future shined so bright, so many young, talented players driving the club’s return to the playoffs. And with word that Ohtani would leave his native Japan to put himself up for bidding, the Yankees loomed as the perceived favorite due to their immense popularity in the Far East.

However, shortly after the Yankees sent their recruitment materials to Ohtani’s agency, they received word that they didn’t so much as make the first cut, a huge disappointment. Did that disappointment fuel them toward pursuing another star in Stanton, albeit one costing more than 10 times as much as Ohtani?

Think of how DJ LeMahieu’s hitting approach, heavy on contact, balanced the Yankees’ offense when he arrived on the scene in 2019. Now envision Ohtani — lefty, fast and a pitcher to boot — and the sort of balance he’d provide, all the more so with the Yankees able to diversify their commitment to Stanton.

“It seems like he’s gone to another level,” Aaron Boone said of Ohtani. “There’s a little bit of fear when he walks up there.”

Instead, the Yankees (41-38) find themselves adrift, occupying fourth place in the AL East, their general manager saying Tuesday afternoon, “We suck right now,” the entire Baby Bombers era teetering before they so much as reached a World Series.

Maybe that still would be the case given Ohtani’s circuitous journey to greatness and New York’s hard edge. Definitely, though, the Yankees’ future now would be brighter.

Too upsetting to imagine? Forget I said anything.

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Shohei Ohtani throws fastest pitch by starting pitcher this season, crushes hardest-hit home run

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ANAHEIM, Calif. — Shohei Ohtani threw a baseball 101 mph in the top of the first, then hit a baseball 115 mph a half-inning later, a stirring start to a historic Sunday night for the Los Angeles Angels’ two-way sensation.

Ohtani, pitching and hitting in the same game for the first time in his career, retired three of the first four Chicago White Sox batters he faced in the top half of the first inning, throwing three pitches in the triple digits — including a 101 mph fastball to Adam Eaton, which was followed by a nasty splitter in the dirt to record a strikeout.

In the bottom half, Ohtani turned on the first pitch he saw from White Sox right-hander Dylan Cease — a chest-high, 97 mph fastball — and launched it 451 feet to right field, giving himself some early run support.

Ohtani’s pitch to Eaton (officially 100.6 mph) was the fastest-thrown pitch of any starting pitcher this season, and his home run (with an exit velocity of 115.2 mph) was the hardest-hit homer of the season by any player.

Ohtani, who underwent Tommy John surgery following his rookie season, had accumulated only 53⅓ innings as a pitcher since his major league debut in 2018. But Angels manager Joe Maddon has committed to him as a two-way player in 2021 and has lifted a lot of the restrictions that were previously put in place, which kept him from being in the lineup the day before, the day after and the day of his starts.

On Sunday, he became the first starting pitcher to bat second in a game since Jack Dunleavy in 1903.

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Shohei Ohtani delivers on mound in spring debut for Los Angeles Angels

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MESA, Ariz. — Shohei Ohtani featured an upper-90s fastball and a wipeout splitter in his spring pitching debut Friday, a 41-pitch outing that seemed to validate the Los Angeles Angels’ hopes that he can contribute as a two-way player this season.

Ohtani, pitching two days after unleashing a 486-foot home run to straightaway center field, struck out five of the 10 Oakland Athletics batters he faced, the last three on splitters that dropped well below the strike zone.

The right-hander issued two walks, gave up three hits — two of which went for extra bases — and was removed with two outs in the second inning because the Angels had set a 40-pitch limit. But Ohtani was around the strike zone far more frequently than during his short pitching stint last summer, and he displayed a cleaner, more repeatable delivery, which Angels manager Joe Maddon said he was hoping to see.

“The big thing for him — the success is gonna be repetition of delivery and knowing where his fastball is going consistently,” Maddon said postgame. “If that occurs, he’s really gonna take off.”

Ohtani, 26, has acted as a two-way player for only two months over the past three years, in April and May of his 2018 rookie season, before having Tommy John surgery. He spent the rest of the 2018 season and all of 2019 serving as the Angels’ primary designated hitter, then struggled in his return to two-way action during the COVID-19-shortened 2020 season. Ohtani made only two rough starts before straining the flexor-pronator mass near his surgically repaired elbow, limiting him to hitting only.

After the season — he batted .190 and had a 37.80 ERA — Ohtani underwent an aggressive offseason regimen in which he got into more game-like situations as a hitter and pitcher, revamped his diet and workout regimen and sought advice from third parties, including, sources said, experts at the renowned baseball facility Driveline. Ohtani’s progress showed during the workout portion of spring training and is now manifesting itself in game settings.

Ohtani, speaking through his interpreter, said he mistakenly started “cutting” some of his pitches while overthrowing with runners in scoring position, but he was pleased with his splitter as an out pitch and he believes his velocity will continue to rise as the season progresses.

Maddon has said he wants to ease some of the restrictions, such as when Ohtani’s turn comes as part of a six-man rotation rather than on a certain day each week. Maddon also is open to the possibility of putting him in the lineup the day after his start, which hadn’t been the case.

“The big thing was to put him in charge of his own career and not try to dictate so much to him, permit his athleticism to take over and not be so concerned about getting hurt,” Maddon said of the reasoning behind more aggressive usage. “He’s done this in the past, he should know himself better than we do, and we did not want to create these limitations or set guidelines that we didn’t know if they would work or not.”

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Los Angeles Angels get Dexter Fowler in trade with St. Louis Cardinals

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ANAHEIM, Calif. — The Los Angeles Angels acquired veteran outfielder Dexter Fowler from the St. Louis Cardinals on Thursday night for cash or a player to be named later.

Fowler batted .233 with four homers and 15 RBIs in 23 games last season, his fourth with St. Louis. The switch-hitting former Rockies and Cubs slugger is a career .259 hitter with 127 homers and 561 RBIs.

Fowler, who turns 35 next month, can play all three outfield positions. Although Fowler’s production has declined in recent years, the Angels see the veteran as an important leader for their clubhouse and a short-term solution in right field so they can give more minor league development time to Jo Adell and Brandon Marsh.

“He’s an outstanding human being, and he’s a high-energy player,” Angels general manager Perry Minasian said. “Over a 162-game season, energy is important, and this guy brings that smile, that energy on a daily basis. And we still think he can play. We think there’s a lot left in the tank. The homework we’ve done, he’s put in a ton of work this offseason. For him to waive his no-trade clause … it’s an honor.”

Fowler also is costing the Angels only $1.75 million in salary.

He is headed into his 13th full big league season in the final year of a five-year, $82 million contract. He has a $14.5 million salary in 2021, and St. Louis remains responsible for the two final $1 million installments of his $10 million signing bonus, due July 1 and Oct. 1.

As part of the trade, the Cardinals agreed to pay the Angels $12.75 million in 12 installments of $1,062,500 on the 15th and final day of each month from April through September.

Fowler’s switch-hitting abilities will provide a counterpart to right-handed hitting Angels outfielders Mike Trout, Justin Upton and Adell. Taylor Ward also is expected to compete for a roster spot in the Halos’ outfield in spring training.

The 21-year-old Adell, the Halos’ top prospect, struggled in his major league debut last season as their everyday right fielder, batting .161 with a .478 OPS over 38 games. Fowler’s presence will allow Adell’s development to proceed more deliberately in 2021.

“We like (Fowler) in right field, and we feel like offensively he’s going to bring a lot to the lineup,” Minasian said. “We feel really good about Jo. We think Jo is going to have an outstanding career, and we feel like at some point this year, he’s going to impact this club.”

Fowler earned his only All-Star selection and his only World Series ring in 2016 with Chicago under current Angels manager Joe Maddon.

Fowler is the third veteran who played under Maddon at a previous stop to join the Angels in this offseason, along with former Cubs starter Jose Quintana and former Rays starter Alex Cobb. Minasian and Maddon only began working together three months ago, but the rookie GM says their philosophies are already quite similar.

“We want a certain type of player, and I think Joe and I are really aligned in this,” Minasian said. “We want a certain type of makeup, a certain mentality, and him putting his stamp on those players make them more desirable.”

Fowler has spent just one season of his career in the American League, playing for Houston in 2014.

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Los Angeles Angels acquire veteran pitcher Alex Cobb from Baltimore Orioles

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The Los Angeles Angels announced their acquisition of veteran right-hander Alex Cobb from the Baltimore Orioles on Tuesday night in a deal that might solidify the team’s starting-pitching depth for 2021.

The Angels will part with young utility player Jahmai Jones as part of the deal. They will pay only a third of the $15 million owed to Cobb in 2021, some of which is deferred, according to The Athletic.

Cobb, 33, established himself early on with the Tampa Bay Rays, going 32-21 with a 3.19 ERA in 446 innings in his mid-20s from 2012 to 2014, then spent most of the next two years recovering from Tommy John surgery. He compiled 331⅔ innings and a 4.23 ERA from 2017 to 2018 and was named the Orioles’ Opening Day starter to begin 2019, but he was limited to only three starts that year and underwent hip surgery.

Cobb remained healthy for most of the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, posting a 4.30 ERA with 38 strikeouts and 18 walks in 52⅓ innings. He joins an Angels rotation that is also expected to include Andrew Heaney, Jose Quintana, Dylan Bundy, Griffin Canning and Shohei Ohtani, who will return to a two-way role.

All of the players acquired by first-year general manager Perry Minasian — Cobb, Quintana, shortstop Jose Iglesias, closer Raisel Iglesias, catcher Kurt Suzuki and lefty reliever Alex Claudio — will be free agents at season’s end.

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Andrelton Simmons says depression, thoughts of suicide led to decision to opt out last week of Los Angeles Angels’ season

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Shortstop Andrelton Simmons says that depression and thoughts of suicide led to his decision to opt out during the last week of the Los Angeles Angels’ 2020 regular season, telling the Orange County Register that “the idea of finishing the season in a bubble was too much for me to handle.”

Simmons, who recently finalized a one-year, $10.5 million contract with the Minnesota Twins, chose to share his story in writing, through a series of Twitter direct messages, instead of verbally, because “it is still difficult to articulate certain things or be open.”

The Angels announced on Sept. 22 that Simmons had opted out of the final five games of the regular season. No additional information was provided, though Simmons said in a statement that he felt it was “the best decision for me and for my family.” At the time, the Angels remained mathematically in the race for the second wild card and second place in the AL West. Although their chances of reaching the postseason were slim, league rules required that potential playoff teams begin quarantining that week in preparation for upcoming playoff games.

“It was tough for me mentally to where the thought of suicide crossed my mind,” Simmons told the Register. “It was something I vowed a long time ago I would never consider again. I was fortunate to talk to a therapist, which helped me let go of those thoughts. At the end when a lot of people were still going through what most would think of as tough times, the idea of finishing the season in a bubble was too much for me to handle.”

Simmons played in just 30 games during the abbreviated regular season, missing time due to an ankle he injured for a third straight summer. He told the Register it was difficult to focus on baseball when so many people were struggling amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

“First time was driving through Oakland and seeing some of the shops and restaurants trying to stay open with all the homeless people camping outside,” he said. “That’s when it really hit me.”

Simmons began communicating with a therapist, but his hesitations about entering a playoff bubble persisted.

“I was really saddened by how much I was hearing about the death toll, and seeing how smaller businesses were going out of business and I was a little depressed at how the effects of all the new rules and fears were gonna affect people’s livelihoods and how disconnected people were becoming,” he said.

Simmons told the Register he wasn’t forthcoming about his reasons for opting out at the time “because I don’t like the idea of having to explain every detail of my life” and “was afraid of people judging and people twisting my story.” But he said he changed his mind when he realized that being open about his situation could help others who are struggling.

Information from ESPN’s Alden Gonzalez was used in this report.

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