The MLB Home Run Derby’s long-awaited return to Coors Field took place on Monday, and we’ve got the 2021 MLB All-Star Game to look ahead to on Tuesday. Will 2021 be the year the National League snaps its losing streak, or will the American League make it eight wins in a row?
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2021 MLB All-Star Game
Total under 10.5 runs -105
Good pitching beats good hitting. That’s usually proven true in the postseason, and the same can be said of the Midsummer Classic — especially in recent years. Since 2015, AL and NL hitters have only been able to combine for double-digit runs once, scoring 14 in 2018.
I would think hitters will get closer to that double-digit mark this year since Colorado is playing host, but don’t look for a repeat of the offensive production we saw the last time the MLB All-Star Game was played at Coors in 1998 (21 total runs). The game has changed a bit since then.
And while pitchers were the ones who had the advantage that sent everyone into a tizzy this season, the league-wide averages only swayed slightly back toward the hitters’ favor after MLB implemented its foreign substance rules. Pitchers are still in charge of the league, and the best of them will prove that again on Tuesday.
National League -110
Whether the MLB All-Star Game has been held at an NL or AL park, the latter hasn’t lost since 2012. That Midsummer Classic was the last victory of a three-game winning streak for the NL — the only three losses for the AL since 1997.
That said, I’m picking the NL to snap its skid this season. I like the AL’s lineup a little more, but not enough to where my opinion of the offenses outweighs my feelings toward the two pitching staffs. Even though Lance Lynn and Kyle Gibson have been great in 2021, the group of starters representing the NL have impressed me more as a whole this season, and that’s excluding those who won’t be in the mix on Tuesday — Jacob deGrom, Kevin Gausman, Brandon Woodruff and Yu Darvish.
Score in the 1st Inning
Yes -140
Both sides have gone scoreless in the first inning since the 2017 All-Star Game. At first, I had that trend maintaining through Tuesday. But then Shohei Ohtani was named the AL’s leadoff hitter and starting pitcher.
Ohtani didn’t make it out of the first round in the Home Run Derby, but he and Juan Soto put on a show with their double-OT battle. Following Monday’s festivities, Ohtani will either be out of gas or amped for Tuesday’s contest. Whether he lives up to the hype or is a letdown, he’s going to have a hand in a run being scored in the first inning of the 2021 MLB All-Star Game.
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