Rise and Phight: 7/13/2021

It’s hard to be mad at Pete Alonso for winning another Home Run Derby, but doing so by beating Trey Mancini, a cancer survivor? Just feels wrong.

Not getting to see Shohei Ohtani get to the finals was disappointing, but it’s really hard to be down when he lost to a guy who, in a three swing swingoff, didn’t miss. The most disappointing guy was Joey Gallo, my pick to win. He just looked nervous out there. All in all it was a fun Derby, but that doesn’t mean I have to be happy that Alonso won.

Harrumph.

On to the links.

Phillies news:

• Here are all of the Phillies’ picks in the draft so far. Here is more on the picks made after Andrew Painter. The final ten rounds conclude today.
• One of their picks wasn’t on any radars prior to this season, then got picked in the first ten rounds. Quite impressive.
• Heading into the break, this team should have reason to believe they can get into the playoffs.

MLB teams:

• According to this article, if your team is getting the vaccine, you’re getting an edge on the teams that aren’t.
• Here are your lineups for today’s All-Star Game, including a little rule bending to make sure Ohtani is featured.
• MLB donated $150 million to the Player’s Alliance to help with increasing “Black representation throughout the sport.”