Pirates/ASG Notes During the Break

Pirates/Baseball Notes:

• Adam Frazier was selected as the NL-POTW with a slash of .600/.625/.933 with a homer, seven doubles and seven RBI's in seven games.
• Scott Boras is already starting the drumbeat for Josh Bell's contract future with Pittsburgh; should be interesting to see the dynamics develope, especially with J-Bell entering his first arb year - and likely first battle - with the Buc money boys next season.
• Trevor and his wife Jackie adopted a child who was delivered on July 5th, named Josephine Marie. Congrats to the parents - they call her Jojo but she sounds like a little empress to us!
• Willy was reinstated during the ASG break; Kevin Kramer was optioned back to Indy.

Papa Willy's back - photo Pittsburgh Pirates

• Bets we wish we have have taken: that Dario Agrazal would be in the July rotation and Mitch Keller not. Coulda hit the trifecta if we added Nick Kingham to the pool.
• Bradenton OF Travis Swaggerty was picked as the Florida State League POTW. The 21-year-old went 13-for-24 (.542) with a pair of doubles and two stolen bases.
• The Bucs placed three players on the DSL All-Star roster - Dominican OF Fleury Nova, 18, (.325 BA); Mexican OF Randy Romero, 19, (.396 BA); and Nicaraguan RHP Sergio Umana, 18, (5-1/2.08). Pirates DSL-2 Manager Shawn Bowman is one of the Nacional coaches.
• Bob Nightengale of USA Today says the players are ready to push back on the economic front, squeezed between the teams getting young players on the cheap and not doling out big deals to the 30-some crowd. The players hope they can deal during CBA talks, but don't seem shy about tossing the phrase "work stoppage" around.

All-Star Game Notes

• J-Bell made the starting lineup as the DH for the NL, batting 6th. Felipe Vazquez was a later replacement pick, and had to play "I've Got A Secret" after Clint told him he had made the squad for a second straight year. Josh went 1-for-2 with an excuse me infield single and Felipe sat out the 4-3 AL victory.
• ASG snips - the AL won its 7th straight ASG. Cleveland P Shane Bieber was the MVP after striking out the side in the fifth. AL pitchers set a record by fanning 16 NL batters. Pete Alonso not only won the HR Derby, but had a big two-run knock to bring the NL within a run. CC Sabathia, who began his 19-year MLB journey w/the Indians, tossed out the first pitch and was sent out to the mound (for a visit; he was a honorary AS) to set up an ovation. Carlos Carrasco and Tyler Skaggs also had their deserved moments.

J-Bell & Felipe reppin' - photo Pittsburgh Pirates

• Ron Acuna Jr. blasted 25 homers against J-Bell, who had a slow start but eventually put 18 balls into the stands, tripling the old Pirates record of six by Pedro Alvarez in 2013. Bell continued the Pittsburgh streak of never getting out of the first round, but he did get some love from ol' teammates Meadows and Cole afterwards. Pete Alonso won the Derby while Vlad Guerrero Jr. stole the show.
• To add another hot stove log, Rays' OF Austin Meadows (.289/12 HR) was named to the AL All Star team. He was joined by ol' Buccos Gerrit Cole (Houston; 9-5/3.09) and Charlie Morton (Tampa Bay;10-2/2.32). Austin went 0-for-1; the pitchers didn't get in the game.
• Will Craig had a Futures Game with an unusual result - the big guy was plunked twice. Apparently the minor league book is to pitch him tight. Adam Berry of MLB.com reported on his experience in Cleveland. The game, btw, ended up an 2-2 tie after an extra inning, which started with a runner on second but was of no help to either squad.