Make All-Star Games Interesting - Bet On Them!

AL All-Stars vs. NL All-Stars, 8:00 ET

My favorite bet of the night didn't cash for baseball, but that doesn't matter all that much as we had a great night overall, going 3-1 in WNBA plays. Just like the Home Run Derby from last night, I won't dump a ton of cash into the MLB All-Star Game. There are just too many moving pieces in the game, and too few players who actually care about winning. I mean, does the general public actually care about the game? I'm not sure, but I know I'll make it more interesting for myself by putting a small wager on it.

The AL is led by a number of big name guys, but the standout to me is that Aaron Judge will be hitting third for the All-Star lineup. He is arguably the best hitter in baseball and has been outstanding this season once again. I don't really care which pitcher you have from the American League, you're going to have a tough night if you have to face him. I assume he will get two at-bats in this one, as will most of the other starters, and that's it. About half of the All-Stars have faced Paul Skenes, the National League opener, and all except Junior Caminero have struck out at least once against him. Riley Greene is the worst with a 1-6 mark and three punchouts. On the bench for the American League, we see some potential difference makers like Alex Bregman, Byron Buxton, and Julio Rodriguez. I specifically like Buxton as a guy that will be used for speed and for defense. There are only two catchers on the roster so expect Cal Raleigh, last night's Derby winner, to be in the game for five or six innings. For pitching, they get Tarik Skubal, who will probably turn in two scoreless innings. Then they probably hand the ball to Garrett Crochet, Jacob deGrom, and Max Fried for an inning of work each. I assume that the combination of those four guys will allow maybe a run, and it will take us to the fifth inning.

ATLANTA, GEORGIA - JULY 14: Junior Camerino #13 of the Tampa Bay Rays competes during the Home Run Derby at Truist Park on July 14, 2025 in Atlanta, Georgia.  (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images)

The National League is loaded as well, as you'd expect from an All-Star Game, but this one feels a bit less balanced than the American League team. In the starting lineup there are three Dodgers, two Cubs, and then there are a mixture of NL West and NL East team leaders like Ketel Marte, Manny Machado, Francisco Lindor, and Ronald Acuna Jr. As a Chicago fan, I'm interested to see if Pete Crow-Armstrong can make any sort of name for himself here. He has all the tools to make something happen, but I always feel like the starters don't have much of an impact on the game. Their team also has only two catchers, so same situation with Raleigh applies to Will Smith. For the pitching staff, I've mentioned they have Skenes starting, which is the second straight year he will start it, and this is just the second year of his career. After that, there are some very good pitchers in the bullpen, but I think the American League has better ones to choose to truly shut the door. I'm interested to see Jacob Misiorowski and if he gets into the game. There was some controversy about him as he only has five starts in his career. 

This game is often not very predictable. My initial lean on the total is to take the under as getting good work out of pitchers for one inning isn't much to ask for. The problem is that this isn't a normal situation for pitchers and many hurlers are very used to a set routine. This takes them out of that. So, ultimately, I do lean toward the over hitting. However, I think the American League has better pitching, and I like their lineup, especially when the reserves take over more than I do the National League. I'll back the AL in this one, but again, we are talking about pizza money here. I just want to have a bit of reason to root for something specific in this one. 

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