The best baseball players in the world have made their way to Miami, Florida for the 2017 MLB All-Star Game. While the contest will no longer be used to determine home field advantage for the World Series, it should still be an entertaining matchup with the most talented players in the world in the spotlight. There should also be plenty of power on display with young stars like Aaron Judge, Bryce Harper and the hometown favorite Giancarlo Stanton getting another opportunity to put on a show for baseball fans.
It’s worth noting that for the first time since 2002, the MLB All-Star Game won’t hold as much weight. That’s because they’ve ditched the plan about having the winning league earn home-field advantage in the World Series. We saw that play out last year when the National League won the All-Star Game and then the Chicago Cubs earned home-field advantage in the World Series. It proved to be a deciding factor as the two teams went deep in the championship round with the decisive Game 7 happening at Wrigley Field. While the strategy was originally put in place to motivate the two leagues in this exhibition game, it really didn’t have that much impact. It’s now been ditched, so it will be interesting to see how much (or how much less) effort is put into this game by both leagues with nothing on the line.
Details
Date: Tuesday July 11, 2017
Time: 8:00 PM ET
Line: National League -120
Why The American League Might Win…
Judge will be the star of the AL team. The first-year outfielder has already broken Joe Dimaggio’s Yankees rookie record for home runs and he leads the majors with 30 bombs this season. Judge will have plenty of support as well led by a trio of Houston Astros stars. Jose Altuve, Carlos Correa and George Springer have led Houston to the second-best record in baseball and will share the spotlight again in Miami this week. A pair of Boston Red Sox will look to continue their dominance as they lead the AL pitching staff. Chris Sale has 11 wins and a 2.75 ERA while Craig Kimbrel has been absolutely dominant with 23 saves and a sparkling 1.19 ERA. The AL team has a solid mix of pitching and hitting and should contend for the win despite being listed as the sports betting underdog for this matchup.
Why The National League Might Win…
The roster for the NL All-Star team has the slight edge on paper heading in to this game. While they don’t have Judge, the NL side has its own cast of talented young players that will be looking to leave their mark. Stanton is the sports betting favorite to win the All-Star Game MVP in front of his home park fans. Harper has bounced back with an outstanding 2017 season so far. Meanwhile, Colorado Rockies outfielder Charlie Blackmon and Miami Marlins outfielder Marcell Ozuna have surprised with absolutely monster numbers and will be complimented by a strong cast of veterans including San Francisco Giants catcher Buster Posey, Colorado Rockies third basemen Nolan Arenado and Washington Nationals second basemen Daniel Murphy. Perhaps the most dominant aspect of the NL roster is a pitching staff led by Clayton Kershaw and Max Scherzer. That tandem has combined for 24 wins while posting sub-2.20 ERA’s so far this season and will be looking to shut it down at the 2017 MLB All-Star Game.
Outlook
Both of these teams are absolutely loaded. While anything can happen in an All-Star Game, we are willing to give the slight edge to the NL team. The pitching staff is absolutely loaded, the bats are talented and deep and this game will be played at an NL ballpark in Miami. The dominant pitching staffs will likely keep the offenses in check once again in 2017 with Kershaw, Scherzer and Stanton helping the NL side squeeze out the win. After all that the Marlins have been through over the past 12 months, it won’t be a surprise if Stanton earns MVP honors in an NL team win.
MLB Betting Pick: National League -120
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