The Tiger Beat: It’s All-Star Week!

And what a week it will be.

Happy All-Star Week, everyone! While game play is on pause until Friday, there’s still plenty going on this week, with the Home Run Derby today and the big show, the All-Star Game tomorrow. The Tigers have a full house of players (and a crew member) heading to Atlanta.

There’s also plenty of news to keep you updated on, so grab a coffee and let’s get down to it.

Detroit Tigers News:

• Tarik Skubal and Paul Skenes will be the All-Star Game starters.
• Cody Stavenhagen looks at the mutual respect shared between Skenes and Skubal ahead of the game.
• The Tigers enraged Mariners fans by walking Cal Raleigh in his last at-bat before the All-Star Break. Raleigh was one home run shy of tying Barry Bonds’ record of the most home runs his before the All-Star Break.
• Max Fried apparently called Tarik Skubal to offer him the opportunity to make the start in Atlanta ahead of Aaron Boone making him the official offer. Skubal said of the phone call:

“It was actually a really cool conversation… it’s a very professional thing to do, and I’ve got a ton of respect for guys that do stuff like that.”

• A sad loss for the Tigers’ family.

AL Central News:

• Byron Buxton hit for the cycle on his bobblehead day.
• A fun end to the first half for the Royals.

MLB News:

• Heck yeah, Ghana!

• The Diamondbacks are offering a tactile broadcast to make games more accessible to their blind or low-vision fans .
• Jay Jaffe has brought back his Replacement Level Killers series at FanGraphs and started out with first base.
• Fireworks with home runs aren’t unheard of. But fireworks for the opposing team hitting a home run? Not ideal.
• Terry Francona has become the 13th MLB manager to reach 2000 career wins.
• Are we at peak center field defense?
• The Phillies aren’t being shy sharing that they think their pitchers should have been selected over a Dodgers player with only five career games for the All-Star Game.
• Because of Cristopher Sanchez being overlooked, the Phillies decided to give the pitcher a $50,000 bonus .
• How all 30 teams’ prospects did during the Futures Game. If you’re curious how the Tigers fared, here’s the breakdown:

Kevin McGonigle, SS (DET No. 1/MLB No. 7): Recently promoted to Double-A, the 37th pick from the 2023 Draft went hitless in two at-bats, flying out both times. Max Clark, OF (DET No. 2/MLB No. 12): The game’s second-ranked outfield prospect walked and stole second base in the first and singled in the third to set up the game’s first run. Josue Briceño, C (DET No. 4/MLB No. 58): Serving as the AL’s designated hitter, Briceño tripled and scored in the fourth, finishing 1-for-3 overall.

• This feels like a metaphor for the Mets’ season.

• Aaron Judge couldn’t take time to enjoy being the fastest player to 350 home runs, because the Yankees still lost.