Rise and Phight: 7/14/2021

#BCIB

J.T. Realmuto homered last night in the All-Star Game, the first Phillies player to hit one in the event since Mike Schmidt.

Pretty entertaining game. The best thing about the entire telecast was MLB clearly pushing the young stars that are taking over the game. Ohtani, Tatis, Vladito were all prominently featured and with good reason. They have been the talk of the first half and deservedly should have gotten all of the publicity.

But let’s get back to Realmuto. His home run broke up the American League shutout and showed people who didn’t already know why he is the best catcher in baseball.

On to the links.

Phillies news:

• As the draft ended, here are some random observations about the class that was picked by the Phillies.
• Brandon Kintzler’s comments about the Covid vaccine just still don’t look too good.
• The bullpen and the rotation are the places most in need of an upgrade during the trade season.

MLB news:

• Rob Manfred talked to the press today and mentioned that seven inning doubleheaders and all the other rules made during the pandemic will probably go away in 2022.
• Cole Hamels is going to pitch in front of teams soon. The Phillies will be there.