Fearless forecast on All-Star Game rosters, Clayton Kershaw’s place among the greats and more

Welcome to Sliders, a weekly in-season MLB column that focuses on both the timely and timeless elements of the game.

Rod Beck rolled into Veterans Stadium in July 1993 with 24 saves and a 1.64 ERA.

Beck, the everyman closer for the San Francisco Giants, was happy to chat with a teenage sportswriter who asked him for an interview by his locker.

He even pulled up a chair for me.

While we spoke, Giants manager Dusty Baker tapped Beck on the shoulder, asking for a meeting in his office when Beck was finished.

We kept talking for a while, then Beck got up, turned the corner to Bakers office and found out that he was an All-Star.

Advertisement Its the stuff dreams are made of, really, Beck told the San Francisco writers.

Meanwhile, my friends in the Philly media roasted me for delaying Beck from his big moment.

Anyway, thats how nonchalantly All-Star rosters were unveiled decades ago.

These days, the world finds out with a televised selection show.

This years rosters will be announced at 5 p.m.

(ET) Sunday before an ESPN doubleheader.

However, why wait? My colleague Ken Rosenthal gave his picks on Wednesday, before the starters were announced.

Now its time for my sure-to-be-accurate roster forecast, which follows the format of 20 position players, 12 pitchers and, of course, at least one representative from each team.

Heres a refresher on the starters: Heres how I think the pitching staff should look: Tarik Skubal, Tigers (starter) Hunter Brown, Astros Kris Bubic, Royals Aroldis Chapman, Red Sox Garrett Crochet, Red Sox Jacob deGrom, Rangers Max Fried, Yankees Josh Hader, Astros Adrian Houser, White Sox Andres Munoz, Mariners Joe Ryan, Twins Framber Valdez, Astros Catcher: Alejandro Kirk, Blue Jays First base: Jonathan Aranda, Rays Second base: Brandon Lowe, Rays Shortstop: Bobby Witt Jr., Royals Third base: Isaac Paredes, Astros Outfielder: Jo Adell, Angels Outfielder: Byron Buxton, Twins Outfielder: Steven Kwan, Guardians Outfielder: George Springer, Blue Jays Designated hitter: Brent Rooker, Athletics Utility: Maikel Garcia, Royals (Injured list: Jeremy Pena, Astros) Zack Wheeler, Phillies (starter) Andrew Abbott, Reds Matthew Boyd, Cubs Edwin Diaz, Mets Dylan Lee, Braves Freddy Peralta, Brewers Randy Rodriguez, Giants Cristopher Sanchez, Phillies Spencer Schwellenbach, Braves Paul Skenes, Pirates Logan Webb, Giants Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Dodgers Advertisement Catcher: Hunter Goodman, Rockies First base: Pete Alonso, Mets First base: Matt Olson, Braves Second base: Brendan Donovan, Cardinals Shortstop: CJ Abrams, Nationals Shortstop: Elly De La Cruz, Reds Third base: Eugenio Suarez, Diamondbacks Outfield: Juan Soto, Mets Outfield: Kyle Stowers, Marlins Outfield: James Wood, Nationals Designated hitter: Kyle Schwarber, Phillies (Injured list: Corbin Carroll, Diamondbacks) Ken and I differ on a dozen or so choices, mostly pitchers.

I cant leave off Ryan, Valdez, Sanchez or Schwellenbach.

Still, its hard to go wrong with some of his picks, either like Houstons Bryan Abreu, Kansas Citys Carlos Estevez, Washingtons MacKenzie Gore and San Franciscos Robbie Ray.

And some deserving players missed both our rosters: Andy Pages of the Dodgers, Nick Pivetta of the Padres, Carlos Rodon of the Yankees, Seiya Suzuki of the Cubs, and so on.

However, remember, as Ken notes, most of the guys you think should be All-Star will probably end up in Atlanta on July 15.

Many players back out due to injuries or unavailability, resulting in a flurry of announcements in the days leading up to the game.

In any case, feel free to let loose in the comments and tell us who we snubbed! Kershaw, with a K When Clayton Kershaws slider clipped the outside corner to freeze the Chicago White Soxs Vinny Capra on Wednesday, the Mount Rushmore of lefty strikeout kings was complete.

Kershaw, the Los Angeles Dodgers enduring ace, joined Hall of Famers Steve Carlton, Randy Johnson and CC Sabathia as the only lefties with 3,000 career strikeouts (someone should get them together for a photo).

Kershaw, 37, became the 20th pitcher overall to reach the milestone.

Only one of the others, Pedro Martinez, retired at age 37 or younger.

Kershaw seems unlikely to pitch into his 40s as 15 of the 3,000-strikeout pitchers have so while his career stats will change, they might not change much.

With that in mind, its illuminating to consider Kershaws place among the 20 strikeout leaders.

He is the only pitcher in that group to rank among the top five in all of the major rate statistics: WHIP: 1.014 (first) ERA: 2.52 (second to Walter Johnson) K/BB: 4.34/1, (third, behind Max Scherzer and Curt Schilling) K/9: 9.7, (fourth, behind Scherzer, Randy Johnson and Pedro Martinez) BB/9: 2.2, (fifth, behind Greg Maddux, Schilling, Fergie Jenkins and Walter Johnson) Advertisement While Walter Johnson and Kershaw stand atop the ERA leaders, thats about all they have in common.

Johnson has the best ERA (2.17) but the lowest strikeout rate of the 20, at 5.3 per nine innings.

Kershaw could double his career innings total and still not reach Johnsons figure of 5,914 1/3.

And if youre wondering about Cy Young well, hes the career leader in innings (7,356) but finished with 2,803 strikeouts, or 3.4 per nine.

Through Wednesday, the lowest strikeout rate in 2025 (minimum 40 innings) belonged to Colorados Antonio Senzatela, at 4.7 per nine.

That is the only way you will find Senzatela, who is 3-11 with a 6.69 ERA, even remotely linked to Walter Johnson.

Have you noticed that baseball has changed? A jersey patch for the aged The median age of MLB ticket buyers in 2024 was 46 years old , down from 51 years old in 2019.

However, if baseball wants to emphasize its increasing appeal to younger fans, the Washington Nationals arent helping.

In the latest sign that MLB should never have allowed advertisements on jerseys, the Nationals unveiled AARP as their sleeve patch sponsor this week.

The Nationals have no active players over 33, so its a bit silly to make them billboards for an organization dedicated to people over 50.

Then again, it would technically be possible to field a team of players over 50 if theyre walking out of a cornfield in Iowa, anyway.

Ray Kinsella would have to be creative with their positioning, but according to Baseball-Reference, 10 players (all deceased) have appeared in MLB games after turning 50.

The first to do it was Jim ORourke, at age 54, for the New York Giants in 1904.

Giants manager John McGraw enlisted ORourke to catch for the pennant clincher because ORourke had been a star for the Giants 1889 NL champs.

Nick Altrock, a pitcher for the White Soxs 1906 champions who came to bat three times after turning 50, became a coach/clown for the Senators .

Charley OLeary, once a World Series shortstop, had a pinch hit for the St.

Louis Browns at 58 in 1934.

Advertisement The others to do it in NL/AL play are better known: Hall of Famers Minnie Minoso (White Sox, 1976 and 1980) and Satchel Paige (As, 1965).

Five Negro Leaguers also appeared in games after age 50: Connie Rector, Nat Rogers, Candy Jim Taylor, String Bean Williams and Hall of Famer Jud Wilson, who was 51 when he batted .306 for the Homestead Grays in 1945.

Another limb of the Rays trade tree Two weeks ago, I noted that two of Tampa Bays long-ago No.

1 overall picks Delmon Young (2003) and David Price (2007) were still making an impact on the Rays.

Through a series of trades, the Rays turned Young into Ryan Pepiot and Shane Baz, and Price into Drew Rasmussen.

Pepiot, Baz and Rasmussen now hold three of the Rays rotation spots.

However, theres another No.

1 overall pick still paying off: Tim Beckham.

An infielder taken first in 2008, Beckham hit .247 with a .720 OPS in parts of four seasons before the Rays traded him to Baltimore in July 2017.

In return, they received pitcher Tobias Myers, now with the Milwaukee Brewers, who was then with the Orioles low-Class A team.

Two years later, the Rays traded Myers to Cleveland for an 18-year-old infielder in the Dominican Rookie League.

His name? Junior Caminero, and hes now leading the Rays in homers and RBIs.

Off the Grid Eduardo Perez does some of his best work on the bench.

Youll often find him there talking with players as he prepares for a Sunday night ESPN broadcast, gathering insights hell also bring to The Leadoff Spot on MLB Network Radio.

Perez recently joked that hes always been comfortable on the bench he grew up as a bat boy for some of his father Tonys teams and spent 13 years in the majors without ever collecting 300 at-bats in a season.

With all that time to watch, Perez picked up clues he could use in the batters box, like how Randy Johnson tipped his pitches .

Advertisement Perez broke in with the Angels and played his most games for the Cardinals, thus qualifying for a Grid square with those teams last week.

And he had his moments, hitting .265/.362/.501 off lefties and slamming four homers off Johnson, perhaps the most intimidating left-hander ever.

One of those home runs came on Aug.

16, 2005, for Tampa Bay against the Yankees, when Perez went deep off both Johnson and Mariano Rivera.

No other player this century has homered off two Hall of Famers in the same game.

Thanks to Alex Stern at the Elias Sports Bureau for this fun list of the last five hitters to homer off two Hall of Famers in the same game.

Interesting that three of those five are Hall of Famers themselves and Perez, of course, is the son of Hall of Famer Tony Perez.

Aug.

16, 2005: Tampa Bays Eduardo Perez off the Yankees Randy Johnson and Mariano Rivera at Tropicana Field.

Sept.

24, 1998: Baltimores B.J.

Surhoff off Bostons Pedro Martinez and Dennis Eckersley at Fenway Park.

April 24, 1987: Yankees leadoff hitter Rickey Henderson off Clevelands Phil Niekro and Steve Carlton, Municipal Stadium.

Sept.

7, 1985: Cincinnatis Dave Parker off the Cubs Dennis Eckersley and Lee Smith at Wrigley Field.

July 22, 1967: Cubs left fielder Billy Williams off San Franciscos Juan Marichal and Gaylord Perry at Wrigley Field.

Classic clip Lets celebrate the Fourth of July with this rendition of the national anthem by James Earl Jones backed by the Morgan State University choir before the 1993 All-Star Game in Baltimore, where Francis Scott Key wrote The Star-Spangled Banner in 1814.

Yes, Jones recites can instead of does in the penultimate line.

However, I wouldnt want anyone else at the microphone than the man who told us a few years earlier, This field, this game its a part of our past, Ray.

It reminds us of all that once was good, and it could be again.

Happy Independence Day to all.

(Top photo of Tarik Skubal: Gregory Shamus / Getty Images).

This article has been shared from the original article on theathleticuk, here is the link to the original article.