Stock Up, Stock Down: All-Star week, New York Mets, Boston Red Sox

After a four-day break for the All-Star Game home run derby and game, it’s now time to turn our attention back to the start of the second half of the 2023 season. Despite there being just one weekend full of games and a break over the last seven days, there was still plenty to look back on at the mid-summer break.

Here is the latest Stock Up, Stock Down ahead of the first pitch and the much anticipated second half of the 2023 season.

Stock Down: 2023 home run derby broadcast

Every year fans tune in to see the derby and, with each passing season, the broadcast is becoming more and more difficult to watch.

I get it, with each round now timed rather than outs, it’s a rapid-fire from the pitchers to the hitters to see just how many they can crank out of the park. The problem is, the telecast was a split screen and you hardly saw just how far a lot of them traveled. That’s what people want to see.

Also, having Karl Ravech and Eduardo Perez give commentary and exit velocity on nearly every home run takes something away from what people are watching at home. The commentary from the players in between swings was entertaining, but the broadcast itself could use a different look next season.

Generally, the home run derby can mess up someone’s swing for the second half of the season, but this season, the derby seems to have claimed an injury to a key piece of the Chicago White Sox lineup. Luis Robert felt tightness in his right calf in the first round of the derby, which caused him to pull out of Tuesday night’s game.

The White Sox are not going anywhere this season and will more than likely become sellers at the trade deadline, but an injury to a player on a team that’s contending that would be long-term would be tough to swallow during a home run-hitting contest.