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.

Stock Down: Mets close first half with two losses

As bad as the first half has been for the New York Mets, things were looking up as they closed out the first half on the West Coast. After sweeping the National League West-leading Arizona Diamondbacks, they opened a key three-game series with the San Diego Padres by rallying for a 7-5 win in 10 innings. For the steps they took forward in the first four games on the trip, they took big steps backward in the final two games at Petco Park.

In Game 2, Blake Snell was dominant for the Padres, striking out 11 in six innings and allowing just one hit in a 3-1 San Diego win. Sunday, the Padres closed out the series by using two home runs from Manny Machado off of Max Scherzer. The New York right-hander allowed six hits, five runs, walked three, and struck out seven in five innings, but it was two pitches to San Diego’s third baseman that was the difference in a 6-2 loss. Joe Musgrove was dealing for the Friars, scattering three hits and sticking out seven of his own in six innings.

The Mets return home to kick off the second half with three games against the Los Angeles Dodgers and three against the White Sox. New York’s only path to the postseason because of their first-half struggles is one of the three Wild Card spots and they are currently seven games back and needing to jump four teams to get into the playoffs. That’s not what they had envisioned when the season began.

Right now, the Mets would be buyers at the deadline. However, a tough start to the second half of the season could change their plans and they could begin to sell off some pieces that they are not counting on having in 2024.

Stock Up: Boston Red Sox making a playoff push to close first half

One of the more up-and-down teams in the first half of the season has been the Boston Red Sox. They play well against the top teams in the league, winning all seven games against the Toronto Blue Jays and sweeping the New York Yankees at Fenway Park. Then they get swept at home by the Pittsburgh Pirates and St. Louis Cardinals. Go figure.

Manager Alex Cora has done wonders with a Red Sox roster that lost a lot of talent from the 2022 season and lost Chris Sale to an injury in early June and he is currently on the 60-day IL. Opening Day starter Corey Kluber has been a disaster and finds himself on the IL too. Despite all of that, they are five games over .500 at 48-43 and two games back for the final Wild Card spot in the American League.

The Red Sox won the final two games against the American League West-leading Texas Rangers before sweeping the Oakland Athletics to close the first half on a five-game winning streak. They have been getting good pitching, mainly from youngster Brayan Bello who is showing signs of turning into a future top-of-the-rotation ace. Their hitting is coming around and Justin Turner has been a very good addition to the middle of the lineup and Kenley Jansen has been money as the closer.

The big question is whether or not the Red Sox can keep this going after the break. They certainly have the schedule to do it with three games against the Chicago Cubs and a trip to Oakland. There is still time for them to make a move and force GM Chaim Bloom to be a buyer, not a seller, at the trade deadline.