San Francisco Giants Morning Minute: All-Star Festivities Recap

On this edition of the San Francisco Giants Morning Minute, we take a look back at the All-Star festivities, and how Giants (and a former Giant) did.

Good morning, San Francisco Giants’ fans, and welcome to another edition of the Giants Morning Minute. On Tuesday, All-Star week concluded for Major League Baseball with the big one, the All-Star game. For the fourth straight year, the American League defeated the National League, this year by a 4-2 score.

With all the festivities having come to an end, let’s take a look back at the past three days and see how Giants’ players did.

1 – The All-Star Futures Game

Jul 10, 2016; San Diego, CA, USA; World pitcher Adalberto Mejia (right) celebrates with catcher Francisco Mejia (left) after defeating USA during the All Star Game futures baseball game at PetCo Park. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports /

The Giants had two players in Sunday night’s All-Star Futures Game, one on the World Team and one on the United States Team. Pitchers Phil Bickford (US) and Adalberto Mejia (World) wore uniforms donned with the Giants’ interlocked “SF” logo, showcasing their talents among some of the game’s best prospects.

Bickford was the first of the two to take the mound, getting the ball in the fifth inning with a 3-0 US lead. His first pitch, a 91-mile-per-hour fastball, was hit into center field for an easy out. After a single, Bickford struck out New York Yankees’ prospect Gary Sanchez looking with a back-up slider on a full count. A walk proceeded, but Bickford ended the threat with another strikeout, getting Tampa Bay Rays’ farmhand Willy Adames to chase a fastball up and away.

A lot of Bickford’s success has come from his deception, as he hides the ball very well, not allowing hitters to pick up on the ball early. He showed a lot of that deception during his two strikeouts, fooling Sanchez with the breaking ball and blowing two fastballs by Adames, neither of which came in above 93 on the radar gun.

Mejia came in for the ninth inning, when the World Team was well ahead, 11-3, after scoring nine runs in the final two frames. With the comfortable lead, Mejia made quick work of the American team, retiring Carson Kelly (St. Louis Cardinals), David Dahl (Colorado Rockies), and Alex Bregman (Houston Astros). Mejia struck out Bregman to end the game, getting him to swing through a slider down and in.

Mejia showed fair command of all his pitches, hitting his mark consistently with fastballs, and putting his big, looping slider (looks more like a slurve) where he wanted it. Striking out Bregman is a nice feather in Mejia’s cap, as the Astros’ top prospect had three hits on the night, including a double and a triple.

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On the season, Mejia has made 15 starts between Double-A Richmond and Triple-A Sacramento, and owns a 2.72 ERA, 1.097 WHIP, 83 strikeouts, and 22 walks in 89.1 innings. For Bickford, in 14 starts between Single-A Augusta and High-A San Jose, he has a 3.04 ERA, 0.974 WHIP, 2.2 walks per nine innings, and an outstanding 94 strikeouts in 77 innings.

2 – Home Run Derby

With Madison Bumgarner not competing, most Giants’ fans were rooting for former San Francisco farmhand Adam Duvall, and the Reds’ outfielder made the most of his rookie appearance in the slugger’s competition. Duvall dispatched of hometown guy Wil Myers rather easily in the first round, surpassing Myers’ 10 home runs with plenty of time to spare.

Duvall hit 15 impressive home runs in the second round, but he was no match for the reigning and defending Derby champion, Todd Frazier. But Frazier then ran into his own brick wall, as the game’s premier slugger, Giancarlo Stanton, made mince meat of everyone. He hit 20 home runs in the final round, disposing of Frazier and completing the best home run derby performance ever. His 61 total home runs set the record for the most in a single derby.

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3 – The Mid-Summer Classic

The Giants were well-represented in San Diego for Tuesday’s All-Star game, with catcher Buster Posey and pitcher Johnny Cueto making up the starting battery. Cueto worked a scoreless inning in the first, wiggling around a Mike Trout single, but couldn’t replicate that success in the second inning. He gave up two home runs to a pair of former teammates, his old catcher Salvador Perez and first baseman Eric Hosmer, turning a 1-0 lead into a 3-1 deficit. The National League couldn’t recover from that, and lost 4-2, with Cueto being the losing pitcher. At least his neon green and orange cleats looked fantastic.

Posey got two at-bats on Tuesday, and led off the second inning by grounding out on the first pitch (the NL guys weren’t up there to work counts. AL starter Chris Sale threw just nine pitches to four batters in the first inning). In Posey’s second chance, he took a walk against Toronto Blue Jays’ pitcher Aaron Sanchez. He eventually scored on a single by Miami Marlins’ outfielder Marcell Ozuna.

First-time All-Star Brandon Belt, who woke up Tuesday morning in bad shape, had one plate appearance in the eighth inning, flying out to left field off New York Yankees’ Andrew Miller. He stayed in the game as the designated hitter, and was on deck when the final out was made.

Bumgarner was at the game, but of course didn’t pitch because of his start on Sunday. Hosmer was named the MVP after collecting two hits and two RBI.

Next: Giants Morning Minute: Midseason Awards Edition

And that will do it for another edition of the Giants Morning Minute. Up next, we all must figure out a way to get through two days with no big league ball. Good luck, friends.

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