An Orioles fan’s guide to MLB All-Star Week in Seattle – The Denver Post

In each of the five most-recent seasons through 2022 that Major League Baseball held its All-Star Game, the Orioles sent just one representative. But as the fruits of an arduous rebuild finally reach the majors, the club’s fortunes are beginning to change.

The Orioles will have four All-Stars — catcher Adley Rutschman, outfielder Austin Hays and relief pitchers Félix Bautista and Yennier Cano — in Seattle in 2023, their largest contingent since sending four in 2016. Rutschman is the crown jewel of the organization’s teardown as the No. 1 overall pick in the 2019 draft, and his arrival has coincided with a return to competitiveness for a club that hasn’t reached the playoffs since that 2016 season.

While the spotlight will be on Rutschman as he returns to the Pacific Northwest, there are plenty of other things for Orioles fans to keep an eye on during All-Star Week in Seattle.

All-Star Futures Game

For those hoping to catch a glimpse of the next wave of Orioles prospects, look no further.

Former top draft picks Jackson Holliday and Heston Kjerstad will compete in the 24th annual showcase of baseball’s top prospects Saturday at 7 p.m. at T-Mobile Park. The seven-inning game will be played in a National League vs. American League format and will air exclusively on Peacock and SiriusXM.

Holliday, the No. 1 overall pick in last year’s draft out of Stillwater High School in Oklahoma, has excelled in his first professional season to rise to the top of MLB Pipeline’s prospect rankings. The 19-year-old infielder and son of seven-time All-Star outfielder Matt Holliday entered Thursday batting .328/.464/.520 with seven home runs, 16 doubles, six triples, 50 RBIs and 20 stolen bases across 70 games with Low-A Delmarva and High-A Aberdeen.

Kjerstad, the No. 2 pick in 2020, is among three former top-10 draft picks set to compete. The former Arkansas star missed the first two years of his career with heart and hamstring ailments but has quickly ascended through Baltimore’s farm system, earning a promotion to Triple-A Norfolk last month. The 24-year-old outfielder, ranked the eighth-best prospect in Baltimore’s system and No. 77 overall according to Baseball America, entered Thursday batting .322/.411/.611 with five home runs, seven doubles, two triples and 12 RBIs in 24 games for the Tides.

Harold Reynolds, a two-time All-Star, former Oriole and current MLB Network analyst, will manage the AL squad, while Raul Ibañez, a former outfielder and the current MLB senior vice president of on-field operations, will lead the NL.

All-Star Celebrity Softball Game

Following the Futures Game at approximately 10:15 p.m. Saturday night, also on Peacock, is the celebrity softball game, featuring Joel McHale, JoJo Siwa, Yandel, The Miz, Adam Devine, Skylar Astin, Zach LaVine, Jennie Finch, Félix Hernández, Bret Boone, Mike Cameron, Adam Jones and others.

Jones was a five-time All-Star and fan favorite in his 11 seasons in Baltimore, helping the Orioles win the American League East title and advance to the AL Championship Series in 2014. Hernández, a six-time All-Star and 2010 Cy Young Award winner with the Mariners, briefly spent time at Orioles spring training in 2021 before retiring. Cameron, a 2001 All-Star with Seattle and three-time Gold Glove Award winner, is the father of Orioles prospect Daz Cameron, an outfielder in Triple-A.

2023 MLB draft

Orioles fans will have a much longer wait to see who will be the team’s top draft pick this time around.

After five years of drafting in the top five — including a pair of No. 1 overall selections — Baltimore has the No. 17 pick in the first round, which will begin Sunday at 7 p.m. at Lumen Field and be televised on ESPN and MLB Network.

Starting pitcher Paul Skenes and center fielder Dylan Crews of national champion LSU are expected to be the top two picks, in some order, by the Pittsburgh Pirates and Washington Nationals, with Florida outfielder Wyatt Langford likely to follow at No. 3 to the Detroit Tigers.

Among the Orioles’ options at No. 17, according to several mock drafts, are Florida right-hander Hurston Waldrep, TCU third baseman Brayden Taylor, Strawberry Crest High (Florida) shortstop Arjun Nimmala and James Madison High (Virginia) first baseman-pitcher Bryce Eldridge.

The remaining selections will begin at 2 p.m. Monday (Rounds 3-10) and Tuesday (Rounds 11-20), with coverage livestreamed at MLB.com. Other notable Orioles picks include Nos. 53 (second round), 63 (Competitive Balance Round B), 86 (third round), 100 (compensation for not signing 2022 third-rounder Nolan McLean), 118 (fourth round) and 154 (fifth round).

Home Run Derby

For the second time in three years, an Oriole will compete in the Home Run Derby.

Catcher Adley Rutschman, playing in his first All-Star Game at the major league ballpark closest to his hometown of Sherwood, Oregon, joins a star-studded group of sluggers Monday at 8 p.m. at T-Mobile Park.

Despite his impressive pedigree as the former top prospect in baseball, the 25-year-old Rutschman will be the clear underdog, having hit 24 home runs in his first two seasons in the majors.

That total trails a field that includes two-time winner Pete Alonso of the New York Mets (171 career home runs), Mookie Betts of the Los Angeles Dodgers (236), Vladimir Guerrero Jr. of the Toronto Blue Jays (117), Adolis Garcia of the Texas Rangers (79), Randy Arozarena of the Tampa Bay Rays (64), Luis Robert Jr. of the Chicago White Sox (61) and Julio Rodríguez of the Seattle Mariners (41).

The eighth seed, Rutschman will face Robert, the No. 1 seed, in the first round.

Rutschman, who hit 28 home runs in three seasons at Oregon State and 30 more in the minors, said he will have his father, Randy, pitch to him in the competition.

“Just one of those things that I think you dream about as a kid,” Rutschman said. “To be able to do it with my dad, it’s awesome.”

Trey Mancini was the last Oriole to compete in the Derby, finishing as a surprising runner-up to Alonso in 2021 less than two years after being diagnosed with stage 3 colon cancer. Rutschman will aim to be the first catcher to win the event.

All-Star Game

Before players take the field for the 93rd MLB All-Star Game on Tuesday, they’ll get a chance to walk the red carpet at Pike Place Market. Coverage begins at 2 p.m. on MLB Network.

At 7:30 p.m., Fox will begin its live broadcast with the pregame ceremony and player introductions before first pitch at 8 p.m.

The rosters have already changed since being announced Sunday, with New York Yankees slugger Aaron Judge, Los Angeles Angels outfielder Mike Trout and Baltimore-born Rays left-hander Shane McClanahan among those sitting out because of injury. The game’s starting pitchers have yet to be announced.

Rutschman lost the fan vote to Texas Rangers catcher Jonah Heim, a former Orioles draft pick, to start the All-Star Game, but was later named a reserve alongside Hays, Bautista and Cano. Hays ranks third in the AL with a .312 batting average, while Bautista (23 saves, 1.13 ERA, 18.2 strikeouts per nine innings) and Cano (1.51 ERA, 8.0 K/9) have formed a dominant duo at the back end of the Orioles’ bullpen.

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