Team News
He’s in: Arizona Diamondbacks’ Ketel Marte named starter at 2nd base for NL All-Stars
“I’m grateful. I’m from Arizona,” Marte said in Spanish. “What Arizona has done for me and for my family is something incredible. Like I always say, this is my home, and I don’t even think I’m from the Dominican (Republic) anymore. I’m from here in Phoenix.”
Marte ‘so grateful’ to be voted All-Star starter for 3rd time
“It’s incredible,” Marte said. “I was out for one month, but I just worked hard. I know what kind of talent I have. I just want to thank everybody.”
https://www.mlb.com/dbacks/news/ketel-marte-voted-2025-nl-all-star-game-starter-at-second-base
Diamondbacks’ Ketel Marte Reacts to Winning All-Star Fan Vote
Nobody deserves it more. pic.twitter.com/SgWT63Eaal
— Arizona Diamondbacks (@Dbacks) July 3, 2025
Arizona Diamondbacks can’t find support from backups, lose to Giants in extra innings
“It’s not an easy balance with our bullpen right now. Some guys were unavailable and that’s why I sold out in the fifth inning,” Lovullo said. “I needed to take the lead and go with positive role (high leverage bullpen) guys. I felt like had we got through that fifth inning with the lead I would have gone in a different direction. So getting Jake in the game wasn’t the top priority, but I was glad that we could, and we discussed in a negative role and a down game, we were going to put him in.”
Diamondbacks Squander Opportunity in Extra-Inning Loss vs Giants
“It was a hard-fought game,” said manager Torey Lovullo postgame. “I was proud of the way we just kept coming back and all the way to the final out I felt like we were going to tie that score, and unfortunately we couldn’t get it done.”
MAKE SURE TO PUT “ALL-STAR” IN FRONT OF IT pic.twitter.com/3pwQVl4ZVr
— Arizona Diamondbacks (@Dbacks) July 3, 2025
Why Did Diamondbacks Send Juan Morillo to AAA?
“The big leagues is a totally different animal.” said Lovullo. “You throw where you’re needed. There’s going to be short segments of it, and you’re in and out of there. You’ve got to wear a bad outing and sit on it for four or five days. He’s going to get into a little bit more of a rhythm and schedule and give him a chance to fill up the strike zone and get that consistency back.”
Diamondbacks signing RHP Jake Woodford to major-league contract
https://arizonasports.com/mlb/arizona-diamondbacks/jake-woodford/3589005/
D-Backs, Seth Brown Agree To Deal
https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2025/07/d-backs-seth-brown-agree-to-deal.html
Other Baseball
2025 All-Star Game starters revealed
https://www.mlb.com/news/2025-mlb-all-star-game-starters
Dodgers’ Clayton Kershaw 20th ever to reach 3,000 strikeouts
https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/45651968/clayton-kershaw-reaches-3000-strikeouts-dodgers
12 facts behind Kershaw’s march to 3,000 strikeouts
https://www.mlb.com/news/clayton-kershaw-3-000-strikeouts-facts-and-stats
CLAYTON KERSHAW HAS THROWN 3000 CAREER STRIKEOUTS
HE BECOMES THE 20TH PITCHER IN MLB HISTORY TO REACH 3K
(via @MLB)pic.twitter.com/geVK6TZTEu
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) July 3, 2025
I generally avoid including Dodger games in my SB’s but for this, I will. Congrats to a future first ballot HOFer. RJ51’s 3,000th Strikeout was Mike Lowell and his 4,000th was Jeff Cirillo, If anyone wondered.
Kevin Pillar announces retirement after 13-season MLB career
Altuve passes Bagwell for 2nd on Astros’ all-time hits list with HOFer watching
https://www.mlb.com/news/jose-altuve-passes-jeff-bagwell-for-second-on-astros-all-time-hits-list
Rookie revelation Wilson to start All-Star Game for AL at shortstop
“This definitely was not on my mind back in Spring Training or before the year started,” Wilson said. “This is something you kind of dream of. Definitely a special day. It’s exciting. … We have great teammates and coaches here who have helped me along the way. I’m super grateful for them and super happy to be in this position.”
Big Dumper to start at catcher for AL in 1st All-Star Game
“It’s kind of like a dream come true with an All-Star Game and being a starter, but we definitely have bigger things ahead,” Raleigh said. “I’m looking forward to October with these guys and winning the World Series for them. That’s the real dream.”
https://www.mlb.com/mariners/news/cal-raleigh-al-starting-catcher-2025-all-star-game
Tucker, PCA to start All-Star Game in outfield together
https://www.mlb.com/cubs/news/kyle-tucker-pete-crow-armstrong-to-start-2025-all-star-game
O’Hearn named starting DH for AL in 1st All-Star selection
https://www.mlb.com/orioles/news/ryan-o-hearn-named-2025-al-all-star-starter-at-designated-hitter
Vlad Jr. named starting 1B in 5th ASG – and he’s over halfway to Dad’s total
https://www.mlb.com/bluejays/news/vladimir-guerrero-jr-named-starter-for-2025-all-star-game
J-Ram earns 7th All-Star selection, 4th as starter
https://www.mlb.com/guardians/news/jose-ramirez-to-start-2025-all-star-game-for-american-league
Acuña earns starting NL OF nod in hometown All-Star Game
https://www.mlb.com/braves/news/ronald-acuna-jr-named-starting-outfielder-for-2025-all-star-game
Anything Goes
This day in history:
https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/july-3
The three day Battle of Gettysburg ends. I thought the Siege of Vicksburg did too, but apparently that ended 7/4/1865. Either way, losing the Mississippi and Hooker sending Lee limping back to Virginia was the beginning of the end for the South.
The Battle of Gettysburg, July 1–3, 1863: Personalities, Heroics, and a Much-Needed Union Victory
This day in baseball:
https://www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/July_3
A cotton shirt takes 700 gallons of water to make.
That is enough water for one person to stay hydrated for 900 days. Meanwhile, the amount of water needed to create a pair of jeans is equivalent to hosing your lawn for 9 hours straight.
The Great Wall of China was built with rice.
One of the most unexpected interesting facts: For the Ming dynasty sections of the Great Wall, the bricks were held together by a mixture of sticky rice flour and slaked lime.
