Morning Mound Visit: Pete Alonso wins second consecutive Home Run Derby

Alonso wins again; The Pirates’ big day; Marcus Semien’s success

Chris McShane | Amazin’ Avenue: Pete Alonso won his second consecutive Home Run Derby with a grand total of 74 home runs. Trey Mancini, who was undergoing chemotherapy a year ago, made it to the finals. Shohei Ohtani and Juan Soto also went into a double swing-off with Soto coming out on top.

J.J. Cooper | Baseball America $: The Pirates surprised everyone when they took Henry Davis first overall, but that was part of a larger strategy that paid off Monday. Pittsburgh came away with multiple first-round talents on Day 2. J.J. Cooper explains how.

Jeremy Siegel | Pitcher List: Marcus Semien will be starting at second base for the American League, and that’s well-deserved after he posted a .372 wOBA and 3.8 fWAR in the first half. This would be Semien’s second year with a wRC+ in triple digits, so it’s reasonable to wonder if this production is sustainable. Dynamic hard-hit rate might say no.

Quick Hits

Here are the All-Star Game lineups.

Here’s what Pete Alonso did to those poor, defenseless baseballs.

Here’s Juan Soto hitting a ball 520 feet.