2024 MLB All-Star Game Predictions For The Winning Team, Run Total, And MVP
Hopefully, the 2024 MLB All-Star Game at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas will be interesting Tuesday since the 2024 MLB Home Run Derby sucked. Maybe I'm just butt-hurt because I didn't pick the winner. For the record, I profited off the derby despite going 2-2 on bets. Los Angeles Dodgers slugger, and eventual winner, Teoscar Hernandez beat Rangers OF Adolis Garcia in an upset in Round 1.
But, there was no juice in the home run derby. Some liquored-up country music singer, Ingrid Andress, butchered the national anthem. Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Yankees superstars, Shohei Ohtani and Aaron Judge, declined to participate. The biggest star in the home run derby was two-time champion, New York Mets 1B Pete Alonso, who stunk and didn't make it past the first round.
Anyways, the American League has owned the National League in the MLB All-Star Game my whole life. Since 1986 (my birth year), the AL is 28-8-1 vs. the NL. Granted, the NL snapped the AL's nine-game winning streak in the Midsummer Classic last year with a 3-2 victory. Between that dominance and me growing up a Yankees fan, all I know as a baseball fan is the AL mopping the NL.
Will this year be different? Spoiler alert: No.
MLB All-Star Game 2024 Odds (FanDuel)
- Moneyline: National League (+100) | AMERICAN LEAGUE (-122)
- Run line: NL -1.5 (+172) | AL +1.5 (-210)
- Total — 7.5 — Over (+100) | UNDER (-122)
Instead of doing my deep dive people will probably skip, I'll just go off of vibes. The AL East is perennially the best division in baseball. The Central divisions are usually the worst. Well, the AL Central has three teams with a winning record, including the Cleveland Guardians at 58-37. The NL Central has two winning teams and the first-place Milwaukee Brewers are just 55-42.
Tampa Bay Rays 3B Yandy Díaz rounds the bases after hitting a solo home run in the 2023 MLB All-Star Game at T-Mobile Park in Seattle, Washington. (Daniel Shirey/MLB Photos via Getty Images)
Also, according to FOX Sports via BetMGM's John Ewing, the UNDER has cashed in 13 of the last 17 MLB All-Star Games. There have been seven or fewer runs scored in four straight Midsummer Classics. My analysis for this is simple: Pitchers are still hit in the mid-90s on the gun and batters aren't as locked for the All-Star game. It's insanely difficult to hit a 95+ mph pitch. I.e. you must be "locked in".
Furthermore, teams don't advance runners anymore, it's all about the longball nowadays. That said, seven of the top-10 home run hitters in baseball play in the AL, including Judge, who hit an MLB-best 34 dingers during the first half. All five runs scored in last year's All-Star game were off of homers.
All-Star Game MVP: Guardians 3B Jose Ramirez (+3000)
Even though recent All-Star games have been low-scoring, a batter has won All-Star Game MVP in eight of the last nine games. With that in mind, Ramirez's 30-to-1 odds jump out to me since he is a starter who should get at least two at-bats.
Cleveland Guardians 3B Jose Ramirez hits a double in the 2023 MLB All-Star Game. (Steven Bisig-USA TODAY Sports)
This is Ramirez's sixth All-Star appearance. In his first All-Star game (2017), Ramirez went 2-for-2 with a stolen base. He went hitless in 2018 and 2021, then was 2-for-2 in the 2022 MLB All-Star Game while scoring one run. Last year, J-Ram went 1-for-2 with a double in the Midsummer Classic.
2024 MLB All-Star Game Best Bets:
- American League -122 moneyline
- UNDER 7.5 (-122)
- Cleveland Guardians 3B Jose Ramirez to win MVP (+3000)
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