Opinion

The New York Mets' Matt Harvey landed on the disabled list Wednesday with shoulder discomfort, and there's simply no positive way to spin that.

We're talking about one of the game's top pitchers when he's right. And we're talking about a Mets team that's fighting to stay in the National League playoff money one season after advancing to the World Series.

While the MLB All-Star Game is the one that counts for the World Series home advantage, the Home Run Derby is usually the most entertaining event of the week. This is especially true after the added twist in the rules last season.

Todd Frazier took the title in the first year with the new format, featuring a head-to-head bracket as well as a clock to provide some added excitement.

MLB Communications provided a breakdown of the rules last year:

If there's somethin' strange in your neighborhood, who ya gonna call?

Yeah, yeah, we know. Ghostbusters!

But on the baseball field this time of year, if there's somethin' weird, and it don't look good, who ya gonna call?

Starbusters!

We better have a good excuse if we're going to put a modern pitcher in the company of Randy Johnson and Pedro Martinez. Their names are not to be used lightly.

Currently providing a good excuse, however, is Jose Fernandez.

Any fool can pick an All-Star starting lineup. All you have to do is sit at your computer and click away until you reach the voting limit or you get carpal tunnel syndrome, whichever comes first.

But choosing which pitchers should start the All-Star Game? That's up to Ned Yost and Terry Collins. And because the game counts, they can't make the call without putting some thought into it.

The annual announcement of the MLB All-Star Game rosters always sparks debate around the league.

With only 34 roster spots in each league, there are inevitably at least a handful of notable snubs each season. It simply boils down to a numbers game.

It's easy to forget that, before putting together a historically good second half last season, Chicago Cubs ace Jake Arrieta was snubbed from the NL roster.

At the same time, the rosters have also been known to produce a surprise or two.

Who predicted Josh Harrison would earn a spot in 2014?

There's never enough room on the MLB All-Star rosters for every deserving player. 

Both leagues' stacked Midsummer Classic teams were revealed Tuesday night. For every feel-good story recognized, some great players are left with nothing to show for their stellar starts.

When we think of the notion that pitching wins championships, we tend to think only in terms of World Series crowns. But pitching wins pennants as well—and some of that pitching arrives via in-season trades.

Consider this: Only once in the past six editions of the Fall Classic—2013—has neither participant had at least one starting pitcher in its rotation who wasn't acquired after Opening Day.

While MLB won't announce the starters until Tuesday night, the latest voting results provide a good indication of which players will represent their leagues in the 2016 MLB All-Star Game.

MLB Communications released the latest tally as of June 27, three days before the voting closed on June 30. The winners at each position will then be announced Tuesday at 7 p.m. ET on ESPN.

Right now, the Los Angeles Dodgers' focus is aimed intently at Clayton Kershaw's lower back.

Until the three-time Cy Young Award-winner and 2014 National League MVP returns from the disabled list, little else matters for the Dodgers.