Aaron Judge won the Home Run Derby - A Hunt and Peck

Monday night was the Home Run Derby and it did not disappoint. The new format once again brought excitement and tension as well as kept the derby from lasting longer than fans’ attention spans. This year had the added element of rookie Aaron Judge, whose existence as a massive human captured the baseball world’s attention at the beginning of this season and kept it by blasting thirty dingers. On Monday night he put on a clinic, earning his first of what appears to be many Home Run Derby titles.

Check it out here.

Aaron Judge is the prototype for baseball’s beefy future | SBNation.com

The Home Run Derby is pure, uncut baseball candy | SBNation.com

Just how giant is New York Yankees All-Star Aaron Judge? | ESPN

Holliday on Judge: 'He'll hit balls in the Home Run Derby that people won't believe' | Derrick Goold: Bird Land | stltoday.com

what else is going on in baseball...

• Miguel Sano found lightning both in his bat and outside the field on one Home Run Derby blast | MLB.com
• Justin Bour's Home Run Derby performance was not only impressive, it included doughnuts | MLB.com
• Justin Bour, Same As He Ever Was | FanGraphs Baseball
• Thanks to his giant hands, Joel Embiid walked away with two Home Run Derby souvenirs | MLB.com
• The Recent History of Free-Agent Pricing | FanGraphs Baseball
• The Worst Called Strike of the First Half | FanGraphs Baseball
• Rob Manfred won’t expand MLB while it needs new cities as stadium leverage | SBNation.com
• Derek Jeter and Michael Jordan might be buying the Marlins | SBNation.com
• MLB All-Star Game 2017 change: How is World Series home-field advantage now determined? | SBNation.com
• Fellow Marlins remember Jose Fernandez 'This would be his stage' | ESPN

what the cardinals are up to...

• Hochman: A look at the maddening — yet masterful — Matt Carpenter | Benjamin Hochman | stltoday.com
• Molina savors return to All-Star Game after being bypassed | St. Louis Cardinals | stltoday.com
• FLASHBACK WEEK: The 'Monday Night Miracle' to 'Go Crazy, Folks'...My Top 1980s Sports Moments | 101Sports.com

KNOW THINE ENEMY...

the american league

• All-Stars take stage at 7:30 ET tonight on FOX | MLB.com
• 2017 MLB All Star Game positional breakdown | MLB.com
• Which All-Star Roster Is More Talented? | FanGraphs Baseball
• This time it DOESN'T count ... and that's a good thing for the MLB All-Star Game | ESPN
• Olney: Baseball's lost All-Star opportunity | Buster Olney Blog | ESPN
• Ranking the best thing about every 2017 MLB All-Star | SweetSpot | ESPN
• 2017 MLB All-Star Game odds: AL looks to continue dominance as small betting underdog | SBNation.com

the nl central

• Wake-up call: Joe Maddon's 'awkward' All-Star Game; Wade Davis uses the force; Gar Forman not turning back on rebuild | CSN Chicago