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[July 12, 2016] The Sports Xchange

07/12/2016 MLB Note - Chicago Cubs Arrieta, Jake

RHP Jake Arrieta is leaning toward sitting out Tuesday's MLB All-Star Game in San Diego, his agent, Scott Boras, confirmed via ESPN on Monday. The reigning National League Cy Young Award winner is 12-4 with a 2.68 ERA and 121 strikeouts but has struggled recently, losing three of his last four starts. The Cubs are trying to keep Arrieta fresh for an anticipated October run after he admittedly tired late last season.

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MLB Note - Boston Red Sox Kimbrel, Craig

RHP Craig Kimbrel underwent a successful left knee arthroscopy and partial medial meniscectomy surgery on Monday afternoon. The procedure was performed by head team orthopedist Dr. Peter Asnis at Massachusetts General Hospital, and Kimbrel is expected to miss three to six weeks while recovering. Kimbrel, acquired in an offseason trade with San Diego, sustained the injury while catching fly balls in the outfield during batting practice before last Friday's game against Houston. The 28-year-old flamethrower was placed on the 15-day disabled list Saturday with a left knee medial meniscus tear. Kimbrel, named an All-Star for the fifth time in his career, is 1-3 with a 3.55 ERA and 17 saves in 34 appearances this season.

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MLB Note - Los Angeles Angels Cron, C.J.

1B C.J. Cron will have surgery Tuesday to repair a left hand fracture, with a six-to-eight week timetable for recovery expected. Cron was hit in the hand by a pitch from Baltimore Orioles right-hander Mike Wright in the sixth inning of the Angels' win over Baltimore on Friday. The 26-year-old is batting .278 with 11 home runs and 50 RBIs this season, including batting .364 with five home runs and 17 RBIs in July. The Angels are currently last in the American League West with a 37-52 record at the All-Star break.

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MLB Note - New York Mets Syndergaard, Noah

RHP Noah Syndergaard plans to scale back his side sessions in a bid to keep his pitching arm in top-notch form. Syndergaard left his most recent start with arm fatigue and was held out of the All-Star Game on Tuesday as a result. "It is kind of frustrating, because I think I do a really good job of taking care of my body and making sure I'm able to compete and go about my routine every day," the 23-year-old Syndergaard said on Monday. "I've just got to take a step back and really evaluate what my routine has been. Just throwing way too much between starts is really the only thing I'm going to taper back, and see how that goes." Syndergaard's traditional routine has been one 35-pitch bullpen session in between starts. He plans to test his arm on Tuesday and hopes to return to the Mets' rotation on July 19 against the Chicago Cubs. Syndergaard owns a 9-4 mark with a 2.56 ERA in 17 starts this season. He has struck out 128 batters in 105 2/3 innings.

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MLB Note - No MLB Team Free Agents Jepsen, Kevin

RHP Kevin Jepsen was released by the Twins on Monday. Jepsen was designated for assignment last week and went through waivers unclaimed. The 31-year-old right-hander posted a 2-5 mark with a gaudy 6.16 ERA and 22 walks in 30 2/3 innings with Minnesota this season. He had four blown saves among 11 opportunities in 2016 in the wake of Glen Perkins' injury in April. Acquired from Tampa Bay on July 31, Jepsen was far more successful for the Twins last season. He posted a 1-1 mark with a 1.61 ERA in 29 appearances, saving all but one of his 11 opportunities.

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MLB Note - San Francisco Giants Cueto, Johnny

RHP Johnny Cueto and LHP Chris Sale were tabbed on Monday as the starting pitchers for their respective leagues in the upcoming All-Star Game. Considering Sale (14-3, 3.38 ERA) and Cueto (13-1, 2.47 ERA) are the lone hurlers with more than 12 wins this season, sending them to start Tuesday's tilt at San Diego's Petco Park was a logical choice for both All-Star managers. Cueto, 30, is slated to pitch in the Midsummer Classic for the first time and deserves the honor, according to National League manager Terry Collins of the New York Mets. "This guy has pitched the best in this first half of the season," Collins said. "And he deserves this opportunity for what he did -- and for what he did to us in the World Series last year."

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MLB Note - Chicago White Sox Sale, Chris

LHP Chris Sale and RHP Johnny Cueto were tabbed on Monday as the starting pitchers for their respective leagues in the upcoming All-Star Game. Considering Sale (14-3, 3.38 ERA) and Cueto (13-1, 2.47 ERA) are the lone hurlers with more than 12 wins this season, sending them to start Tuesday's tilt at San Diego's Petco Park was a logical choice for both All-Star managers. "For me, it was a real easy choice," American League manager Ned Yost of the Kansas City Royals said. "Chris being in my division (AL Central), I've had a chance to watch him really develop into a superstar pitcher." The 27-year-old Sale has 123 strikeouts in 125 innings heading into his fifth All-Star appearance while Sale has fanned 113 in 131 1/3 frames this season.

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MLB Note - Chicago White Sox Frazier, Todd

3B Todd Frazier came up short in his pursuit of becoming the third back-to-back winner in Home Run Derby history Monday night. Ken Griffey Jr. (1998-99) and Yoenis Cespedes (2013-14) were the others. Frazier blasted 42 homers, one more than Bobby Abreu's record 41 in 2005, but fell way short of winner Miami RF Giancarlo Stanton, who hit 61. Frazier hit 13 homers in the final round, seven fewer than Stanton. Frazier, now with the Chicago White Sox, won last year's Home Run Derby as a member of the All-State Game host Cincinnati Reds.

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MLB Note - Baltimore Orioles Trumbo, Mark

1B Mark Trumbo lost to eventual Home Run Derby champion Giancarlo Stanton in the semifinal round Monday night. Trumbo was edged 17-14 in the semifinal round after defeating Corey Seager of the Los Angeles Dodgers, 16-15, in the opening round.

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MLB Note - Miami Marlins Stanton, Giancarlo

RF Giancarlo Stanton belted an event-record 61 homers, topping defending champ 3B Todd Frazier to win his first Home Run Derby on Monday night. Thirty-nine of Stanton's shots topped 440 feet. His longest launch of the night was 497 feet in the first round, which is 39 feet longer than the longest homer hit during the first 12 1/2 seasons of baseball at the downtown home of the San Diego Padres. "I knew I could do it endurance-wise," Stanton said. "It's just if my bat, my swing is going to fall apart a little bit. I knew I could do it if I was in there and luckily my bat path stayed where it needed to be." Stanton's 61 homers traveled an estimated 27,187 feet -- or 5.15 miles. He homered on five straight balls once in all three rounds. He is the first player in Marlins franchise history to win the Derby.

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