Column: With Pete Crow-Armstrong, Jacob Wilson and ‘The Miz,' baseball's future is in good hands

Chicago Tribune

3 days ago

ATLANTA — Making his seventh All-Star Game appearance Tuesday night at Truist Park, New York Yankees slugger Aaron Judge suddenly felt ancient at age 33.
'My biggest takeaway is that I keep getting older,' Judge said. 'You keep seeing young guys come in here. I look over to see the A's Jacob Wilson, who's 23 years old and starting his first All-Star Game. You can see the excitement and joy in his eyes walking around here enjoying the festivities. It's pretty cool.
'Just trying to enjoy every moment, soak it in and share the knowledge I can with these young guys and go out and win this All-Star Game.'
One of those young guys he wanted to see was Chicago Cubs center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong, 23, who shared a couple of special moments with Judge last weekend at Yankee Stadium after they robbed each other of extra-base hits in the outfield.
'I'm definitely going to find him,' Judge told me. 'We both kind of gave each other little nods after each one. That was fun. That's what it's all about — we're out there competing. Obviously he wants to win, and I want to win as well. But having a little friendly competition there, some gamesmanship.'
It started Friday when Judge leaped high against the right-field wall to rob Crow-Armstrong of a home run into the short porch. Crow-Armstrong waved his hand in mock disgust as he headed back to the dugout.
'Yeah, he gave me a little nod and whatnot,' Crow-Armstrong said of the back-and-forth. 'That guy is nuts. I don't even really want to talk about him.
'It's harder a lot of the time to appreciate what a guy is doing across the field when he's beating up on you, except for that. That was very easy to appreciate because of the greatness he displayed.'
Crow-Armstrong reciprocated the next day with a running catch in left-center to rob Judge.
This year's All-Star week belonged to Judge, the game's biggest star who is on pace to be remembered as one of the greatest hitters of all time. He and Shohei Ohtani were the main attractions for Fox Sports and fans watching Tuesday's game around the world.
Column: For Chicago's MLB All-Stars in Atlanta, a chance to show they belongWhile Judge figures to be back many more times, he sounded like he's OK with turning the game over to the next generation, the kids like Wilson, Crow-Armstrong and Home Run Derby finalist Junior Caminero, 22.
'It's amazing,' Judge said. 'From a lot of the young pitchers that we've seen over the last couple years to be called up and succeed, to some of these young guys we've heard about for a while on the prospects lists that are now getting a chance to be up here and now they're in an All-Star Game like everyone expected, it's pretty special. Hopefully I can hang on long enough to compete at these events with these guys.'
Wilson, the Athletics shortstop and son of former infielder Jack Wilson, is having such a brilliant rookie season, fans voted him in as an American League starter over the Kansas City Royals' Bobby Witt Jr., 25, who was selected as a reserve. The Wilsons became the 20th father-son All-Star duo.
Jacob Wilson could be a trendsetter if kids follow his lead and use their video game skills to hone their batting skills, as he does daily.
'Just a theory,' he said. 'Nothing to prove it.'
I asked him how that worked, since most Gen Z gamers I know are inside with their controls instead of outside practicing their hitting.
'Obviously it's a little different,' he said. 'It's not going to work for everybody. But for me, I think the training-the-brain part (works). It's just being able to recognize stuff on the game before I go to the field, making those quick decisions on the game before I make quick decisions in the box. It's something I've always thought in the back of my head, 'Oh, this is kind of helping me.''
Can gamers emulate his methods?
'I try to tell the young kids, 'Stay in school, do your homework, don't just go home and play video games,'' Wilson said with a laugh. 'But young kids, once they finish their homework, they can go play and hopefully train themselves mentally to have the (skills) you need to play this sport.'
Which player does he like to use in MLB: The Show?
'I would say me, but I don't have a lot of power,' he said. 'I'd say Aaron Judge is pretty fun to use because when you hit it, it goes far.'
The next-gen All-Star getting the most attention in Atlanta was Milwaukee Brewers pitcher Jacob Misiorowski, 23, who was chosen as a replacement for Cubs starter Matthew Boyd when Boyd opted for rest.
'The Miz,' who stands 6-foot-7 and has a 103 mph fastball and 96 mph slider, is already a phenom. He has thrown 89 pitches of 100 mph or more — one reason he became the fastest player to be named an All-Star, with only five starts under his belt.
The controversial decision Commissioner Rob Manfred signed off on was meant to create buzz for the game, while it upset baseball purists. Tuesday's National League starter, 23-year-old Paul Skenes of the Pittsburgh Pirates, made his All-Star debut last year after only 11 starts, while three other pitchers played in the game with only 13 appearances: the Detroit Tigers' Mark 'The Bird' Fidrych in 1976, the Los Angeles Dodgers' Hideo Nomo in 1995 and the Florida Marlins' Dontrelle Willis in 2003.
I asked Manfred if this would be the norm or if Misiorowski was a unique case.
'Replacements is a really difficult issue,' Manfred replied. 'We had worked our way through more replacements than I wished we had to, and when I looked at choices, I thought that the appropriate balance on this one was the excitement that was going to be generated, the fan interest in seeing this guy — and, you know, I actually thought the competition in the game cut the same direction.
'He's a very, very good pitcher on a very, very good run right now, so I saw that (choice) go that direction. Do I understand that five starts are short? I do. Do I want to make that the norm? No, I don't. But I think it was the right decision, given where we were.'
Cincinnati Reds outfielder Nick Castellanos said MLB was turning the All-Star Game into 'the Savannah Bananas,' meaning a gimmick that ignores the true meaning of an All-Star. Misiorowski handled the controversy well and said his fellow All-Stars treated him fine.
'I don't think they're really coming after me,' he said. 'It's more of what MLB put out. It's not something I've done to them, so I don't really think much of it. Guys are going to talk. They're going to say stuff. Oh, well.'
Still, Misiorowski told me being the center of attention was weird.
'Of course it's crazy I'm even in talks for being an All-Star, let alone being here,' he said. 'Growing up in a small town (Grain Valley, Mo.), it's a world of change. It's fun, it's crazy. But you have friends and family that are really supportive. It's been awesome.'
So how fast can a human being throw a baseball? Misiorowski said he read that 106 or 107 mph would be the physical limit. Does he want to be the first?
'I am happy with where I'm at,' he replied. 'So if it does go higher …'
It won't be the Miz. But whoever it is, rest assured that kid will be invited to pitch in the All-Star Game — as soon as he finishes his homework.