Bet on a low-scoring 2024 MLB All-Star game when the NL and AL face off in Texas

Globe Life Field will be the site of Tuesday’s Midsummer Classic as the National League will try to win back-to-back All-Star games for the first time since the 2012 season.

Last year, Colorado’s Elias Diaz hit a go-ahead two-run home run in the top of the eighth inning off Baltimore’s Felix Bautista to give the National League a 3-2 win. Diaz’s homer helped snap a nine-game losing streak for the NL in the All-Star game.

The American League still holds a 47-44-2 overall edge in the series, outscoring the National League 383-377.

While it’ll be interesting to see if the National League can start to make up some ground since it now utilizes a designated hitter, the total still offers more value than picking a side in the contest.

Odds via DraftKings

With baseball becoming much more specialized in terms of its players, it’s not entirely surprising to see some of those changes seep into the All-Star Game.

Starting pitchers no longer pitch multiple innings in the game, as we’re a long way off from the six innings Lefty Gomez pitched in the 1935 Midsummer Classic.

Organizations are very keen on monitoring pitch counts in the modern era, and no manager wants to be guilty of overworking a pitcher in an exhibition game.

The Midsummer Classic has evolved into a game that’s more about participation, with both managers looking to get as many players into the contest as possible. Moreover, the constant rotation of pitchers makes it difficult for hitters to develop any kind of familiarity.

Thus, given these changes, it’s even more difficult to expect these games to be high-scoring.

A recent article by the Associated Press’s Ronald Blum highlights that while hitters’ batting averages (.243) have reached a half-century low, pitching velocity is at an all-time high. You have to go back to 1968 (.237) to find an MLB season with a lower batting average.

And, according to the Athletic’s Eno Sarris, the average four-seam major-league fastball – based on the out-of-the-hand methodology used to measure pitch speed today – has increased in velocity every season since MLB started tracking it in 2007. Four-seam fastballs are up from 91.1 mph to 94.1.

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Pirates rookie pitcher Paul Skenes will start for the National League, becoming the first-ever MLB player to make an All-Star team one year after being selected No. 1 in the draft.

The right-hander averages 99.1 mph on his four-seam fastball as he’s just one example of the evolution of pitching in the major leagues.

MLB teams are averaging 6.81 runs per game, the lowest mark since the 2020 season (6.98).

Considering the business of specialization with pitchers today and the decline in hitting or the ability to score runs, the under of 7.5 runs offers plenty of value for the 2024 MLB All-Star game.

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