There’s always something fascinating going on in the world of baseball—and there’s always something new. Every Friday morning throughout the season, heading into the weekend, inspired by Zach Lowe’s terrific “10 Things I Like” NBA column for ESPN, we present the Five Fascinations, five fun things going on in the baseball world. Also, we’d like to shout out the always excellent Ben Clemens at FanGraphs, another progenitor of a similar format. Submit your personal fascinations to [email protected], or just yell at me about mine.

This week: A special all All-Star edition of the Five Fascinations. There’s a lot happening in baseball over the next several days, from the Futures Game and the Draft to the Home Run Derby and the All-Star Game. So this week, we’re going to focus just on those activities. After all, they’re fun activities!

1. Maybe it’s time for José Ramírez to have his moment

I have long argued that Ramírez needs a nickname. I don’t have anything immediately in mind, but there has to be some reason a player who’s been this good for this long remains so low-profile around baseball. This is a player who has finished in the top 10 of AL MVP voting six out of the past seven years -- and who probably should have won in 2020. (History might not look back kindly on voters picking José Abreu over him that year; Ramírez did finish a close second.) Ramírez has been around long enough that he homered in the 2016 World Series. He’s almost certain to end up the ninth member of the 300-300 career homers/steals club. He's fantastic. But the common baseball conversation doesn’t bring him up nearly as much as it should: More kids should be wearing his jersey, is what I’m saying.

If there’s ever a year that’s going to change, it’s this one. Ramírez is the American League’s starting third baseman in the All-Star Game -- his sixth appearance. He’s signed up for the Home Run Derby, and unlike the last time he was in it, he isn’t nursing any sort of injury. He’s the star player, along with Steven Kwan, on the club with the best record in the American League. He has a chance to truly shine on one of baseball’s greatest stages. The guy has deserved to break through for years; It sure would be nice if this is finally the week he does.

2. The major effect of the new Home Run Derby rules

Major League Baseball switched up the Home Run Derby rules this year, and while the changes aren’t nearly as dramatic as they were back in 2015, there is one pretty big wrinkle I’m not sure people have quite caught on to yet. The headline change was that the “knockout” round won’t arrive until the semifinals: After all eight competitors get their turn, the top four advance; then it will be the regular Derby you’ve come to know. That’s no big deal, I don’t think.

• Everything to know about this year’s Home Run Derby

The bigger change, I’d argue, is the pitch limit. In the first round and the semifinal round, batters will get three minutes or 40 pitches, whichever comes first. In the finals, they get two minutes or 27 pitches. Every time you’ve ever seen the pitcher make a bad pitch in the Home Run Derby before, it’s been no big deal: They can just hurry up and throw another one. But now, each one of those bad pitches is going to cost a hitter more than just time. You only get 40 chances to swing … and one of those was just wasted by a pitch two feet outside. The batting practice pitchers have always been a hugely important (and often overlooked) aspect of the Home Run Derby. But now they’re absolutely vital. You thought there was stress on those pitchers before? Every bad pitch takes a potential homer away by definition now. No pressure!

3. These Futures Game guys will move fast

I think most people imagine the players in the Futures Game being a lot further away from MLB than they actually are. I wonder if it’s partly the name: Futures Game. It sounds like you’re going to see a spaceship, or they’re going to be wearing those sleeveless Futures jerseys or something. There’s a sense that these players are a part of a distant future, rather than an immediate one.

But that isn’t correct. Do you know how many players who appeared in last year’s Futures Game have already made their Major League debuts? Would you believe there have been 25? That’s about half the players in the game reaching the Majors within the next year. The list includes the Cubs’ Pete-Crow Armstrong, the Braves’ Spencer Schwellenbach, the Tigers’ Colt Keith, the Nationals’ James Wood, the Brewers’ Jackson Chourio and … current Padres All-Star Jackson Merrill. (Pretty ironic that of the three Jacksons who played in last year’s Futures Game -- Merrill, Chourio and Holliday -- it’s Merrill who reached the ASG first.) If you watch this year’s Futures Game, you will not be seeing what MLB will look like in five years. You may be seeing what it looks like in five weeks.

4. Speaking of the new guys ….

It is something special to make an All-Star Game. Heck, even if you only make one, you can write “ASG” next to your autograph on baseballs the rest of your life. There are a stunning 36 first-time All-Stars this year, ranging from rookies like Merrill to vets like Jurickson Profar. Some of these guys are just stopping by, and some obviously have many more in their future. But I’m fascinated by how the first-timers will do in their first big moment on the national stage. Will any popping-by players etch their names in history? Will any newcomer announce themselves as a star to watch for years?

Here's my guess for each: As for a future (and current) star who may be here many more times, Gunnar Henderson and Paul Skenes are obvious choices, but can I go with Tarik Skubal? The Tigers starter has been one of the best pitchers in baseball for a year now, and hardly anyone outside Detroit knows it. Wouldn’t it be fun to just see him wipe out some NL sluggers, Pedro-style?

• Skenes named NL starting pitcher for All-Star Game

And the veteran: How about Cleveland’s David Fry? At the age of 27, he’s having one of the best seasons at the plate in baseball, even if there are two players on his own (first-place) team outshining him. David Fry, 2024 ASG MVP, definitely sounds like something we’ll have a hard time remembering at bar trivia in a decade.

5. An up-close look at the possible top overall pick

I’m no Draft expert -- actually, I am nothing resembling anything even close to a Draft expert -- but the general consensus is that Cleveland is going to choose one of two players with the top overall pick: Oregon State second baseman Travis Bazzana or Georgia third baseman/outfielder Charlie Condon. (You occasionally hear the names JJ Wetherholt and Jac Caglianone as well.) I can’t speak much to Bazzana, Wetherholt or Caglianone, I’m afraid, but I do live in Athens, Ga., and my house is a five-minute walk from Foley Field -- where Condon and his Georgia Bulldogs played their home games this year. So I can talk briefly about him.

And I have to say: While I am no scout, you can tell immediately how different Condon is from almost any other ballplayer. What you notice first, and most, is his swing, which has a certain and undeniable controlled violence to it: Even his practice swings cause a breeze you can feel in all different parts of the ballpark. Condon’s rise to top prospect status was swift and surprising, but he sure doesn’t carry himself like a guy who came out of nowhere: He has the vibe of someone who has always considered himself the best player on the field -- which he always has been.

There are some flaws here, as I still can’t figure out where he’s going to play defensively, but it’s fair to say he’s no young Nolan Arenado. Regardless, Condon sure looks like a guy who will help a team immediately, and if Cleveland (which is likely to make the postseason and could use power) takes him, that may well mean immediately. No matter what, I do know this: Whoever gets him is going to love him.

Fun Series of the Weekend: Yankees at Orioles

As tempted as I am to pick the four-game set between the Cardinals and Cubs at Busch Stadium -- largely because my son and I will be at three of those games -- the obvious pick is this AL East battle at Camden Yards. While the Orioles lead the division, they have not pulled away despite the Yankees’ recent struggles. Gerrit Cole gets the start Friday night, and there’s a non-zero chance that, despite all the Yanks’ issues, they could fight themselves back into first place by the end of the weekend. Alternately: They could wind up further behind than they’ve been all year.