Starting Pitcher: Zack Wheeler
Starters-Temporarily-Relievers: Paul Skenes, Logan Webb, MacKenzie Gore, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Andrew Abbott, Cristopher Sánchez
Next Men Up / Heartbreak Hotel: Chris Sale (injured), Spencer Schwellenbach (injured), Kodai Senga (injured), Ranger Suárez, Jesús Luzardo, Freddy Peralta, Sonny Gray, Matthew Boyd, Jacob Misiorowski
Though we’re leaving the injured Chris Sale and Spencer Schwellenbach off the roster, it wouldn’t be surprising in the least to see one or both of those pitchers from the hometown team make the cut for Sunday’s announcement before getting immediately replaced. (If that’s the case, it would probably be Yoshinobu Yamamoto and/or Cristopher Sánchez initially left out.)
As far as the starter among starters goes, however, pick your poison between Paul Skenes and Zack Wheeler, who are tied for the MLB lead in bWAR among pitchers. Unfortunately, it does appear to be a moot argument at the moment, with Skenes on track to pitch next Sunday and thus probably unavailable for the ASG. But if he’s named the starter for a second consecutive year, it would be deserved.
Beyond that dynamic duo, nothing not to like here, aside from the injury bug ravaging the NL East.
Logan Webb has already been maybe the best pitcher in baseball dating back to 2021, and he’s having the best season of his career. MacKenzie Gore is 3-8 thanks to a lethal combination of poor run support and worse bullpen support, but he was on pace for 300 strikeouts for a while there. Andrew Abbott has only made five quality starts to date, but he has a pristine 1.79 ERA. And for guys who might be injury replacements, both Yamamoto and Sánchez are more than viable Cy Young threats.
Final thought: If enough of these pitchers miss the game—we already know Sale and Schwellenbach are out, Kodai Senga presumably won’t be available and both Skenes and Sánchez are on track to pitch on Sunday—we’d be perfectly happy to see Jacob Misiorowski on the roster after what would be just five career starts. If Skenes could start the game last year after 11 appearances, Le Mis and his absurd 96 MPH slider can be a “break in case of emergency” option, right?
