MLB All-Star Game Missing Big-Name Pitchers

PHILADELPHIA — Does anybody want to pitch anymore in the MLB All-Star Game? 

Already facing the massive absence of megastars Shohei Ohtani and Aaron Judge, the league’s midseason showcase set for Tuesday at Citizens Bank Park is grappling with an accelerating run of top pitchers also not competing.

Among the latest developments: 

• Yankees pitcher Cam Schlittler, the current odds leader to win the American League Cy Young Award, will not play in the game after a 99-pitch outing on Saturday against the Nationals. Tuesday would have normally been a side throw day before his next start, allowing a short stint in the All-Star Game. Yankees manager Aaron Boone, however, said Schlittler’s current health will not permit that to happen. “Just feels like, on his recovery day, to go back out there throwing 100 miles an hour is something that he felt a little apprehensive about,” Boone said.
• Brewers pitcher Jacob Misiorowski, the current odds leader to win the National League Cy Young Award and an All-Star last year after just five appearances, was scratched Sunday from his final Brewers start before the break. “It [stinks] to miss a start and the All-Star Game, but I know it’s the right thing to do in this situation,” Misiorowski said. “My arm is a little tired.”
• Phillies pitcher Zack Wheeler rejected a bid to become an NL injury replacement in the game after being initially passed over for selection. “They disrespected me,” Wheeler said of MLB. “So I’m just not going to participate in that thing.”
• Reds starter Chase Burns is not playing in the All-Star Game after experiencing tightness in his right groin.
• Red Sox starter Ranger Suárez was originally selected for the AL team, but he went on the injured list Thursday with a strained left groin. 
• Ohtani’s pitching led to his missing the All-Star Game. The pain he experiences during his windup and delivery—but not while batting—is prompting a procedure this week to drain his left knee. 

Those situations add to MLB’s long-standing “Sunday starter” rule in which starting pitchers who were on the mound on the Sunday before the All-Star Game are ineligible to compete. Players falling into that category include Misiorowski before the latest decision to pull him, along with the Pirates’ Paul Skenes, the reigning NL Cy Young Award winner, among others. 

The two-time reigning AL Cy Young Award winner, the Tigers’ Tarik Skubal, is also not part of the All-Star Game after previously missing more than a month of the season due to injury. 

Changing Times

The run of voluntary opt-outs from the All-Star Game highlights the increasing tension surrounding all-star games in many major sports leagues—not just MLB. All of these events remain exhibitions, and in many instances, accepting the risk of injury while participating is becoming more difficult. It’s led the NFL to entirely change its all-star event into a flag football competition. 

“I think he understands what’s at stake here in the second half, for us and for him,” Boone said of Schlittler, referencing the Yankees’ ongoing pennant race despite battling injuries to several star players. “I’m certainly supportive of his decision.”

Fox, meanwhile, faces a further loss of star power as it will broadcast the game and seeks to regain viewership momentum after last year’s 3% audience drop.

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts, leading the NL squad in the MLB All-Star Game, named the Phillies’ Cristopher Sánchez to start the contest in front of his own Philadelphia fans. Blue Jays manager John Schneider, leading the AL squad, looked to his own organization and tapped ace Dylan Cease.