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Cristopher Sanchez or Jacob Misiorowski? Merit, calendar may determine All-Star fates WASHINGTON Cristopher Sanchez and Jacob Misiorowski are on a collision course that leads directly to Philadelphia on July 14.
The Phillies left-hander and the Milwaukee Brewers velocity-crazed right-hander are far and away the two best pitchers in the National League this season and could create a quandary for their teams and Major League Baseball, while opening up a year-old wound.
Which one starts the All-Star Game? In any other season, Sanchez would be an easy choice.
After all, the game is returning to Philly for the first time since 1996, and Sanchez posted the lions share of his amazing 55 2/3-inning scoreless streak longest in major league history for a left-hander at Citizens Bank Park.
Ah, but then theres Misiorowski, again posing a roadblock that could affect Sanchez.
The Brewers 6-foot-7 24-year-old leads major league qualified starters with a 1.45 ERA, 0.78 WHIP and 138 strikeouts in 93 innings.
He threw the fastest pitch ever recorded by a starting pitcher 104.5 mph and showed the Phillies how dominant he can be.
On June 12, Misiorowski threw a one-hit shutout with 15 strikeouts against the Phillies, just the third pitcher to punch out that many batters while allowing just one baserunner.
And while back in the day, the long ball was the in thing, nowadays its velocity that gets more clicks.
But can a case be made that Sanchez has both statistics and sentiment all of Philly wrapping their arms around him on his side? Theres so many deserving guys.
But I think its cool if someone can start in their home season, Phillies shortstop Trea Turner tells USA TODAY Sports, noting the atmosphere when Clayton Kershaw started the 2022 All-Star Game at Dodger Stadium.
I thought that was really cool.
Not that MIsiorowski isnt more than deserving he is, hes had an unbelievable season.
But I think the home starts cool.
The fans would love it and I think all of baseball would love it.
Yet several factors will determine which ace gets the ball or doesnt pitch at all in the Midsummer Classic.
A controversial choice, a pro response The Phillies were aghast.
They had a pair of left-handers Sanchez and Ranger Suarez having fantastic seasons.
Yet when a rash of pitcher replacements were required to substitute pitchers who started games the Saturday or Sunday before the 2025 All-Star Game in Atlanta, neither were chosen.
Instead, MLB opted to showcase Misiorowski, then a rookie with just five starts and a mere 25 innings pitched in his career 90 fewer than Sanchezs first-half total, paired with a 2.50 ERA.
What a joke, Turner told The Athletic.
I mean, thats terrible, dude.
"That's just how MLB does it now," catcher J.T.
Realmuto added.
Nothing against the Misiorowski kid.
But (Suarez and Sanchez) are deserving of being on the team in the first place.
There's no doubt.
It was an admittedly calculated risk by the league.
The Miz could have cracked under his first global pitching assignment.
A poor second half or injury might have made the decision foolhardy in retrospect.
But Misiorowski aced the assignment, pitching a scoreless inning, hurling nine pitches harder than 100 mph, handling his media obligations with aplomb and, while his second-half ERA ballooned to 5.36, he helped pitch the Brewers to the National League Championship Series.
This year, both pitchers seem separated by a razor-thin margin, with bulk vs.
sizzle possibly entering the picture again.
A little more work to do Sanchez once again has an innings-pitched edge, 105-93, second in the majors only to Sandy Alcantaras 110 innings pitched for Miami.
That seems a negligible difference, though 12 innings provides nearly two starts worth of coverage to a pitching staff.
Otherwise, its hard to deny Misiorowskis dominance.
What a combination: Misiorowski leads the majors in both strikeouts per nine innings (13.35) and opponents batting average (.146, 53 points better than No.
2 Paul Skenes).
The Phillies saw firsthand how deadly his combination of a 103-mph fastball and a 98-mph slider can be.
Kyle Schwarber managed their lone hit, and he was erased on a double play, Misiorowski facing the minimum in just 95 pitches.
I feel like hell give you a pitch in the middle of the zone maybe once an at-bat, but if you miss that one pitch, its nearly impossible, says Turner, who struck out twice in three at-bats.
Just so much extension.
A lot of guys throw hard.
Hes not only throwing harder, but the extension is crazy.
Last year, we got to him a little bit.
This year, he pitched one of the best games Ive ever seen.
Sanchez counters with a fastball he runs up into the high 90s with the games greatest changeup and, increasingly, a slider that makes the whole package deadly when everything is clicking.
With a PitchCom device in his ear, Turner, at shortstop, can relish just what Sanchez is going to do next to a helpless hitter.
Watching from this sides a little more fun, he says.
As a hitter, you know (the changeup) is coming.
Its just, is it a strike? Can you lay off it if its a ball? It tells you how good it is when you know thats the pitch, youre going to face him three or four times and he still gets awkward swings.
I think that just speaks so highly of him when you know its coming and you cant do much with it.
While both pitchers 2026 bodies of work are accumulating, theres still plenty of work to do before one of them is warming up in the Citizens Bank Park bullpen come July 14.
Both have four starts left, Sanchez June 25 at Washington, home to Pittsburgh and then road assignments at Kansas City and Detroit.
Misiorowski faces the Cubs June 26 and will take on Cincinnati, St.
Louis and Pittsburgh.
And theres a chance the calendar wont align for one or both of them.
Hands up for Hollywood On paper, Sanchez is in good shape.
If the Phillies skip the unsettled fifth spot in their rotation thanks to an off day July 3, Sanchez would start Sunday, July 5 at Kansas City and Friday, July 10 at Detroit.
Thats an ideal three days of rest before a likely one-inning All-Star assignment.
Misiorowski, though, is on turn to make his final first-half start Saturday, July 11 at Pittsburgh.
In 2025, six pitchers were scratched from the roster because they started the Saturday before the All-Star Game including the Cubs Matthew Boyd, whose absence opened up Misiorowskis spot.
The Brewers can certainly fiddle with the rotation before then, and might welcome extra days of rest for Misiorowski, pushing him back a day or two and eliminating that last late-week start.
And weather, of course, is a factor when the Brewers are on the road.
Yet logistics are only half the equation, now.
Increasingly, narrative plays a role.
When Kershaw made that start in 2022, he was not the best pitcher in the NLs first half.
That distinction belonged to Alcantara, who posted a 1.76 ERA, threw three first-half complete games and six starts with zero earned runs given up.
Its not like Kershaw was chopped liver: He had a 2.13 ERA and, in his last start before the break, nearly tossed a perfect game at Anaheim.
Yet this was L.A., home of the Dodgers and also Fox Sports.
Kershaw was named the starter and the network spun up a goofy pregame bit where Kershaw and Shohei Ohtani, then an Angel, were micd up and talked trash to each other moments before the first pitch.
Ohtani complied by hitting a first-pitch single, and then Kershaw picked him off first base.
Almost like it was scripted.
Not sure if they can contrive any such theatrics with The Miz or Sanchie.
Yet if all things are equal, velocity just might be the tiebreaker.
That may leave the Phillies with a mild beef for a second year in a row.
Thats OK they still get to watch Sanchez pitch every five days.
Its pretty amazing to watch him on a start-in, start-out basis, says manager Don Mattingly.
Ninety-seven, 98 is pretty good, with movement.
Hes a guy whose mix all tunnels.
Hes tough to pick up.
He handles pretty much everybody.