It's June now, and that means that it is time to start speculating on who will be the starting pitchers in the All Star Game.



In my opinion, there is one choice and one choice only for NL starter: Clayton Kershaw. If you don't know why Kershaw needs to be the guy then you don't know what's going on. Simple as that.



The AL is muddier.



As I see it, there are five valid competitors for the AL All Star start; Clay Buchholz, Yu Darvish, Matt Moore, Hisashi Iwakuma and Max Scherzer. As far as I am concerned, they are all five neck and neck.



Buchholz has the 8-0 record and the lowest ERA. Scherzer also has the 8-0 record, but has more strike outs and the lower batting numbers against. Darvish leads the league in strike outs, has the 2.77 and 7 wins. But, Scherzer and Darvish both have more innings pitched than Buchholz.



Iwakuma is the dark horse, but he is 6-1 with Seattle, second in the league in ERA and has good batting numbers against. Matt Moore has the low ERA and the 8-1 record.



So who gets the start? I am going to assume that although he deserves it (or at least deserves serious consideration), Jim Leyland isn't going to to start Max Scherzer.



If it were my call, I'd pick Iwakuma. Those NL bastards ain't never seen good Japanese pitching.



My guess is that it will go to either Buchholz or Darvish though.

Cardinals' rookie phenom Shelby Miller has the best stats in the NL and there's only one AL pitcher ahead of him.  He just missed a perfect game by allowing a single hit already this year and routinely puts up zero walks shutouts through 6 or 7 innings.

And he just hit a home run in tonights game for his second major league hit

Kershaw is a good pitcher but I wouldn't say he's a shoe-in.

Shelby Miller has a slightly better ERA, in fewer inning pitched, than Kershaw, but Miller does not have the best numbers in the NL.



AJ Burnett has more strikeout, Patrick Corbin has the best record in baseball and a Kershaw has the better walks/hits.



Overall, Kershaw is the best starting pitcher in the NL.



Case. Closed.



 

I think Wainwright will be the NL starter. King Felix for AL.

It also will really come down to their rotation schedules.

Waino For The Win, Ace Of The BestSstaff In The Bigs Period.

Wainwright's game last night bolstered my opinion that he'll be the starter.

Kershaw and Darvish

Justin Verlander.

Enough said.........

I would pick Kershaw and Scherzer. But, there is almost a month left. If Scherzer goes to 12-0 and lowers that ERA again then I don't see how anyone else could start for the AL.



 

Agreed at this point. Darvish has fallen off and had some trouble with control

Isn't even the best pitcher on his team this year

BTW, I also think Smyly should go for simply being the only reliever that Leyland ever seems to use. Dude's arm is going to fall off.

I changed my mind again. I want to see Harvey

Did I mention Smyly before, or are you reading my thoughts? I have been lobbying on the Tigers forums for Smyly to get a nod. He is one of, if not the, best reliever in the game right now. He can go long, he can get one guy, he can setup and he can save. Problem is, they'll never pick him. It's a goddamn crime because he is the best.

 

Verlander is drifting in his delivery. He peels off to the left just a tad earlier than in 2011/2012. Once someone points this out to him, he'll fix it, and he'll be back to his old ace self.

Smyly is probably one of the best middle relief guys in baseball. The problem is that middle relief is not really sexy. He's not getting holds and he's not getting saves. He's simply getting outs. A lot of them. I've been impressed with all year, but if the Tigers don't get some bullpen help soon, his arm is going to fall off.

I have been enamored with Smyly all season, since Spring Training in fact (yes, I followed every pitch in Spring Training).





I personally have been offering Garcia to Chicago for Jesse Crain for a month. Gracia would be a perfect fit at US Cell. That is a small outfield, and with his arm he would be throwing out runners and with his bat he would be hitting 35 homers easy at that park. Crain is EXACTLY the kind of lights out setup guy that the Tigers need. enoit and Smyly can swap closing duties (yes, I would go with a lefty closer...if it's Smyly).





I don't think they Tigers need a major overhaul, unlike most Tigers fans. This team needs a 10-15 game hot streak at the plate to bury this division and they need one lights out veteran in the bullpen. The hot streak will come. Remember 2011? Remember 2012? It will come. This is a second half team with an easy schedule in the second half. I fully expect the Tigers to be back in the World Series this season. There is only one AL Contender standing in their way; Boston. Oakland is a good matchup for Detroit and Texas will not make it to the World Series without veteran starting pitching, which they don't have. I think the Tigers can handle Boston in a post season series.





 

Jordan Zimmermann for the NL...His stuff has been great all year.  Now that he is finally getting run support he will be a 20 game winner,

I'm still with Kershaw. Complete game shut out today, he's kicking ass. There is no starting pitcher in the National League who is superior to Kershaw.



 

I agree with Kershaw.

Don't follow the AL close enough to make the call.

I still think it's Wainwright.  Better BB rate and more wins than Kershaw.  Probably will have more K's than Kershaw after tomorrow night.

edit: Bartolo Colon's stats surprised me in comparsion of AL pitchers. AL pitchers suck compared to NL.

Incorrect!





As a Georgian, I suspect that you are a Braves fan. Therefore, you should have seen the superiority of AL starting pitching (when your team got shut out in The D).





Actually, that's not a fair case. The Tigers have the best starting rotation in baseball, plagued with the worst bullpen in baseball.





 

http://espn.go.com/mlb/stats/pitching/_/order/false

Those are the top ranked pitchers.  See how many NL pitchers are up on top?  At the time of this posting, 12 out of the top 40 pitchers were AL pitchers.  28 belonged to the NL.

I'm comparing apples to apples of pitching stats only here.

Anything published by ESPN is lies and slander.

 

How dare you post a link to ESPN stats which include the nonsensical WAR horseshit?

 

Fuck the American League and the lazy ass pitchers that don't hit and the fat batters don't steal bases.

National League is baseball in its purest form where the pitchers also contribute to the game by going to the plate.  Bunting is a fantastic part of the game and you see a lot more of it happening in the NL.

It is more challenging to coach in the NL as well, since there are no lazy ass slots in the lineup (DH).

Now the superiority of the NL has been established, I do agree with you about the WAR shit.  The link I posted had nothing to do with the WAR category, it was purely stats. It was ranked by the ERA which IMO is the most important gauge of the pitcher's abilities. Sure, it can be argued that it isn't, but its how I feel.

Oh please. NL pitchers bat, but they can't hit for shit. How many NL pitchers hit over the Mendoza Line? There you go.