All sports evolve as generations pass.
It’s why the arguments about who is better between players from the present and past is a moot point. It’s all relative, and in baseball, nothing has progressed more than pitching. Today’s star pitchers bring a unique blend of routine triple-digit velocity, command and durability to the mound.
Even though neither Cy Young favorite Cam Schlittler nor Jacob Misiorowski will pitch in the 2026 MLB All-Star Game, the art of pitching’s peak will be on full display.
The National League will hand the first pitch to Christopher Sánchez, who has put together a brilliant first half at 11-4 with a 2.62 ERA. In almost any other season, his performance would make him the runaway Cy Young favorite, but Misiorowski’s historic campaign has overshadowed everyone.
2026 MLB All-Star Game prediction, best bet
His swing-and-miss stuff has been off the charts, notching 144 strikeouts in an MLB-leading 20 starts. The southpaw strung together 50 straight scoreless innings this year with a changeup and slider, whiffing hitters on a 44 percent clip.
Not to mention, his sinker has made him one of the game’s best groundball pitchers.
Facing him first will be Mike Trout, Yordan Alvarez, and Shea Langeliers for the American League. None of these guys has extensive experience against Sánchez, and he gets them in front of a rollicking home crowd at Citizens Bank Park — where he’s amassed a 0.86 ERA.
Alvarez, the only one of the three who has the disadvantage as a left-handed batter, has yet to face Sánchez, and he has struggled against left-handed changeups this year, going 1-for-16 against them per Statcast.
Trout has yet to hit a left-handed sinker in the 19 he’s seen, and while Langeliers has mashed lefties, he’s a swing-happy guy and a lot of his success has come with more strikeouts.
In his first runs through opposing batting orders, Sánchez is striking out 10.9 hitters per nine innings.
The American League is countering with Toronto’s Dylan Cease, whose season just took a boost after he carried a no-hitter into the ninth inning against the helpless Giants last week. He’s been the best strikeout pitcher in baseball, living inside the top one percent in strikeout percentage and reaching double digits in six of 17 starts.
Cease brings a comprehensive six-pitch arsenal that’s headlined by a four-seam fastball that’s averaging 97.1 mph.
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Kyle Schwarber, Juan Soto and Freddie Freeman will get first honors on hitting that. Of course, as three of the game’s prolific power hitters, all of them can hit a fastball at top speeds against righties.
But Cease’s top whiff rates come from his secondary and tertiary pitchers in his slider and changeup. No one amongst the three is hitting higher than .229 against right-handed sliders, and with a knuckle curve, sinker and sweeper also on tap, I like Cease’s odds to survive the first batch of hitters.
Between all the All-Star Game’s frequent substitutions and pitching changes, betting on it is a dart throw. With all the best players sharing the diamond, starting pitching is the most grounded play — especially in a year where Cy Young races have been absolute theatre.
And even more so when neither guy has to deal with the likes of Aaron Judge, Shohei Ohtani or Vladimir Guerrero Jr.
THE PLAY: No Run First Inning (-145, DraftKings)
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Sean Treppedi handicaps the NFL, NHL, MLB and college football for the New York Post. He primarily focuses on picks that reflect market value while tracking trends to mitigate risk.
