2014 MLB All-Star Game: American League pitching staff announced

Take a look at the American League pitching staff for the 2014 MLB All-Star Game and you tell me who should be named the starter. I suppose it’s a good problem to have in that you cannot go wrong when you are choosing between Yu Darvish, Felix Hernandez, and Masahiro Tanaka in terms of merit. In terms of the actual choice, however, Tanaka will not be available.

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That means it will probably come down to a consideration of Darvish, Hernandez, and possibly Max Scherzer. It is hard to argue against the work that Hernandez has done for the Seattle Mariners this season, especially considering their recent surge to the thick of the American League West race.

Here is the full list of the pitching staff.

SP – Yu Darvish, Texas Rangers
SP – Max Scherzer, Detroit Tigers
SP – Felix Hernandez, Seattle Mariners
SP – Masahiro Tanaka, New York Yankees
SP – Jon Lester, Boston Red Sox
SP – Mark Buehrle, Toronto Blue Jays
SP – Scott Kazmir, Oakland Athletics
RP – Sean Doolittle, Oakland Athletics
RP – Dellin Betances, New York Yankees
RP – Greg Holland, Kansas City Royals
RP – Glen Perkins, Minnesota Twins

Perkins will represent the hometown Twins. Depending on where things land with the reserves and Twins’ infielder Brian Dozier, the closer might be the sole representative from Minnesota.

If you want to talk omissions, specifically the kind of omission that will get people talking, look no further than Cleveland Indians’ starter Corey Kluber. The right-handed starter has been an absolute revelation this season and one of the best stories of the first half. His numbers hold up well up next to anybody’s, including guys like Lester and Buehrle.

Ultimately Kluber will probably get the nod because of guys like Tanaka not being available, but he still deserved to make the initial list.

What do you think of the AL pitching staff? Sound off in the comments with your thoughts.