The 2025 MLB All-Star Game is less than a week away. The rosters, while set on paper, will undergo some changes, either due to injuries or pitchers set to pitch a matter of days before the Midsummer Classic.
While there has been plenty of debate of who deserved to be on the roster and who was snubbed, there is also a huge debate as to which pitchers should start in the All-Star Game for the American and National League teams.
N.L. manager Dave Roberts will have to decide whether he will start Pittsburgh Pirates superstar Paul Skenes or potentially Zack Wheeler of the Philadelphia Phillies. But A.L. manager Aaron Boone has a much tougher decision. Does he go with his New York Yankees ace Max Fried, who is making his return to Atlanta for the All-Star Game? Or will he go with Detroit Tigers star pitcher Tarik Skubal?
So, let's predict who should be the starting pitchers for the American and National League teams in the 2025 MLB All-Star Game.
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Predicting the starting pitcher for the 2025 N.L. All-Star team
Let's begin with the National League starting pitcher debate. It really is a debate between Paul Skenes and Zack Wheeler. Yoshinobu Yamamoto could have been in consideration, but he is scheduled to pitch on Sunday, so he was replaced by Andrew Abbott of the Cincinnati Reds.
Skenes already has an All-Star start to his credit, and he did so in his first full rookie season. Skenes pitched a scoreless first inning, facing off against Steven Kwan, Gunnar Henderson, Juan Soto, and Aaron Judge.
This season, Skenes is showing no signs of slowing down. The problem is, the Pirates are providing him with minimal run support, and thus resulting in just four wins in 19 starts.
Meanwhile, Wheeler is thriving with the Phillies, who boast a stacked lineup featuring Bryce Harper, Kyle Schwarber, and Trea Turner. Even with the batting order the Phillies have, Wheeler is more than holding his own, and he even leads the National League in multiple categories, including strikeouts (148), WHIP (0.845), strikeouts-per-nine innings (11.5) and hits-per-nine innings (5.7).
Both pitchers are projected to start on Saturday, July 12. Skenes is set to face the Minnesota Twins, while Wheeler faces the San Diego Padres.
Now let's compare the statistics between Skenes and Wheeler.
Pitcher | ERA | WAR | Innings | Strikeouts | Strikeout % | Walk % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Paul Skenes | 1.94 | 4.8 | 116.0 | 125 | 27.8 | 6.7 |
Zack Wheeler | 2.17 | 4.8 | 116.0 | 148 | 33.6 | 5.7 |
When taking all of this in consideration, it's hard to pick against Wheeler for the start, despite how great of a year Skenes has had.
National League starting pitcher: Zack Wheeler, Phillies
Predicting the starting pitcher for the 2025 A.L. All-Star team
This is going to be the most debated decision Aaron Boone has ever made since, well, his managing of the 2024 World Series. The Yankees manager will have to choose between his ace, Fried, or Skubal, the Tigers star.
Fried has been the perfect free agent signing for the Yankees after being unable to keep Juan Soto. The signing turned out to be pivotal, as the Yankees saw Gerrit Cole, Luis Gil, and Clarke Schmidt all get injured so far this year. It was no surprise that he made it onto the A.L. All-Star roster.
As for Skubal, he picked up where he left off from last year, where he helped the Tigers reach the ALDS and won the AL Cy Young award. Skubal also leads in every major pitching statistic in the American League.
Let's compare Skubal's and Fried's stats so far this season.
Pitcher | ERA | WAR | Innings | Strikeouts | Strikeout % | Walk % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Max Fried | 2.27 | 3.6 | 119.0 | 176 | 23.6 | 5.1 |
Tarik Skubal | 2.02 | 4.5 | 116.0 | 196 | 33.9 | 3.2 |
This really shouldn't be a tough choice for Boone. Skubal is having the better season. The only thing that makes this decision difficult is that Fried is on his Yankees roster, plus there's the Atlanta return factor.
In terms of the schedule, the Tigers recently moved Skubal up to Friday, July 11, against the Seattle Mariners, when he was expected to pitch on Saturday, July 12. As for Fried, he is still on pace to pitch on Saturday against the Chicago Cubs.
This shouldn't be much of a debate. Skubal should absolutely start for the American League All-Stars.
American League starting pitcher: Tarik Skubal, Tigers