Yankees' Gerrit Cole, D-Backs' Zac Gallen Named Starters for 2023 MLB All-Star Game

New York Yankees ace Gerrit Cole will toe the rubber to open the 2023 MLB All-Star Game for the American League, and Arizona Diamondbacks right-hander Zac Gallen will get the nod for the National League.

Cole will be making his sixth appearance in the Midsummer Classic, but this will be the first time he has started for his league. The right-hander is 9-2 with a 2.85 ERA and a 3.43 FIP through 19 starts.

Gallen was the most logical candidate in the NL after leading the league's pitchers in WAR (3.7) in the first half, per FanGraphs. He boasts a 2.77 FIP and a 1.048 WHIP in 19 appearances and has registered an MLB-high 11 wins.

Cole's last start came Saturday in a 6-3 victory over the Chicago Cubs. He went 7.1 innings, striking out five and allowing three earned runs on five hits and one walk.

After the game, the 32-year-old expressed his desire to be the AL All-Star starter.

"Every time I've made it, earlier in my career, there's been Hall of Famers starting that game," he told reporters. "It would be a huge honor to represent this organization and all the hard work that everybody behind the scenes here has put in to culminating in the success that we've had so far in the first half."

His initial comment isn't much of a stretch.

Zack Greinke got the nod for the National League in 2015 when he was representing the Los Angeles Dodgers. Chris Sale and Justin Verlander followed in 2018 and 2019. Shohei Ohtani and Shane McClanahan were the AL starters for the last two All-Star installments.

Now, Cole is finally getting the opportunity.

Gallen will be just the third different Diamondbacks pitcher to start the All-Star Game, joining Randy Johnson and Curt Schilling. Johnson and Schilling combined to start three straight All-Star Games from 2000 to 2002.

The 27-year-old enjoyed a career year in 2022, going 12-4 with a 2.54 ERA and finishing fifth in the NL Cy Young voting. Now, he might be collecting the hardware for himself as his performance on the mound has continued to improve.

MLB.com's David Adler polled 49 experts about the Cy Young race in June. Gallen's 23 first-place votes led the way in the NL.