MLB All-Star Game: Justin Verlander and More Potential Starting Pitchers for AL

If the 2012 MLB season seems like it's moving along at a rapid pace, that's because it is. The All-Star Game is just a couple weeks away.

Concerning the American League side of the equation, the latest voting totals once again suggest that the baseball-loving public would very much like to see a starting lineup consisting mainly of Texas Rangers. That should be just fine with Rangers manager Ron Washington, as it means filling out his lineup card for the All-Star Game wouldn't be much different from filling out his lineup card any other day of the week.

The tricky part will be choosing a starting pitcher. Unlike in the National League (R.A. Dickey for the world!), there's no single starting pitcher in the American League who is head and shoulders above the rest of the pack. Justin Verlander is the league's top pitcher at the moment, but there are about five or six other guys who have a legit case to be in the discussion.

So who will Washington start?

I've taken a few educated guesses before. Here's my latest round.

Honorable Mentions

Matt Harrison, Texas Rangers

Harrison is in the mix for two main reasons. For one, he's allowed just one earned run in his last three starts, upping his record 9-3 and dropping his ERA to 3.41. Two, he's one of Washington's guys. Same goes for Colby Lewis, but I'd say Harrison has a stronger case to start the Midsummer Classic than Lewis does.

Brandon Morrow, Toronto Blue Jays

Morrow is on the disabled list right now with an oblique injury, but he was a workhorse when he was healthy. He's the only pitcher in baseball with three complete-game shutouts under his belt, and he boasts a solid ERA of 3.01. When he's on, his stuff is downright nasty. If he's fully healthy, he'd be a great choice to start the All-Star Game.

Jake Peavy, Chicago White Sox

Every time it looks like Peavy is about to go into a slump, he does something awesome. For the season, he's 6-3 with a 2.74 ERA and a 0.94 WHIP. The only three games he's lost have been by scores of 1-0, 1-0 and 2-1. He has a legit case to be in the top five, but I chose to include a certain teammate of his instead.

David Price, Tampa Bay Rays

Price has been a bit of a mystery this season, but you can't hate on a 9-4 record and a 3.08 ERA. According to FanGraphs, he's throwing harder more consistently than any pitcher in the AL this year. He's a guy who could come out guns blazing in the All-Star Game, but I excluded him from the top five primarily because he's already started an All-Star Game.

Jered Weaver, Los Angeles Angels

Weaver picked up where he left off in his first start back off the disabled list on Wednesday, firing six shutout innings against the San Francisco Giants. His numbers for the season are quite excellent, well deserving of an All-Star Game start. He's already made one in his career, though, and I think Washington will be more inclined to pick one of Weaver's teammates to start the game.

5. CC Sabathia, New York Yankees

CC Sabathia has been one of baseball's best pitchers for over a decade. But amazingly, he has yet to get the start in an All-Star Game.

That's something that could change this season.

Sabathia is doing his thing once again in 2012, rolling right along to the tune of a 9-3 record and a 3.55 ERA. He's already up over 100 innings pitched, and only he, Justin Verlander, and Max Scherzer have as many as 100 strikeouts among AL hurlers.

The best thing about the notion of Sabathia starting the All-Star Game is that there's no concern about him getting hurt. We're talking about a guy who's pitched at least 230 innings five seasons in a row (and counting). Per FanGraphs, the only pitcher in baseball who has logged more innings than Sabathia since the start of the 2001 season is Mark Buehrle.

The only real issue is that Sabathia is working on an ERA over 8.00 in the first inning of games this season, according to Baseball-Reference.com. Those struggles could end up hurting the AL, which obviously isn't ideal.

After all, the game counts, right?

Still, if Washington is looking to go with a safe, easy choice that nobody will argue with, Sabathia should be at the top of his list of possibilities.

4. C.J. Wilson, Los Angeles Angels

For a second there, C.J. Wilson was leading the American League in ERA and opponents' batting average.

Alas, he is no longer leading either category. Jered Weaver is.

Wilson's numbers are still very good, though. He's 8-4 on the season with a 2.44 ERA that currently ranks second in the AL behind Weaver, and he's holding opponents to a .203 average and an AL-best .273 slugging percentage.

Wilson definitely has the numbers to be in this discussion, and he's also in the mix because Washington knows him. He was Washington's ace for the last couple seasons before he accepted a bag of cash from the Angels and bolted to Anaheim.

There shouldn't be any hard feelings between Washington and Wilson. In fact, Washington told The Dallas Morning News back in December that he wouldn't feel at all disappointed if Wilson signed elsewhere as a free agent.

Wilson isn't the top choice to start the All-Star Game for the Junior Circuit. But if scheduling matters end up complicating things (and we know they will), Wilson could end up being the most convenient choice to start the game.

If that's what it comes to, rest assured, Washington would feel comfortable going with Wilson.

3. Chris Sale, Chicago White Sox

Chris Sale was the American League's best pitcher for a couple of weeks. Between May 17 and June 9, he went 5-0 in five starts with a 0.98 ERA and 43 strikeouts in 36.2 innings pitched (h/t Baseball-Reference.com).

Sale was finally humbled in his most recent start. The Los Angeles Dodgers knocked him around for five runs, seven hits and four walks in 5.2 innings.

Oh well. Bound to happen.

Even despite that outing, Sale is 8-2 on the season with a 2.46 ERA and a 1.00 WHIP. His K/9 of 9.19 ranks fifth among qualified AL hurlers, according to FanGraphs.

Sale is a guy who could cut loose and dominate in an All-Star Game setting. His fastball typically comes in at an average of about 91-93 miles per hour, but he can throw it harder when he wants to. He also throws a nasty slider that he can put right on the money.

It's been oft-noted that Sale looks like a Randy Johnson clone. He's shorter and skinnier than the Big Unit was (and presumably still is), but it's not a bad comparison stuff-wise.

I'd very much like to see Sale start the All-Star Game, and he definitely has the numbers to back up his candidacy for the task.

I'm just not so sure the White Sox would be thrilled about it.

2. Yu Darvish, Texas Rangers

Statistically, Yu Darvish is not one of the American League's top starting pitchers.

His 9-4 record is all fine and dandy, but Darvish's 3.45 ERA doesn't qualify as elite. His 1.43 WHIP qualifies as mediocre. His 4.97 BB/9 is downright hideous.

However, Darvish deserves to be high in the running in this discussion anyway.

More than anything, what you have to like about Darvish is his stuff. He doesn't always know where it's going, but his repertoire features a mid-90s fastball with good movement and a wide assortment of breaking balls that can make even the best hitters in the league look like amateurs. 

AL clubs have done a good job of adjusting to Darvish's stuff, but he's had his way with NL clubs. In two interleague starts, he has a 2.25 ERA and 19 strikeouts in 16 innings pitched. 

Seeing as how he'd be facing a lineup for of NL hitters in the All-Star Game, I daresay he'd have a leg up.

Yes, Darvish is a Washington guy, which obviously helps his cause. However, he's also a horse, which the major leagues could back. Only one Japanese pitcher has ever started the All-Star Game, and that was Hideo Nomo back in 1995.

Having Darvish start the Midsummer Classic this season would be good for the game.

1. Justin Verlander, Detroit Tigers

Justin Verlander was the best pitcher in the world last season. He hasn't been quite as good this season, but he's still managed to be the AL's best starting pitcher.

Verlander's 7-4 record is just okay. His 2.57 ERA is good. His 0.99 WHIP is even better. The fact that he leads the American League in innings pitched and strikeouts is best.

Per FanGraphs, Verlander also leads AL hurlers in WAR at 3.6. The next-closest guy (Sale) is at 2.7.

The numbers are awesome, but what's even more awesome about the notion of Verlander as an All-Star Game starter is what kind of stuff he would show. We've seen him reach 102 miles per hour with his fastball this season. If he were to take the mound and cut loose, he may even be able to top himself.

And then NL hitters would have to watch out for the hammer curveball and the the killer changeup.

All-Star starting pitchers all too often end up being forgettable. If Verlander gets the start this season, my gut tells me we'll be remembering his start the same way we remember Carl Hubbell's start in 1934 and Pedro Martinez's start in 1999.

Admit it. You can see it happening too.

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