Fans don’t get to vote for pitcher selections, but let’s talk about them anyway.
Zack Wheeler
Zack Wheeler continues to be one of the most dominant pitchers in the game, and should absolutely get a chance to face more than one batter in this year’s All-Star Game, to make up for last year’s snub.
Over 10 starts thus far, he has a 3.14 ERA and 67 strikeouts across 57 1/3 innings of work. He leads the NL with a 2.30 FIP and 0.3 HR/9. After a rocky April which saw him getting tagged for seven earned runs against the Miami Marlins, Wheeler got back on track. Over six starts since the beginning of May, he has a 1.86 ERA and has struck out nearly 1/3 of batters faced.
Aaron Nola
Aaron Nola looks nothing like he did last season, and that’s a good thing.
He currently leads all MLB pitchers with 12 starts and tops the NL with 85 strikeouts, a 1.2 walks-per-nine, and an 8.50 strikeouts-to-walks ratio. He has a 3.50 ERA over 74 2/3 innings, currently the third-best ERA of his eight-year career.
Compare 2022 Nola to 2020 Nola, when his entire pandemic-shortened season consisted of 12 starts. He led MLB with a pair of complete games then, but has a better ERA over more innings this year. His performance in the 60-game season garnered a seventh-place finish in NL Cy Young voting, too, but we won’t get ahead of ourselves on that front; let’s start with an All-Star appearance, which would be his first since his first, back in 2018.