{ The All-Star game is about a month away. We’ll post occasional articles about the contenders for participation in the mid-season classic. These are written “as of now,” so the final selections may vary dramatically, but hopefully these will add to the ongoing flavor of the league. }
We’ll start with the starting pitchers. Note that the NL is actually the Marvin Miller & Effa Manley Divisions.
First, the shoo-in. Portland‘s Walter Johnson is 6-0 with a 3.07 ERA, a 1.24 WHIP, and 1.9 WAR. Only a massive collapse would prevent Big Train from being the inaugural starter for the NL.
After Johnson, it gets cloudy very quickly.
Brooklyn‘s Don Drysdale was hit hard in his most recent start, seeing his ERA move all the way to 2.41. That’s impressive, but it puts him behind Miami‘s Camilo Pascual at 2.26, and both hurlers have records of 4-1.
The Black Yankees‘ Ron Guidry has a record of only 4-3, but a 3.41 ERA and a WBL-leading 76 strikeouts, along with a 1.12 WHIP, given him a strong case. It’s an interesting comparison with Ray Collins (PHI), who is 4-1 with a 2.87 ERA, but a WHIP just under 1.3, and more walks than strikeouts.
Cleveland‘s Whit Wyatt is 3-1, but if he continues to maintain a 2.41 ERA and a 1.15 WHIP, along with a sub 4.00 FIP, he’ll have to be in the conversation. Another Spiders’ hurler, Cy Young, is emerging as well. Young is only 2-2 for his record, but has a 3.26 ERA and a 1.19 WHIP and 1.2 WAR.
Miami’s Tommy Bridges was added to the rotation after the start of the season, but has performed well, with a 3-0 record and a 2.87 ERA.
The AI thinks the NL should take fifteen pitchers, eleven of them starters, to the all-star game. That’s not going to happen.
If I had to pick five, thinking about likely future performance, they would be Johnson, Drysedale, Pascual, Guidry, and Young.