What Will Be the Starting Pitching Matchup In the 2025 All-Star Game?

The temperatures are getting hot, fireworks are about to be shot off for the 4th of July weekend, and the MLB season has just passed its halfway point. That means All-Star week is right around the corner.

Voting has been underway for weeks now and soon we will know who has been honored with a 2025 All-Star selection. The first step of that reveal took place on Wednesday when starting lineups for both the AL and NL were announced.

Soon, the rest of the rosters will be revealed as well. That includes the bench players on offense as well as both pitching staffs.

Roster reveals answer a lot of fun questions. What will each team’s representative(s) be? Will any stud rookies make the roster? Who will represent the hometown team?

Who will the starting pitchers be?

This is one of the biggest ones. The starting pitchers get to kick off the game against the league’s best hitters. They show who could end up coming out on top in the Cy Young race by the end of the year.

Last year was a notable year for one All-Star starting pitcher in particular. Paul Skenes, the phenomenal Pittsburgh Pirates rookie, earned the start for the NL despite not making his MLB debut until May. He was the first rookie pitcher to start the All-Star Game in almost 30 years.

Skenes will be back in the mix to start this year’s Midsummer Classic along with a number of other talented arms across MLB. Here we’ll look at the top candidates to start the 2025 All-Star Game, beginning with the Junior Circuit, and give a prediction to what the actual matchup will be.

Stats were taken prior to play on July 3.

The American League Candidates

When discussing top starting pitchers in the AL, it’s hard not to kick it off with the reigning Cy Young winner. That would be Detroit Tigers starter Tarik Skubal.

Skubal had been a top starter for the Tigers for a few years but truly broke out in 2024. His 18 wins, 2.39 ERA, 228 strikeouts, and 6.4 bWAR all led either the AL or all of MLB, making him the unanimous choice for the AL Cy Young Award.

And he is back to his old ways here in 2025. Through 17 starts he is 10-2 with a 2.15 ERA and leads the league with a 0.835 WHIP and 11.4 K/9.

As good as he has been, there are other AL pitchers having great starts to the season as well. Depending on how things shake out between now and Sunday, a few others could stake a claim to the starting job.

Over in The Big Apple, first-year Yankee Max Fried is having an excellent start to his New York career. Through 18 games, he is also 10-2 and has a 2.13 ERA with a 0.939 WHIP. It’s worth noting that his manager, Aaron Boone, is managing the AL team this year.

Just down the coast, another starter is killing it in his new digs. Garrett Crochet of the Boston Red Sox is 8-4 with a 2.26 ERA and 1.03 WHIP through 18 starts. His 144 strikeouts currently lead all of MLB.

A couple others could sneak their way into consideration as well. Hunter Brown of the Houston Astros leads all of baseball with a 1.82 ERA in 17 starts. Jacob deGrom has a 2.13 ERA and has held hitters to a .190 average in 17 starts of his own.

Odds are high that the AL starting pitcher will come from this group of five. But who might the opponent of the selected pitcher be?

The National League Candidates

He’s already been mentioned, so why not start with Paul Skenes. After following up last year’s All-Star start with an NL Rookie of the Year award, he has proven so far invulnerable to the dreaded sophomore slump.

In his first 18 starts of the year, Skenes is leading the NL in a number of categories. Those include ERA (2.03), H/9 (5.8), HR/9 (0.4), and bWAR (4.5). If only the Pirates could score enough when he pitches as they are only 9-9 during his starts.

His main competition for the start is likely Zack Wheeler of the Philadelphia Phillies, who is in the midst of another great season at age 35. He is just a shade behind Skenes with a 4.4 bWAR and leads the NL with his eight wins, a 0.907 WHIP, and 136 strikeouts.

A decent case could be made for the Giants’ Logan Webb as well. The 2023 Cy Young runner up and San Francisco workhorse is on pace to lead the NL in innings for the third year in a row and currently is 7-6 with a 2.61 ERA and 127 strikeouts in 18 starts.

Like in the AL, a couple others could make a surprise start in the All-Star game. Yoshinobu Yamamoto of the Dodgers has a 2.51 ERA and .190 batting average against and like Fried has the benefit of his current manager leading the team.

2024 NL Cy Young winner Chris Sale, who has a 2.52 ERA, would be looking for his fourth All-Star start and plays for the host team. Unfortunately, though, Sale hit the 60-day IL just a few weeks back with a fractured ribcage.

Like the AL, the NL has plenty of worthy candidates to start the game. So what will the actual matchup be?

The Prediction: Tarik Skubal vs. Zack Wheeler

You know MLB pitching is in a great spot when you have this many candidates for a starting spot in the All-Star Game. Unfortunately, only one player per league can earn the honor.

As hard as it is to deny the role to many of the AL candidates, it’s hard to go with anyone but Skubal. He has just looked so utterly dominant for Detroit this season and is leading so many statistical categories that he seems like the easy choice.

The choice on the NL side feels closer, but the prediction here is Wheeler. He and Skenes have both been amazing, but the better ability to limit baserunners and more dominant strikeout numbers give the veteran the edge here.

In just a few more days we will find out what the matchup actually ends up being. Regardless of who is named to the role, we are in for one heck of a show.