2023 All-Star Pitchers
It’s MLB All-Star season! Last time, I broke down the starting lineups of the American and National Leagues in terms of astrological signs. Leo was the clear leader, with five of the 18 players under consideration. The Lions were ahead of a crowded second place field: five different signs had two players each. Today, let’s look at the 2023 All-Star pitchers and see how the standings change.
Leo immediately adds to their lead with Diamondbacks ace Zac Gallen, the highest-scoring fantasy All-Star pitcher in the National League (as of July 4th, when the full rosters were first announced). Even with just one player added, Leo maintains their lead, as the only sign with six All-Stars among fan-elected starters and pitchers.
For second place among total players, we’re immediately faced with a controversy: do we count Shohei Ohtani the hitter and Shohei Ohtani the pitcher as two separate All-Stars? If so, three more Cancer Crabs join the fray, along with Giants closer Camilo Doval and breakout Cubs starter Justin Steele. I think this is only fair to count Shohei twice; for one thing, doing it that way makes it considerably easier to set a fantasy lineup.
Without Shotime pulling double duty, Taurus would be the only sign with exactly five All-Stars. (Technically, they are the only sign with exactly five All-Stars, when counting distinct players.) Injured Rays ace Shane McClanahan, Steele’s Chicago NL teammate Marcus Stroman, and second-year Brave Bryce Elder join the hitting tandem of Aaron Judge (also injured) and Corey Seager (who missed time in April and May).
Of the four signs with four players each, three of them are evenly split with two pitchers and two hitters each. Of those three, two signs have one starter and one reliever: Virgo has Yankees ace Gerrit Cole and Brewers closer Devin Williams, while Aries has breakout Pirates starter Mitch Keller and bounceback Padres closer Josh Hader. The third sign, Libra, has two relief pitchers: breakout Cincinnati Red Alexis Diaz (brother of the injured Edwin), and Red Sox veteran Kenley Jansen.
Pisces is the fourth sign with four total All-Stars, the first we’ve seen with more pitchers than hitters. Of these, Clayton Kershaw has the most fantasy points to this point in the season, but he also finds himself on the injured list. The other two Fish are relievers: Guardians closer Emmanuel Clase and Orioles setup man Yennier Cano, the only rookie pitcher on the list.
Two signs have three players each, but only Sagittarius has a player in the starting lineup: MLB’s top-scoring batter Ronald Acuna Jr. is joined by Luis Castillo of the Mariners and Josiah Gray of the Nationals. So far, all three of Scorpio’s All-Star representatives are pitchers: Spencer Strider of the Braves and Framber Valdez of the Astros are very close together (separated by just 80 points and 0.2 points-per-game), with Sonny Gray of the Twins significantly further behind.
Sticking with signs whose only All-Star representatives are pitchers, Capricorn has Blue Jays ace Kevin Gausman and the Tigers’ token All-Star Michael Lorenzen – he has the lowest fantasy point total of any All-Star by a difference of more than 130 points. Call this a coincidence if you must, but both Aquarius All-Stars that we’ve seen so far play for the Rangers: ace pitcher Nathan Eovaldi (top-scoring pitcher in the AL) joins rookie third baseman Josh Jung. That leaves just Gemini as the only sign with just one single All-Star… but as it happens Felix Bautista is the top-scoring relief pitcher in all of baseball.