It’s been 30 years since Philadelphia has hosted the All-Star Game, but as the country marks 250 years since the signing of the Declaration of Independence, it’s hard to imagine a better host for tonight’s festivities. Only one current Chicago Cub will take the field tonight for the National League squad, but with Pete Crow-Armstrong putting up some of the best defensive numbers in baseball while simultaneously looking to repeat the 30-30 season he posted in 2025, is certainly one of the players to watch tonight. After all, PCA will head into tonight’s action leading all of MLB in fWAR with 6.0 WAR accumulated so far this season. As we get ready for the Midsummer Classic, let’s take a closer look through the lens of some Statcast metrics and the AL and NL players to watch.
The Lineups
First things first, let’s take a closer look at each squad, beginning with the starting lineup:
The AL starters run Shea Langeliers behind the plate, Ben Rice at first, Ernie Clement at second, Junior Caminero at third, Bobby Witt Jr. at short, Mike Trout, Riley Greene and Cody Bellinger in the outfield, and Yordan Alvarez at DH. Expect leadoff man Trout to gets a hero’s welcome. After all, the kid who grew up playing in New Jersey is essentially in his backyard. Over on the NL side, former Cub and 2016 World Series hero, Kyle Schwarber will lead off in front of a hometown crowd at Citizens Bank Park. He’s followed by Juan Soto, Freddie Freeman, CJ Abrams, Max Muncy, Ozzie Albies, Brandon Marsh (another Phillie making his All-Star debut), Andy Pages and Drake Baldwin.
While these lineups are stacked, some of the players putting up the best numbers this season will come into the game later as replacements. Say what you will about fans voting for the starting lineup, but it really is absurd that a player like James Wood, who is slashing .279/.410/.575 with a wRC+ of 166 and 4.6 fWAR so far this season isn’t starting.
Let’s Talk Barrels
Speaking of James Wood, he’s built that strong season on some monster underlying stats. He’s got a .437 xwOBA (which as a reminder, stands for expected wOBA. wOBA is a stat that weights on base percentage by giving players more credit for extra base hits). Wood is barreling the ball 22.7 percent of the time, a 5.7 percent improvement over a year ago and probably a big reason he’s already got 28 home runs. PCA is also on the bench for the NL with a career high 48.6 percent hard hit rate to pair with his elite glove. Check out this leadoff home run from Wood against the Yankees on Sunday [VIDEO].
The AL bench also has some firepower, starting with Munetaka Murakami’s 20% barrel rate, the highest on the AL roster with Aaron Judge (and his 21.4 percent barrel rate) sitting out the competition. Old friend Willson Contreras, who put on a bit of a show last night in the first round of the Home Run Derby, is also on the bench for the American League. His 14.3 percent barrel rate and 54.7 percent pull rate is a big reason he’s already got 20 home runs on the 2026 campaign (for reference, his career high in home runs is the 24 he hit in 409 plate appearances with the Cubs in 2019).
The Pitchers
Dylan Cease will start the game for the American League squad, he’s been excellent at suppressing barrels this season for the Toronto Blue Jays giving them up just 4.4% of the time. That mark is good for third in all of baseball behind the presumed NL starter (who will miss this game due to “soreness”) Jacob Misiorwoski (3.2%) and the San Francisco Giants Landon Roupp (who did not make the NL squad but has only given up barrels on 3.8% of hits so far this season). Check out Cease flirting with a no-hitter during his last start against the Giants [VIDEO].
The National League will counter with hometown ace Cristopher Sánchez, who leads baseball among qualified starters in ground ball rate, with an absurd 57.8 percent of batters generating ground balls off his pitch offerings. That probably goes a long way to explaining his 2.62 ERA off a 2.70 FIP so far this season. Sánchez will be joined on the bench by a cast of flame throwers including the Pirates Paul Skenes and the Padres Mason Miller, who Cubs fans no doubt remember from these absurd pitches 100+ miles per hour during last year’s Wild Card Series at Wrigley Field [VIDEO].
Who’s got the edge?
If this were a pure power contest, I’d call it a coin flip. Murakami and Yordan Alvarez can match anyone the NL trots out, swing for swing. But All-Star Games are decided in flashes, not innings. The best batters in the world facing off against the games most unhittable pitchers would be high drama all on its own. It’s a new level of difficulty when you only get to see each of those pitchers one time before a new guy throwing 100 miles per hour or a wicked slider enters the game.
Both rosters are stacked with talent, but the NL bench looks a tad deeper than the AL bench. If the Senior Circuit can keep things close early, I’d look for PCA, Wood or maybe Sal Stewart to make their mark late in a close contest. But who knows? It could end in a tie like last year’s, treating all of us to another Home Run Swing Off [VIDEO].
