Ferguson Jenkins never started an All-Star Game. Neither did Rick Sutcliffe, Jake Arrieta or other Cubs aces of recent vintage.
The only All-Star starting pitcher in Cubs lore is Claude Passeau in 1946.
Justin Steele, who enters the break 9-2 with a 2.56 ERA, had been floated as a possibility to break the dry spell, but the Diamondbacks’ Zac Gallen drew the assignment, which was announced Monday.
White Sox pitchers have gotten the ball more often. Billy Pierce started three times and Early Wynn, Esteban Loaiza, Mark Buehrle and Chris Sale once each.
Let’s run some numbers on Chicago’s All-Star starting pitchers.
Passeau: He won 162 games in a 13-year career, including a 124-94 record with a 2.96 ERA in nine seasons with the Cubs.
In his 1946 All-Star start, Passeau took the loss after allowing two runs in three innings of a 12-0 American League rout.
Passeau was a key figure in the 1945 World Series, one-hitting the Tigers to win 3-0 in Game 3. In Game 6, he left with a 5-2 lead in the seventh after taking a hard-hit ball off his pitching hand. The Cubs won 8-7 in 12 innings but had to use Game 7 starter Hank Borowy four innings. In the final game, Borowy allowed three runs without retiring a batter. The Tigers rolled 9-3.
Pierce: He pitched three scoreless innings in his 1953 start and did the same in 1955. In ’56, he allowed one run in three innings and was the losing pitcher as the National League won 7-3.
Pierce’s 211 victories include a 186-152 record with a 3.19 ERA for the Sox from 1949 to 1961. By JAWS, which averages career Baseball-Reference WAR with his seven best seasons, Pierce stands at 45.6. The average for a Hall of Fame starting pitcher is 61.4. Consider Pierce on the cusp.
Wynn: A Hall of Famer with 300 victories, Wynn went 64-55 with a 3.72 ERA in five late-career seasons for the Sox. For the 1959 AL champion Sox, he was 22-10 with a 3.17 ERA.
Wynn started the first of two All-Star Games in 1959, allowing one run in three innings. The NL won 5-4.
Loaiza: He pitched one full season and parts of two others for the Sox. A 126-game winner, he had his shining moment for the 2003 Sox when he went 21-9, 2.90.
He started the ’03 All-Star Game with two scoreless innings in a 7-6 AL victory.
Buehrle: Like Pierce, Buehrle is on the Hall of Fame border. With a career 214-160 record, including a 161-119 mark and a 3.83 ERA in 12 seasons with the Sox, Buehrle has a 47.4 JAWS, 1.8 higher than Pierce.
In 2005, when he was 16-8 with a 3.12 ERA for the World Series champion Sox, Buehrle won his All-Star start. He pitched two scoreless innings as the AL won 7-5.
Sale: The left-hander is 119-77 and pitching for the Red Sox in his 13th season. His record includes a 74-50 mark and 3.00 ERA for the White Sox from 2010 to 2016.
In ’16, when he went 17-10, 3.34, he started the All-Star Game and gave up one run in his only inning of a 4-2 AL victory.
