PHILADELPHIA — The All-Star Game is to pitching what the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas is to technology. It is an exhibition of what is state of the art and what is next. Instead of booth after booth exhibiting cutting edge products, last night in the 96th edition it was 20 pitchers marching to the mound to show their wares. The operative word was electric.
“Every All-Star Game is like that,” said 21-year veteran Justin Verlander. “Except it gets nastier and nastier.”
The hitters were simply the foils. The American League won, 4–0, on a three-hitter with 15 strikeouts—a combo platter of domination never seen in the first 95 iterations. It was only the ninth shutout in All-Star Game history, but the other eight had no more than 11 punchouts.
The National League pitchers were nearly as nasty. The two staffs combined to allow 10 hits (only one for extra bases) while striking out 27 batters and getting 56 swings and misses. And remember, five of the seven pitchers with the lowest ERAs (Jacob Misiorowski, Cam Schlittler, Chris Sale, Chase Burns and Max Meyer) and Shohei Ohtani did not pitch. The depth of elite pitching is so wild that 18 of the 31 named All-Star pitchers were first-time All-Stars (58%).
“It boggles my mind how anybody can hit a baseball,” said Cleveland reliever Cade Smith, who maxed out at 97.8 mph with his fastball and broke off filthy 89 mph splitters.
"That's disgusting guys. Sorry about that".
— MLB (@MLB) July 15, 2026
Bryce Harper was mic'd up during his strikeout against Cade Smith's nasty splitter 😭 pic.twitter.com/zTYLqD6MLX
The nature of the All-Star Game promotes pitching because of the frequent pitching changes. And true to the still-competitive nature of the best all-star game in sports, pitchers throw harder in the All-Star game because they know they will face only a handful of batters. Thirteen pitchers Tuesday found an extra gear on their fastball: Michael Wacha (up 2.3 mph), Justin Wrobleski (+2.1), Jesus Luzardo (+2.1), Joe Ryan (+2), Jacob Latz (+1.5), Smith (+1.4), Parker Messick (+1.1), Drew Rasmussen (+0.9), Cristopher Sanchez (+0.5), Eduardo Rodriguez (+0.4), Nick Martinez (+0.4), Raisel Iglesias (+0.4) and Mason Miller (+0.2). In what other exhibition are pro athletes going at it harder than when games actually count?
Five pitchers hit 98 mph. But as we know well by now, it’s not just velocity that kills hittin—it also is spin, shaping and sequencing. The scientific approach to pitching, along with training pitchers to throw harder, which boosts the supply, is producing a range of lab-made nastiness like nothing ever seen.
For instance, using fastballs as our guide (not including cutters), compare how much the game has changed from 2011, when Verlander won his first Cy Young Award:
| MLB Fastballs | Usage | Avg. Velocity | Vert. Release | Batting Avg. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 56.7% | 92.0 | 6.04 | .277 |
| 2026 | 47.0% | 94.5 | 5.79 | .260 |
Pitchers are throwing much harder from a lower release point yet throwing more spin and off-speed because those pitches are harder to hit. If you want offense, the All-Star Game is not the place to look. The best hitters in the game combined to hit .156 in the game and produced one extra-base hit and four runs. That’s not a knock on offense. It’s a wonder they managed even that minimal damage against the electric show they were up against.
One of the stars of the game was umpire Alan Porter, one of the best in the business. It was a homecoming game for Porter, who played baseball and football at Hatboro-Horsham High School about 30 miles up the road from Citizens Bank Park. At age 23, he lost his job as a supply chain manager. Friends encouraged him to try umpire school. He did, and he aced it.
Now in his 16th MLB season, Porter has become so good he has worked three of the past seven World Series. He was behind the plate for Game 5 of the World Series last year, when Toronto rookie Trey Yesavage was the headline for his no-walk, 12-strikeout game.
But Porter was a star, too. He correctly called 155 of the 159 taken pitches, including 47-for-47 on strikes. He was on his game again Tuesday night, including his calls standing up against the two ABS challenges.
Miguel Vargas of the White Sox had two of the five hardest hit balls of the night: a 104.3 mph lineout caught by his good friend and former Dodgers teammate Andy Pages, and a 107.3 home run off his former minor league teammate Justin Wrobleski.
Miguel Vargas cracks one 433 feet and gives the American League a commanding lead 😤 #AllStarGame pic.twitter.com/thxDcttqBu
— MLB (@MLB) July 15, 2026
The Dodgers traded Vargas two years ago in a three-way deal in which Los Angeles obtained Michael Kopech and Tommy Edman. Vargas, like Oneil Cruz and Yordan Alvarez, is blossoming into a star after being traded by the Dodgers. Vargas is one of only five players this year with 20 home runs and 10 stolen bases. Until Vargas, only Dick Allen ever posted a 20–10 first half for the Sox.
Cody Bellinger now has an All-Star MVP award to go with a Rookie of the Year Award, an NL MVP, a Gold Glove and two Silver Sluggers. It was fitting that he won the award by using an abbreviated two-strike swing to drive in two runs with a single. The way he has learned how to manipulate the bat is what Yankees manager Aaron Boone calls “doing Belli things.”
Bellinger is proof that hitters can adapt their swings. Through 2022 Bellinger was a career .176 hitter with two strikes. Since then, he is hitting .224 with two strikes, the sixth best mark in baseball (min. 1,000 PA) behind only Luis Arraez, Bobby Witt Jr., Jose Ramirez, Yandy Diaz and Steven Kwan.
