2026 MLB All-Star Game Preview: 10 Storylines To Follow This Week In Philly

This weeks All-Star festivities in Philadelphia will be a hometown showcase. 

The Phillies have two players — Bryce Harper and Kyle Schwarber — competing in the Home Run Derby on Monday. One day later, four more Phillies players — Cristopher Sánchez, Jesús Luzardo, Brandon Marsh and Jhoan Duran — will be joining Schwarber and Harper at the All-Star Game.

On the American League side, it will also be a return home for Mike Trout, the native of Millville, New Jersey, whose 12th All-Star Game will hold a special meaning.

With All-Star week about to get going, here are 10 storylines to watch.

Rowan Kavner: There are two strong options for American League manager John Schneider. The Yankees Cam Schlittler leads AL pitchers in bWAR, ERA and WHIP, while Schneiders Blue Jays ace Dylan Cease leads AL pitchers in fWAR, strikeouts, strikeout rate and opponents batting average. Theyve clearly been the top two pitchers in the AL.

Its a little more complicated in the National League.

Jacob Misiorowski would have been the obvious choice in the middle of a historically overpowering season. He leads all qualified MLB starters in ERA, strikeouts, WHIP and opponents batting average. Shane Bieber (in the shortened 2020 season) and Gerrit Cole (in 2019) are the only qualified starters who have ever logged a strikeout rate higher than Misiorowskis (39.6%) over the course of a full season.

The only problem? Miz wont be there. He has been replaced because he will be pitching on Sunday and unavailable for the All-Star Game. Paul Skenes might have made sense, but he will be facing off against Misiorowski on Sunday (and hasnt had the first-half numbers of other top contenders).

NL manager Dave Roberts told me last week that being the hometown pitcher “has got to have some weight” as he mulls his decision. If he chooses to go with a Phillies pitcher, there are two options: Sánchez and Luzardo.

Sánchez would have been the clear choice until he coughed up nine runs in Kansas City on Monday. Despite that clunker, as long as he is cleared to pitch three days after his start on Saturday, he’d make a lot of sense. Atlantas Chris Sale, Cincinnatis Chase Burns and Roberts World Series star Yoshinobu Yamamoto also have to be among the other top considerations.

Deesha Thosar: This weeks All-Star week festivities will double as a farewell stage for Verlander, giving his peers and fans a chance to celebrate his remarkable career. After announcing that he will retire following the season, the future first-ballot Hall of Famer will take one final All-Star bow as one of the sports most accomplished pitchers. 

Verlander is a throwback from a generation of pitchers that played the game with different priorities, including pitching deep into games, emphasizing durability and wins, and defining a legacy through consistency and longevity. Its fair to question whether we will ever see anyone like him take the mound again.

Few careers can match Verlanders resume. The 43-year-old is a 10-time All-Star, three-time Cy Young Award winner, a two-time World Series champion, and the 2011 AL MVP. The right-hander has spent over two decades overpowering hitters, presiding as the active leader in strikeouts (3,554), wins (266), complete games (26), games started (556) and innings pitched (3,571.1). Whatever MLB has in the works to honor Verlander in Philly, its certain to be a fitting tribute to one of baseballs all-time greats.

Kavner: In 2018, the Nationals’ Bryce Harper beat the Cubs’ Kyle Schwarber in the finals to win the Home Run Derby. Eight years later, now Phillies teammates, theyll face off again in front of their hometown fans.

Its the first time since that 2018 Derby that two teammates will compete. (That year, it was Schwarber and Cubs teammate Javier Báez). 

Harper has tabbed Dodgers third-base coach Dino Ebel, one of his World Baseball Classic Team