The Phillies may still have more than one player headed to the 2026 MLB All-Star Game in Philadelphia, but the latest pitching picture is giving Cristopher Sanchez a real boost.
Brandon Marsh is likely to win a starting spot, though he might wind up as the club’s only starter this year. On the mound, Sanchez and Zack Wheeler are both in the mix to start the All-Star Game at Citizens Bank Park. But the path is getting clearer for Sanchez.
The biggest hurdle looked like Milwaukee Brewers right-hander Jacob Misiorowski, who had emerged as the frontrunner. Yet MLB.com's Adam McCalvy reported that the Brewers star may not even be eligible to pitch in the game.
"So if the Brewers and Misiorowski stick to the schedule they have laid out, he would only be able to attend the Midsummer Classic on July 14 at Citizens Bank Park as a spectator," McCalvy writes.
That schedule has Misiorowski lined up to pitch on Thursday, July 2, Tuesday, July 7, and Sunday, July 12. That would leave him set to work the day before the All-Star break, which would keep him out of the game itself.
If that holds, Sanchez’s chances would jump in a big way. And he got another favorable update when USA Today’s Bob Nightengale reported that Los Angeles Dodgers ace Shohei Ohtani is also set to pitch the same weekend as Misiorowski, which would make him ineligible to pitch in the All-Star Game under the Dodgers’ current plan.
That leaves the National League picture looking thin behind Sanchez. Wheeler remains a possibility, but the other names in the conversation - Chris Sale, Chase Burns, Max Meyer, Kyle Harrison, Paul Skenes, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, and any other starting pitcher - don’t stack up the same way.
Misiorowski and Ohtani could still have their plans changed and become eligible again. But for now, the setup points toward Sanchez as the likeliest choice to start for the NL All-Stars.
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