Image credit: © Brad Penner-Imagn Images
Justin Verlander is arguably the best pitcher in the histories of two different franchises. He’s set plenty of records in his career, but he added an ignominious one this season. When he was named the “legend pick” for 2026, he became the All-Star pitcher with the highest ERA ever.* A hip injury and hamstring strain after his first start with the Tigers has frozen his line at five earned runs in 3 ⅔ innings, for a 12.27 mark.
Among pitchers who were named All-Stars for non-ceremonial reasons, the worst ERA belongs to Derrick Turnbow in 2006, who finished the year at 6.87. He was the closer for the Brewers that year, and while sometimes it’s easiest to pick a closer to satisfy the “every team must be represented” rule, teammates Chris Capuano and Carlos Lee were also honored, so he was evidently an All-Star on merit. The previous season, he was snubbed despite legitimately being one of the best relievers in baseball, and through June, 2006, he had a 3.28 ERA and 23 saves.
Turnbow’s season fell apart immediately after getting picked for the team. He gave up 14 runs over his next 3 ⅔ innings across eight appearances, which included four blown saves, and got demoted out of the closer job. Still, he was an All-Star in 2006, picked ahead of Aaron Harang, who led the NL in wins, strikeouts, complete games, and batters faced, and Takashi Saito, who featured a 2.07 ERA and 1.87 FIP out of the bullpen.
The All-Star rosters in any given year are a snapshot of the moment they were chosen, and they never get it completely correct even then. Anything can happen in the second half, and some of this year’s picks will look foolish in hindsight—though hopefully not as bad as Turnbow. Here’s a prediction of which All-Star pitchers will do better, worse, or about the same in the second half. You can read about the hitters here.
