It isn’t just Ubaldo Jimenez having a dominant season this year in the National League. Let’s look at which pitchers should get a chance to pitch this year in the all-star game.

Starters (5):
Ubaldo Jimenez, Colorado Rockies. Well, this one is a no-brainer. Jimenez has a 14-1 record, a ton of strikeouts and an ERA of 1.83 so far this season. Roy Halladay is supposed to be the best pitcher in the league, but Jimenez just doesn’t care about that right now. Oh yeah, and he has a no-hitter this year as well.

Roy Halladay, Philadelphia Phillies. It isn’t really Doc Halladay’s fault that he has a 9-7 record. If the Phillies could actually hit the ball this year, he could be challenging Jimenez for the league lead in wins. Halladay has been a workhorse, throwing five compete games (three shutouts) and even a perfect game just for the fun of it. His 2.42 ERA and 112 strikeouts are also near the top of the league.

Josh Johnson, Florida Marlins. While most seem to be talking about Jimenez and Halladay, and for good reason, Johnson is having as good of a year as anyone. His ERA is literally identical with Jimenez as of June 30th and his 8-3 record is great for a mediocre team like the Marlins. If you were to guess that Jimenez was the only N.L. starter to have a WHIP under 1.00, you’d be wrong; it’s Josh Johnson.

Adam Wainwright, St. Louis Cardinals. Wainwright is doing a lot to suggest that his 2009 season wasn’t a fluke. With an 11-5 record and 2.34 ERA, Wainwright has helped the Cards overcome the hot start of the Reds to take their rightful place atop the N.L. Central.
Chris Carpenter, St. Louis Cardinals. The more popular player is definitely Tim Lincecum, but Carpenter has a better win percentage, ERA and WHIP. After injury seriously threatened his career a couple seasons back, Carpenter is back on the top of his game, and it’s good to see.

Backup:
Tim Lincecum, San Francisco Giants. Even in a down year, Lincecum has still been pretty dominant. His 3.13 ERA is high for him but still very good and he’s still won eight games against just three losses. He’s not currently in the Cy Young discussion, but nobody would be surprised if he got hot in the second half and made a run at his third consecutive Cy Young.

Relievers (3):
Heath Bell, San Diego Padres. Nobody thought the Padres would still be in first place in the National League West, but they are. They’ve had solid play throughout their roster but Bell has been the consistent closer that a team needs to string together wins. Bell has piled up 21 saves with an ERA of 1.93.

Francisco Rodriguez, New York Mets. K-Rod is back to being one of the more dominant closers in the league. His save total of 17 isn’t spectacular but it looks like the Mets will eventually get him more chances. With 50 strikeouts, K-Rod is leading all closers in punch-outs and has a very strong WHIP of 1.13. He may not be on pace to set a single-season saves record, but he’s helping the Mets win and selling MLB tickets. You can’t ask for much more than that.

Jonathan Broxton, Los Angeles Dodgers. Broxton simply continues to mow in the closer’s role for the Dodgers. His 49 strikeouts trail only K-Rod out of National League closers and his ERA and WHIP are also among the league leaders, even though his 16 saves is less than many would have predicted for Broxton. If the Dodgers can get some consistency in their lineup and starting pitching, the saves are going to once again start piling up.

Backup:
Billy Wagner, Atlanta Braves. It seems that everyone on the Braves is exceeding expectations. Certainly Wagner falls under that category. Wagner continues to strikeout lots of batters and Levitra has an impressive ERA of 1.19 to go along with 15 saves. His five wins and no losses late in the game also prove that he’s been very good outside of save situations as well.

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