Milwaukee Brewers rookie pitcher Jacob Misiorowski was named to the National League All-Star team late Friday night as a replacement for Chicago Cubs pitcher Matthew Boyd. 

Misiorowski’s inclusion, even on a replacement level, is a sign of how much All-Star Game requisites have changed.

It’s no longer about the most deserving or the best players, but about who will draw the largest audience or has the potential to make headlines. 

Misiorowski might do both. 

All-Star replacements are nothing new, as players tend to bow out of the game for personal or injury-related reasons. What makes Misiorowski’s selection so eye-opening is that he made his major league debut on June 12, making just five career starts.

He is now the record-holder for having the fewest big-league appearances to be named an All-Star, and it has elicited some strong reactions, specifically in the Philadelphia Phillies locker room. They sounded off on Friday night about the omission of their starting pitching tandem of Ranger Suarez and Christopher Sanchez.

Along with Suarez and Sanchez, New York Mets starting pitcher Kodai Senga would have been a worthy addition, given his great first half. 

However, as good as those pitchers have been, and for as deserving as they might be, MLB likely sees an opportunity to promote one of its brightest young rookies, much like it did with Pittsburgh Pirates ace Paul Skenes in 2024.

Skenes made the All-Star Game after just 11 starts in his big league career, but even that was more than twice the sample size of Misiorowski. Skenes had become the talk of the league and one of its most fascinating players due to his meteoric rise from College World Series hero, to No. 1 overall pick, to one of MLB’s best starting pitchers in less than a calendar year. It was unlike anything the league had ever seen before in the modern era.

Skenes has followed that up with an equally dominant 2025 season and will start the game for the second consecutive year.

Although Misiorowski doesn’t have the same developmental story as Skenes, he shares many of the same traits and shines in a similar manner. He is a big, intimidating presence on the mound, who can reach 102-103 mph on his fastball.