Jul 14th 2008 11:55AM by Josh Alper (author feed)
There aren’t too many things that Ben Sheets and Cliff Lee have in common. Sure, they’ve both showered with C.C. Sabathia but Sheets is pure pitching talent while Lee has spent his career getting by on guile. They’ll always be joined as the starting pitchers in the 2008 All-Star Game, though.

There’s another similarity, actually. Neither one would have been a good bet at the start of the season to be in this spot. For all his talent, Sheets hasn’t had any luck staying healthy and that’s always been a mitigating factor when weighing his chances at All-Star berths and Cy Young awards. Lee wasn’t even a lock to make the Indian rotation before the season started but has outperformed even the loftiest of expectations to date.

Each man is a deserving choice. They wouldn’t be my choice, however. In the National League, Sheets is somewhere behind Edinson Volquez and Tim Lincecum to this point. The two youngsters have impressed from day one but each pitched over the weekend, likely eliminating them from consideration by Clint Hurdle.

In the AL, no one is more deserving than Justin Duchscherer. His success is even more out of left field than Lee’s and even more impressive. A 210 ERA+, two starts with more than two runs allowed and an unbelievable 0.865 WHIP make him the best the junior circuit has to offer. Like Lincecum, however, Duchscherer started on Sunday which means we probably won’t see him pitch at all tomorrow night.