Even before the All-Star rosters were announced, Adam Wainwright convinced manager Mike Matheny to shuffle the rotation around so that he would pitch on the last day before the All-Star break. It didn't matter if he would be named to the NL's All-Star team or not, he was more focused on keeping the Cardinals on top of the NL Central Division.
So on the night in which his Cardinals beat the Cubs to salvage a series split, Wainwright's replacement was named. Cardinals' closer Edward Mujica was officially named an All-Star, announced on the air during the broadcast. Mujica, now a first-time All-Star, is the Cardinals' fourth closer in four seasons, and he's been successful during the first half, even if he did blow the save this evening. He has saved 26 games in 28 opportunities for the Redbirds, along with an 2.20 ERA and 34 strikeouts in 41 innings of work. He is the sixth Cardinals player to punch his ticket to New York, joining fellow All-Stars Yadier Molina, Carlos Beltran, Matt Adams, Matt Carpenter, and Wainwright.
Now all this time, I was stating that there was this "Sunday Starting Pitcher" rule that indicated that any All-Star starting pitcher who pitched on the Sunday before the game was no longer on the roster. That really isn't true. Here is the official rule thanks to the recent CBA between the Player's Association and MLB:
"Pitchers selected for the All-Star Game who start on the Sunday prior to the game have the option of pitching a maximum of one inning or bowing out of the game."
So all these guys who started today (Verlander, Iwakuma, Colon, Wainwright) could have opted to be on the active roster anyway, but chose to "bow out," leaving MLB and the All-Star managers to find replacements. Now the Cubs' Travis Wood was tonight's starting pitcher for the Cubs. I have yet to see a name announced as his replacement on the All-Star Team roster. MLB.com did report that he would take an early Monday morning flight to New York to participate in the festivities.
In the meantime, please go ahead and add your 2013 Topps card #96 to your All-Star binder (Mujica is not on the 17-card team set).
Sincerely,
JayBee Anama
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