How the dumb All-Star Game can help the Phillies this year

It’s been called the Midsummer Classic, but in truth, it’s Midsummer Folly.

I’ve never been a fan of in-season All-Star games, be it baseball’s or any others’. Consider the concept: You take the best players in the game and punish them for that. Everybody else gets three to five days off, more in some sports.

The stars? They have an extra road trip to play three innings as a position player or one inning as a pitcher. You do this in a meaningless game (home-field advantage in the World Series was at stake from 2003 to 2016, idiotically). You do this in front of fans who are, in general, indifferent.

» READ MORE: Alec Bohm’s place with the Phillies was in question two years ago. Now he’s starting in the All-Star Game.

The only proof you need to know the idea was always idiotic: It was the brainchild of a sports editor.

All-Star games made sense in eras when leagues were desperate to promote themselves, but they’re all billion-dollar businesses now. It ain’t 1933 anymore. All-Star games are as anachronistic as the press riding along on teams’ planes, trains, and automobiles. Yes, to maximize publicity, teams once needed to transport the press corps, too.

All that said, the All-Star break could benefit the Phillies immeasurably this year.

Harper recently missed 10 of 11 games with hamstring and hand injuries. In the two months before that he’d hit .347 with a 1.076 OPS, 14 homers, and 40 RBIs in 49 games. He’s at .364 with a 1.316 OPS, a home run and three RBIs in the four games since his return. He’s well-rested and hot. Starting in the All-Star Game gives him a chance to stay hot.

Turner missed 38 games in May and June with a bad hamstring strain. He left hot: a .343 average, an .852 OPS, and nine steals. He came back hotter: a .356 average and a 1.062 OPS, with nine home runs, 23 RBIs, and 22 runs in 24 games. He’s well-rested, too. Starting in the All-Star Game gives him a chance to stay hot, too.

Not only is Bohm starting at third base, he was a Home Run Derby participant. The fear, of course, is that trying to hit a few dozen homers off batting-practice pitches will corrupt a player’s swing — it certainly ruined the Phillies’ Bobby Abreu in 2005 and the Mets’ David Wright in 2006 — but stats show that the Derby Curse is very hard to prove, across the board.

Anyway, Bohm isn’t hitting enough homers. He’s tied for fourth in the majors with 70 RBIs, but his 11 homers are tied for 89th, and he plays his home games in Citizens Bank Park. Former Phillies third baseman David Bell hit 18 homers, and he was a 5-foot-10, 170-pound 31-year-old. Bohm is 6-5, weighs 218 pounds, is 27, and is on pace to hit two fewer homers than the 20 he hit last season.

He hit 36 homers and made it to the Derby semifinals; maybe he found something Monday night at Globe Life Field.

It’s stupid to have superstar starters even warm up for an exhibition game. Which is why the silver lining to the back injuries to Wheeler and Suárez is that not only will neither pitch Tuesday (Wheeler wasn’t going to pitch even if he was healthy, since he was scheduled to start this past Sunday), neither even made the trip to Texas.

But then, avoiding Texas always is a good idea.

Between missing his start Sunday and having the All-Star break land when it does, Wheeler could be pushed back as far as next Tuesday, which would give him a two-week break.

» READ MORE: From teen prospect in rural Venezuela to All-Star: How Ranger Suárez became ‘that guy’ with the Phillies

Suárez’s situation doesn’t seem as dire, but don’t be surprised to see him pushed back to the max, too — as far as Monday in Minnesota, perhaps. He’s on pace to pitch more than 190 innings, having never pitched more than 155⅓, in 2022. In Suárez’s last three starts he gave up 15 earned runs in 15⅔ innings.

The bad news: Sánchez was named as the replacement for Braves lefty starter Chris Sale. The good news: If he pitches, Sánchez will throw on his sixth day since his last start. Again, not optimal for a guy already four innings past his career high of 99⅓ set last year, but not catastrophic.

The Phillies had eight players and a record five pitchers make the All-Star Game, and this is the only situation with a downside.

I’m a firm believer in keeping relievers in rhythm, and this year Strahm is an excellent argument. Most teams near the top of the standings get there by overusing their best relievers. In this aspect, the Phillies are fortunate. First, they have four starters who routinely pitch through the sixth inning. Second, they enjoy a luxury: They have four excellent relievers, so the workload has been spread out.

Strahm is on pace to throw about 71 innings, which would be about 16 fewer innings than last season, or a decrease of about 30%. By Tuesday’s game he’ll have pitched just five times in the last 16 days. He needs the work.

Unlike Strahm, Hoffman is on pace to pitch more innings this season than last — almost 68, his most in any season as a reliever. Also, after giving up one walk in his previous 20 games, he gave up walks in each of his last two appearances. Still, he hasn’t pitched since Saturday. And there’s a plotline here.

Last season, Hoffman rose from a role as triple-A batting-practice pitcher for Harper, who was injured, to Phillies garbage man, to bullpen stud, and to the Phillies’ No. 1 closer option this season. If he gets the chance, Diamondbacks and NL All-Star team manager Torey Lovullo should let Hoffman, the least likely of the All-Stars, pitch the ninth at the All-Star Game.

Now, that would be classic.