Getting the chance to start the All-Star Game is one of the highest honors a pitcher can receive.

As usual, there are several deserving candidates in both leagues, so we asked five MLB.com writers to pick, draft-style, the aces they’d like to see get the starting assignment this year. (Our panelists were limited to pitchers who were part of the initial All-Star rosters that were unveiled on Sunday, and worthy pitchers battling injuries like Shane McClanahan and Clayton Kershaw were excluded.)

You can find the results for the American League here. And read on for the National League picks.

All stats are through Sunday’s games.

1. Spencer Strider, RHP, Braves
Previous ASG experience: 0 selections

Strider is the premier strikeout artist in the game right now, an old-school fireballer who has tallied 357 K’s in 230 innings since the beginning of 2022, posting a 38.4% K-rate in that span. 

The mustachioed right-hander’s four-seam fastball has generated more swinging strikes (164) than any other pitch type in MLB this season. The pitch with the second most? Strider’s slider (162), which is generating a ridiculous 57.4% whiff rate. It would be a lot of fun watching the AL’s starting lineup -- especially Shohei Ohtani, who has never faced Strider -- try to deal with that.

If he’s selected, Strider would join a star-studded list of Braves pitchers to start the All-Star Game -- Hall of Famers Warren Spahn (three times), Greg Maddux (three times), Tom Glavine (twice) and John Smoltz are the only ones who have done it. Although he’s only in his second full season, Strider is a worthy choice to carry on that legacy.

-- Thomas Harrigan

2. Zac Gallen, RHP, D-backs
Previous ASG experience: 0 selections

We’re now well past the point where we wonder whether Gallen is the real deal. He’s the real deal.

The right-hander, who turns 28 next month, has been one of the very best starting pitchers in the NL since the beginning of last season. So far in 2023, no NL pitcher has thrown more than Gallen’s 111 2/3 innings, nor has a higher fWAR than Gallen’s 3.4. Only Strider (155) has more strikeouts than Gallen’s 120, and Gallen’s 2.83 FIP is almost identical to the league leaders ahead of him in that category, Justin Steele’s 2.81 and Zack Wheeler’s 2.82.

Gallen may not have the name recognition of a Strider or a Clayton Kershaw, but he’s been arguably the best pitcher in the NL this season, and that makes him a prime candidate to start the All-Star Game at T-Mobile Park.

-- Manny Randhawa

3. Justin Steele, LHP, Cubs
Previous ASG experience: 0 selections

Steele, who owns the lowest ERA (2.43) among pitchers with at least 70 innings this season, has been an effective MLB starting pitcher in an unconventional manner in today’s three-true outcomes environment. The lefty has offset his below-average whiff rate (29th percentile) by throwing tons of strikes (5.6% walk rate) and limiting the hard contact against him -- he ranks in the 97th percentile in average exit velocity allowed (85 mph) and the 91st percentile in hard-hit rate (30.7%).

The 27-year-old attacks hitters with a 92 mph four-seamer and a slider that generates a whopping 15.3 inches of horizontal break. His command of those two pitches has allowed him to reach his current level of success and makes him a strong fit to start the All-Star Game for the NL.

-- Brent Maguire

4. Marcus Stroman, RHP, Cubs
Previous ASG experience: 1 selection (0 app.)

MLB’s shortest pitcher to appear in a game this season might also be its best. The 5-foot-7 Stroman leads all MLB pitchers with 3.3 bWAR in 2023, having a career year in his second season with the Cubs.

On top of his nine wins and career-low 2.76 ERA (excluding 2015, when he only appeared in four games), Stroman has been a Statcast stud this season. The veteran has allowed a barrel in a mere 2.3% of his plate appearances, the lowest rate of any starter to face at least 100 batters this season. He has allowed a batting average below .225 on each of his six pitch types, demonstrating the versatility of his stuff. And he comfortably leads all MLB qualified pitchers in both slugging percentage (.279) and OPS (.557) allowed.

Stroman did not pitch in the 2019 All-Star Game when he was with Toronto, but he deserves far more than that this time around.

-- Cole Jacobson

5. Mitch Keller, RHP, Pirates
Previous ASG experience: 0 selections

It's been almost 50 years since a Pirates pitcher started an All-Star Game -- the last one was Jerry Reuss back in 1975. Heck, since the start of this millennium, only one Pirates starter has even pitched in the game in any capacity -- that was Gerrit Cole in 2015, who pitched in relief of Zack Greinke. Now there's another one worthy.

This is Keller's year. After several seasons of tantalizing potential but poor results, the 27-year-old is having the breakout fans were waiting for, and now he's a first-time All-Star. Keller is 9-3 with a 3.34 ERA and 118 strikeouts, which ranks third in the NL and gives him a shot at his first 200-K season. He's also throwing as hard as ever (his fastball is sitting close to 96 mph) and his sweeper averages 20 inches of horizontal break, so that's cool, too.

-- David Adler

• Which pitcher should start All-Star Game for AL?