Matt Cain Named NL All-Star Starting Pitcher

If you thought that Sandy Alderson was mad when Pablo Sandoval beat out David Wright for the starting third baseman gig in the 2012 All-Star Game, well, you ain't seen nothing yet.

He's going to be flat-out furious when he finds out that Matt Cain was reportedly chosen as the National League's starting pitcher for the game over the Mets R.A. Dickey.

That's according to Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com, and while it's a good choice, it's going to rile up some Mets fans, and baseball fans in general.

Dickey is 12-1 on the season, while Cain is just 9-3. However, the two starters have pretty similar numbers, wins aside. Cain has a 2.62 ERA with 118 strikeouts in 120.1 innings, and a 0.956 WHIP.

The Mets ace has a 2.40 ERA, 123 strikeouts in 120 innings and a 0.933 WHIP.

Cain would be the clear-cut front-runner for the NL Cy Young if not for Dickey, and vice-versa. The biggest difference between the two is the dreaded narrative.

Dickey recently wrote a book about being sexually abused as a child, he throws a knuckleball and he's been a stunningly awesome storyline for the 2012 season. Cain's just your average guy who's pitched well his entire career and decided to rip off a perfect game and the best season of his career shortly after signing a big contract.

So Dickey's got the edge there and, technically, in terms of all the statistics. It's a bit surprising that Tony LaRussa wouldn't roll with Dickey as the starter in that sense.

But Giants fans -- and Cain -- probably don't mind too much.

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