LOS ANGELES — R.A. Dickey can sense the call is coming, but isn’t sure how he will react.
“I’m not nervous,” the Mets knuckleballer said Saturday, when asked about today’s unveiling of the All-Star teams. “I don’t really know how to feel, to be perfectly frank, because I never have gone through the experience. It’s just kind of icing on the cake more than anything.”
Dickey (12-1, 2.15 ERA) is a slam dunk to make NL manager Tony La Russa’s pitching staff, and barring an upset will be named the starter for the July 10 game in Kansas City. He is the NL leader in victories and began Saturday’s play third in ERA and second in strikeouts with 116.
Before Saturday night’s 5-0 victory over the Dodgers, manager Terry Collins said he wouldn’t interfere with giving Dickey an opportunity to represent the organization on a big stage. That eliminates the possibility Dickey will be asked to start twice in the next week, once on short rest, before the All-Star break.
“If you have the history of R.A. Dickey, I’m not going to deny him a chance to pitch in an All-Star game it took him 18 years to get to,” Collins said.
Dickey could become the first Mets pitcher to start an All-Star game since Dwight Gooden in 1988.
“Whatever happens,” Dickey said, when asked if it would be a letdown not to be the starter. “I don’t have an agenda. I’m just more worried about [the Mets]. I want to be careful not to trivialize it — it’s a big deal. But in this moment I’m not thinking about it much.”
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Collins plans to sit Daniel Murphy tonight against Clayton Kershaw , who might rate as the league’s toughest lefty. Murphy, who went 2-for-3 with a sacrifice fly Saturday night, remained in the lineup on Thursday when the Mets faced lefty Chris Capuano . Cedeno and Turner are the other options to play second base.
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David Wright entered last night’s play with a career .395 (70-for-177) batting average against the Dodgers. It marked the highest batting average by any active player with at least 200 plate appearances against any opponent, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. Wright went 0-for-3 with a walk Saturday night.
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Frank Francisco, on the DL with a strained left oblique, has reported to Port St. Lucie for rehab, but the right-hander has not yet begun a throwing program, according to Collins.