The 2025 MLB All-Star Game starters were announced Wednesday night, but who else deserves to make it to Atlanta on July 15?
Before the complete 64-man All-Star selections are revealed on Sunday, FOX Sports MLB writers Rowan Kavner and Deesha Thosar made their own selections for the pitchers and position player reserves they believe worthy of rounding out the rosters.
The picks below fall within the framework of the All-Star rules: 20 position players and 12 pitchers (including at least three relievers) on both teams, with every MLB club getting at least one representative. Inevitably, there are more deserving players than spots available on the rosters, but that’s part of the fun of the exercise.
Without further ado, here are Kavner’s selections for the American League and Thosar’s picks for the National League, along with some commentary on those choices and difficult omissions (starters selected via fan vote are in bold):
AMERICAN LEAGUE
Catchers
Infielders
- 1B Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Toronto Blue Jays
- 1B Jonathan Aranda, Tampa Bay Rays
- 2B Gleyber Torres, Detroit Tigers
- 2B Brandon Lowe, Tampa Bay Rays
- SS Jacob Wilson, Athletics
- *SS Jeremy Pena, Houston Astros
- SS Bobby Witt Jr., Kansas City Royals
- 3B Jose Ramirez, Cleveland Guardians
- 3B Junior Caminero, Tampa Bay Rays
- 3B Isaac Paredes, Houston Astros
Outfielders
DH
- Ryan O’Hearn, Baltimore Orioles
- Brent Rooker, Athletics
*Injury replacement if Peña is injured
- 3B Maikel Garcia, Kansas City Royals
Strongly Considered
- C Carlos Narvaez, Boston Red Sox
- 1B Spencer Torkelson, Detroit Tigers
- 1B Paul Goldschmidt, New York Yankees
- 2B Jazz Chisholm Jr., New York Yankees
- SS Gunnar Henderson, Baltimore Orioles
- SS J.P. Crawford, Seattle Mariners
- 3B Maikel Garcia, Kansas City Royals
- 3B Alex Bregman, Boston Red Sox
- OF Randy Arozarena, Seattle Mariners
- OF Julio Rodriguez, Seattle Mariners
- OF Steven Kwan, Cleveland Guardians
- OF Wilyer Abreu, Boston Red SoxOF Trent Grisham, New York Yankees
- UTIL Zach McKinstry, Detroit Tigers
- DH Yandy Diaz, Tampa Bay Rays
Analysis: The hardest omission was Garcia, who should be the first injury replacement for a position player (although if Peña can’t go, it wouldn’t be a surprise or a problem to see Henderson make it, either). Ultimately, the 21 homers from Caminero and 17 from Paredes, who has played a major role in elevating the Astros into first place, gave them the nod.
Bregman would have easily made it had he not been injured. Leaving off both Arozarena, who’s on an absolute tear, and Rodriguez were the toughest choices in the outfield. (Sorry, Seattle fans). Fans voting Báez in as a starter in a resurgent year is a cool story, but he hasn’t played the outfield in a month and there’s no good argument for having him over Arozarena, apart from the fact that the Tigers deserve more representation for their dominant first half. In addition, the Angels needed a rep somewhere, and Adell stood out as a top candidate. It would be a cool story for Adell, a former top prospect who is putting together a career year at 26, if he makes it. That left me with just two other outfielders.
It’s tough to leave off both of Seattle’s standout outfielders, Byron Buxton needed to be on there (and should be starting) and George Springer is having an even better season than his last All-Star campaign three years ago for a Toronto team that deserves attention. — Kavner
(Photo by Jack Gorman/Getty Images)
Pitchers
- SP Tarik Skubal, Detroit Tigers
- SP Hunter Brown, Houston Astros
- SP Jacob deGrom, Texas Rangers
- SP Garrett Crochet, Boston Red Sox
- SP Max Fried, New York Yankees
- SP Kris Bubic, Kansas City Royals
- SP Framber Valdez, Houston Astros
- SP Joe Ryan, Minnesota Twins
- SP Shane Smith, Chicago White Sox
- RP Josh Hader, Houston Astros
- RP Andres Munoz, Seattle Mariners
- RP Aroldis Chapman, Boston Red Sox
Strongly Considered:
- SP Carlos Rodon, New York Yankees
- SP Nathan Eovaldi, Texas Rangers
- SP Bryan Woo, Seattle Mariners
- SP Yusei Kikuchi, Los Angeles Angels
- SP Drew Rasmussen, Tampa Bay Rays
- RP Carlos Estevez, Kansas City Royals
- RP Jhoan Duran, Minnesota Twins
- RP Bryan Abreu, Houston Astros
Analysis: Skubal is the best pitcher in baseball and deserves to start the game again. Brown, who has the lowest ERA in MLB, and Valdez have been lights out in leading the first-place Astros. Crochet, who leads the majors in strikeouts, and Fried have both looked like Cy Young contenders all year for their new squads. The Rangers have the lowest starters’ ERA in MLB, and deGrom is a major reason why. So is Eovaldi, who was a difficult cut, but the time he missed leaves him just off the list
Bubic and his 2.25 ERA deserve a spot, and Skubal is the only AL pitcher with a lower WHIP than Ryan. After a hot start, Smith has fallen way back down to earth. He makes it solely because the White Sox need a rep, which is tough luck for both Eovaldi and Rodón, who were the hardest omissions among the starting pitchers. AL saves leader Hader (1.86 ERA), Muñoz (1.13) and Chapman (1.29) stand out among the top closers in the league, but there are always more deserving bullpen candidates than spots available. Estévez and Duran were especially difficult cuts and would be among my first calls as replacements. Both are perfectly understandable All-Star choices. — Kavner
(Photo by Dilip Vishwanat/Getty Images)
NATIONAL LEAGUE
Catchers
Infielders
- 1B Freddie Freeman, Los Angeles Dodgers
- 1B Pete Alonso, New York Mets
- 2B Ketel Marte, Arizona Diamondbacks
- 2B Brendan Donovan, St. Louis Cardinals
- SS Francisco Lindor, New York Mets
- SS Trea Turner, Philadelphia Phillies
- SS Elly De La Cruz, Cincinnati Reds
- 3B Manny Machado, San Diego Padres
- 3B Eugenio Suarez, Arizona Diamondbacks
Outfielders
- Ronald Acuna Jr., Atlanta Braves
- Pete Crow-Armstrong, Chicago Cubs
- Kyle Tucker, Chicago Cubs
- James Wood, Washington Nationals
- Juan Soto, New York Mets
- Kyle Stowers, Miami Marlins
DH
- Shohei Ohtani, Los Angeles Dodgers
- Kyle Schwarber, Philadelphia Phillies
- Rafael Devers, San Francisco Giants
Strongly Considered
- 1B Michael Busch, Chicago Cubs
- 1B Bryce Harper, Philadelphia Phillies
- 1B Josh Naylor, Arizona Diamondbacks
- 2B Brice Turang, Milwaukee Brewers
- SS CJ Abrams, Washington Nationals
- SS Gerardo Perdomo, Arizona Diamondbacks
- SS Mookie Betts, Los Angeles Dodgers
- 3B Max Muncy, Los Angeles Dodgers
- OF Corbin Carroll, Arizona Diamondbacks
- OF Heliot Ramos, San Francisco Giants
- OF Andy Pages, Los Angeles Dodgers
- OF Fernando Tatis Jr., San Diego Padres
- DH Seiya Suzuki, Chicago Cubs
Analysis: Listen, as much as several Los Angeles players deserve to be All-Stars, the entire NL team can’t just be Dodgers. So guys like Betts, Pages, Edman and Muncy didn’t make the cut this year in an effort to fit and represent all 15 teams on the NL squad. The NL shortstops are, once again, stacked. It was extremely tough to pick between Abrams and EDLC, but the latter has the edge in slugging, and he’s electric in the national spotlight. If you’re surprised Soto made the team despite his slow start to the season, don’t be. His at-bats are a one-man show, and the All-Star game is designed to provide massive entertainment value. Plus, Soto has looked almost fully like himself at the plate over the past month-plus. There’s a worthy case to be made that Carroll should be an All-Star regardless, but his wrist injury complicates things. After Acuña was voted in as the starter, Stowers had to be included as the lone Marlins representative, which left a battle between Wood and Carroll for the final spot. The edge goes to Wood, who has been so impressive that he’s even sneaking into the NL MVP conversation.
Whittling down the options at DH was brutal because, after Ohtani, it was unjustifiable not to include both Schwarber and Devers, particularly because the latter was dealt a tough hand. Devers led all AL DH while he played for the Red Sox (and it wasn’t even close), only to lose that top spot to Ohtani once he was traded to the Giants. So we’re gaming the system a bit and going with three DH. As far as the backstops, Goodman is the lone Rockies representative with his 16 home runs and OPS+ of 127, beating out Kelly after he fizzled out from a strong April and posted a mediocre .569 OPS in June. — Thosar
(Photo by Jason Miller/Getty Images)
Pitchers
- SP Zack Wheeler, Philadelphia Phillies
- SP Paul Skenes, Pittsburgh Pirates
- SP Logan Webb, San Francisco Giants
- SP Robbie Ray, San Francisco Giants
- SP Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Los Angeles Dodgers
- SP Andrew Abbott, Cincinnati Reds
- SP Matthew Boyd, Chicago Cubs
- SP MacKenzie Gore, Washington Nationals
- SP Freddy Peralta, Milwaukee Brewers
- RP Edwin Diaz, New York Mets
- RP Robert Suarez, San Diego Padres
- RP Emilio Pagan, Cincinnati Reds
Strongly Considered
- SP Clay Holmes, New York Mets
- SP Sonny Gray, St. Louis Cardinals
- SP Cristopher Sanchez, Philadelphia Phillies
- SP Nick Pivetta, San Diego Padres
- SP David Peterson, New York Mets
- RP Kyle Finnegan, Washington Nationals
- RP Tanner Scott, Los Angeles Dodgers
- RP Trevor Megill, Milwaukee Brewers
- RP Randy Rodriguez, San Francisco Giants
- RP Jason Adam, San Diego Padres
- RP David Bednar, Pittsburgh Pirates
Analysis: Obviously, Chris Sale deserves to be an All-Star again this year, but since he’s dealing with a fractured rib and is out until at least late August, he’s omitted from this list. There was a strong case for Spencer Schwellenbach to replace Sale, but now he’s also dealing with an injury. The relief pitchers are so stacked this year that we considered adding a fourth bullpen arm and taking away one starting pitcher, but it was difficult to warrant omitting Abbott or Boyd, in that case. As it is, there’s a strong case for Holmes to be on the team given his excellent transition from a closer to a starting pitcher, but the Mets already have plenty of representation this year.
There’s certainly an argument to be made that Suarez should be booted from the relievers list if we’re strictly going by ERA, in which case Rodriguez deserves to take his spot. But saves are important! It’s impossible to make everyone happy with our picks, but it’s completely justified if you’re miffed by the final bullpen candidates here. Picking three spots for several deserving relief arms is the definition of cruel and unusual punishment. — Thosar
Deesha Thosar covers Major League Baseball as a reporter and columnist for FOX Sports. She previously covered the Mets as a beat reporter for the New York Daily News. The daughter of Indian immigrants, Deesha grew up on Long Island and now lives in Queens. Follow her on Twitter at @DeeshaThosar.
Rowan Kavner is an MLB writer for FOX Sports. He previously covered the L.A. Dodgers, LA Clippers and Dallas Cowboys. An LSU grad, Rowan was born in California, grew up in Texas, then moved back to the West Coast in 2014. Follow him on Twitter at @RowanKavner.
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