Joe Brackets All*Stars, 2025

It's funny how every sport keeps tinkering with its All*Star Game except for baseball.  Sure, they've made changes to the uniforms and done things like that span where they had the All*Star Game deciding home field advantage in the World Series, or the ridiculous extra innings home run derby that I hope never actually comes to pass.  But, the basic format of a regular game between a team from the American League and a team from the National League has remained the same for almost a century.

Meanwhile, Roger Goodell decided the Pro Bowl was stupid and turned it into the incredibly dumb "Pro Bowl Games."  The NHL decided the 4 Nations Face-Off was better than the All*Star Game and wants to do that instead.  And the NBA All*Star Game is such a mess that they can't figure out what they want to do.  There are no such problems in MLB, though.  The All*Star Game remains the marquee event it's always been.

This year's Midsummer Classic is set for Atlanta, which was controversially stripped of the 2021 All*Star Game.  It seems like they might've dodged a bullet there, though.  The 2021 All*Star Game was the first where they wore the league uniforms instead of their team uniforms.  After four years of fans hating it, they've finally switched back to what they should've been doing all along.  The league uniforms on Monday, team uniforms for the All*Star Game itself on Tuesday.  Just like it used to be before 2021.  They'll still wear the special All*Star Game hats, but one thing at a time.

So, who's headed to Atlanta?  We already know the starters, a great change that was made a few years ago.  And, ever since that change was made, the fan-voted starters have typically been excellent.  There haven't been many cases where somebody who truly isn't deserving ends up starting.  And, in the past, there's virtually no way Jacob Wilson would've been chosen as the AL's starting shortstop over Bobby Witt, Jr.

There are really only two starters who could be considered "questionable" this year.  One is Ronald Acuna Jr., but that's an exception people were willing to make since he's the franchise player for the home team, and he likely would've had All*Star numbers had he not been injured at the start of the season.  So, pretty much no one has an issue with Ronald Acuna Jr.'s selection (plus, there needs to be a Brave).

The other is Orioles DH Ryan O'Hearn, but that's more a result of the situation than anything else.  Rafael Devers would've been the AL's starting DH if he hadn't been traded to the Giants in the middle of June.  With Devers taken out of the equation, it was down to Ryan O'Hearn and Ben Rice.  O'Hearn ended up getting the nod, which is really just "whatever."  And, like Acuna, he takes care of the Oriole.

What I'm curious to see is who'll end up being the pitchers in both leagues.  The American League starting pitchers, in particular, have been so dominant that there are several locks (Tarik Skubal, Max Fried, Garret Crochet).  But how many team reps will end up filling out the pitching staff, and whose spots will they take?

In the National League, it's a similar problem.  There have been so many good starting pitchers this season that somebody deserving's gonna have to be left off the All*Star roster.  And that doesn't even include Spencer Schwellenbach, who you'd have to figure would've been on since he plays for the Braves, but obviously isn't able to pitch with a broken elbow.

With three Tigers starting and potentially a fourth in Skubal, Detroit will be well represented.  That's what happens when you have the best record in baseball.  Ditto with the Dodgers and their three starters.  Here's who I see joining them in Atlanta...

AMERICAN LEAGUE
C: Cal Raleigh (SEA), Logan O'Hoppe (LAA)
1B: Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (TOR), Jonathan Aranda (TB)
2B: Gleyber Torres (DET), Brandon Lowe (TB)
SS: Jacob Wilson (ATH), Jeremy Pena (HOU), Bobby Witt Jr. (KC)
3B: Jose Ramirez (CLE), Alex Bregman (BOS), Miguel Vargas (CWS)
OF: Aaron Judge (NYY), Riley Greene (DET), Javier Baez (DET), Jarren Duran (BOS), Steven Kwan (CLE), Julio Rodriguez (SEA)
DH: Ryan O'Hearn (BAL), Yandy Diaz (TB)
SP: Garret Crochet (BOS), Tarik Skubal (DET), Hunter Brown (HOU), Framber Valdez (HOU), Max Fried (NYY), Carlos Rodon (NYY), Jacob deGrom (TEX)
RP: Aroldis Chapman (BOS), Josh Hader (HOU), Carlos Estevez (KC), Jhoan Duran (MIN), Andres Munoz (SEA)

NATIONAL LEAGUE
C: Will Smith (LAD), Hunter Goodman (COL)
1B: Freddie Freeman (LAD), Pete Alonso (NYM)
2B: Ketel Marte (ARZ), Brendan Donovan (STL)
SS: Francisco Lindor (NYM), Elly de la Cruz (CIN), Trea Turner (PHI)
3B: Manny Machado (SD), Eugenio Suarez (ARZ)
OF: Ronald Acuna Jr. (ATL), Pete Crow-Armstrong (CHC), Kyle Tucker (CHC), Andy Pages (LAD), Kyle Stowers (MIA), Jackson Chourio (MIL), James Wood (WSH)
DH: Shohei Ohtani (LAD), Kyle Schwarber (PHI)
SP: Matthew Boyd (CHC), Yoshinobu Yamamoto (LAD), Freddy Peralta (MIL), Cristopher Sanchez (PHI), Zack Wheeler (PHI), Paul Skenes (PIT), Nick Pivetta (SD), Robbie Ray (SF), Sonny Gray (STL)
RP: Trevor Megill (MIL), Edwin Diaz (NYM), Robert Suarez (SD)

While there will undoubtedly be some pitchers who need to be replaced since they'll be pitching on Sunday, the number of All*Stars who may to get dropped because of injury is, fortunately, limited.  That's why I didn't name any replacements on my rosters.  The only player who could potentially fall into that category is Alex Bregman, who I can see sitting out the All*Star Game even if he is back in the Red Sox lineup by then.  If he does have to be replaced, I'd say the Royals' Maikel Franco would be the choice.

As for the lineups, I'm curious to see what Aaron Boone and Dave Roberts end up doing.  Roberts especially.  Ohtani's his leadoff hitter, but Acuna also bats leadoff and is the home team's representative, so does he get the nod instead?  And who bats ninth with all 1-4 hitters?  Boone, meanwhile, doesn't have a leadoff hitter, but I think that might be a little easier to figure out.  Here's what I think the lineups might look like:

AL: Torres-2B, Judge-RF, Ramirez-3B, Guerrero-1B, Raleigh-C, Greene-LF, Baez-CF, O'Hearn-DH, Wilson-SS
NL: Acuna-RF, Lindor-SS, Ohtani-DH, Freeman-1B, Machado-3B, Tucker-LF, Smith-C, Marte-2B, Crow-Armstrong-CF

Boone really can't go wrong with any of his starting pitching options.  He could go with his own guy, Fried, who's a former Brave (and might not get the warmest ovation in Atlanta) is pitching on either Friday or Saturday, so he'll be lined up.  Skubal should also be lined up after pitching on Friday or Saturday, and he's obviously the reigning Cy Young winner who's having the dominant first half for the best team.  It just seems too obvious.  Tarik Skubal should be your AL starter.

Last year, Torey Lovullo tabbed Paul Skenes to start.  I don't see him starting this year.  Instead, I'm going with Zack Wheeler.  For two reasons.  One, he's been the best pitcher in the National League in the first half.  Two, the Phillies deserve to have a starter.  And Wheeler, like Fried and Skubal, will pitch on either Friday or Saturday and be lined up for an All*Star Game start.