The 96th edition of the MLB All-Star Game is right around the corner, and the league’s biggest stars as well as some surprise candidates are making their final pushes toward earning invitations to\u00a0Philadelphia\u00a0next month. Not only do we have nearly three months of performance to inform which players warrant a roster spot, but we also have\u00a0our first round of fan voting results\u00a0showing which players are in the mix to start July 14 at Citizens Bank Park.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Our latest power rankings look at players on each team who could be first-time All-Stars this year. These are often some of the best stories during All-Star week, whether they are ascendent young talents appearing in their first of many Midsummer Classics or veterans finally getting their first invite later in their careers. There won’t be room for all of them on the leagues’ stacked rosters, but here are some names to look for as potential first-timers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If you were told before the season that a Dodger would be the\u00a0leading vote-getter\u00a0among all National League outfielders in the first round of All-Star fan voting, that wouldn’t be a surprise. But you’d probably assume it was marquee free-agent addition\u00a0Kyle Tucker\u00a0(an All-Star the past four seasons) or beloved slugger\u00a0Teoscar Hern\u00e1ndez, right? Nope! It’s 25-year-old\u00a0Andy Pages,\u00a0<\/strong>and deservingly so. Even if the outsized vote totals are partially a product of his team’s enormous and enthusiastic fan base, Pages would be a worthy inclusion on the All-Star roster. He leads the NL with 56 RBI and ranks 13th among NL position players in fWAR.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Even with some missed time due to injury,\u00a0Drake Baldwin<\/strong>‘s outstanding play should earn him his first All-Star invite, and surely not his last. But most intriguing for Atlanta will be whether this is the year\u00a0Raisel Iglesias\u00a0<\/strong>finally gets the nod, as the 36-year-old right-hander has never been named an All-Star, despite remarkable consistency in the closer role for multiple teams over the past decade. There are only so many reliever spots available, so Iglesias could fall short again, but his continued excellence (14 saves, 1.16 ERA, 30.4% strikeout rate) on one of baseball’s best teams should not go overlooked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Brice Turang\u00a0<\/strong>\u2014 a Platinum Glove winner and a member of Team USA but not yet an All-Star \u2014 is the best bet to join super-ace\u00a0Jacob Misiorowski\u00a0in Philadelphia, and that would be well-deserved considering his ongoing offensive breakout. Among surprise first-half stars, 30-year-old\u00a0Jake Bauers\u00a0<\/strong>(his 148 wRC+ ranks seventh among NL hitters) has mashed his way into serious All-Star consideration, though a crowded NL first-base crop (Matt Olson,\u00a0Freddie Freeman,\u00a0Bryce Harper) makes his inclusion less certain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 4. New York Yankees (43-27)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n With his rib injury likely preventing\u00a0Aaron Judge\u00a0from participating in his eighth All-Star Game,\u00a0Ben Rice\u00a0<\/strong>and\u00a0Cam Schlittler\u00a0<\/strong>should snag the spotlight as the Yankees’ representatives. Two tremendous, homegrown player-development stories, Rice and Schlittler have been co-headlining this Yankees campaign all season, and the All-Star Game might be a precursor to their respective pushes for even more exclusive hardware: MVP and Cy Young.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The most likely first-timer on this Rays roster is 35-year-old right-hander\u00a0Nick Martinez<\/strong>, whose 2.60 ERA ranks third-lowest among qualified AL starting pitchers. Martinez’s underwhelming underlying peripherals don’t reflect that of one of the league’s best arms, but\u00a0Tampa Bay\u00a0still has to be thrilled with what he has provided\u00a0as a free-agent addition to the rotation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He hasn’t been an elite reliever for nearly as long as Iglesias, but it’s strange to think that\u00a0Jhoan Duran\u00a0<\/strong>also has yet to make an All-Star team, considering how dominant he has been since debuting in 2022. Whether that changes this year remains to be seen, but a near certain first-timer representing the All-Star hosts will be outfielder\u00a0Brandon Marsh<\/strong>. In fact, Marsh’s terrific season at the plate (133 wRC+) plus the\u00a0hometown bump in fan voting\u00a0could make him a starter for the NL.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 7. Chicago White Sox (38-32)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Chicago’s lone representative last season was right-hander\u00a0Shane Smith, a Rule 5 pick who became a reliable rotation option. Smith is a great story, but his selection was reflective of the complete lack of other compelling options to choose from. How times have changed. This season’s upstart White Sox roster boasts several All-Star candidates, all of whom would be first-timers: rookie sensation\u00a0Munetaka Murakami,\u00a0<\/strong>breakout bat\u00a0Miguel Vargas\u00a0<\/strong>and emergent ace\u00a0Davis Martin\u00a0<\/strong>would be worthy inclusions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A slow start and recent hamate injury will prevent face of the franchise\u00a0Jos\u00e9 Ram\u00edrez\u00a0from making his sixth consecutive All-Star appearance (and eighth overall), so look for a pitcher to represent the Guardians. Closer\u00a0Cade Smith\u00a0<\/strong>is MLB’s current saves leader with 23 and trails only\u00a0Mason Miller\u00a0among relievers in fWAR; he’s a virtual lock. Right-hander\u00a0Gavin Williams\u00a0<\/strong>is another first-time All-Star candidate, as his 28.7% strikeout rate ranks third among AL starting pitchers, behind only\u00a0Reid Detmers\u00a0(more on him later) and\u00a0Jacob deGrom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Logan Gilbert,\u00a0Bryan Woo,\u00a0George Kirby\u00a0and\u00a0Luis Castillo\u00a0have all been All-Stars before; could it be\u00a0Emerson Hancock’<\/strong>s turn? Or even\u00a0Bryce Miller<\/strong>‘s? Hancock has tailed off a bit since a brilliant first month, but he ranks among the top 15 qualified AL starting pitchers in innings pitched (79 \u2154), ERA (3.28), WHIP (1.01) and K-minus-BB% (18.5%). Miller has pitched only 35 innings, but he has been dominant in that abbreviated sample: 1.54 ERA, 0.714 WHIP, 28.8% strikeout rate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 10. St. Louis Cardinals (39-31)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n His impressive rookie year as a 21-year-old in 2023 suggested an eventual All-Star appearance was in the cards for\u00a0Jordan Walker,\u00a0<\/strong>but his immense struggles the past two seasons clouded that projection. But Walker has gotten back on track in a big way in his fourth major-league season, enjoying a slugging surge that has him at or near the top of the NL leaderboards in homers (18), RBI (56) and OPS (.903). His\u00a0enormous raw power\u00a0(99th-percentile average exit velocity, 100th-percentile bat speed) also makes him a strong candidate for this year’s Home Run Derby.<\/p>\n\n\n\n With\u00a0Nico Hoerner\u00a0falling off hard after an excellent April, we might need to look elsewhere in the Cubs’ lineup for a possible first-time All-Star, and\u00a0Michael Busch\u00a0<\/strong>and\u00a0Seiya Suzuki\u00a0<\/strong>appear to be the strongest candidates. Suzuki was one of the biggest All-Star snubs last year, but his production has been more good than great this season, so he’d have to heat up over the next few weeks to warrant consideration. Busch’s production is also down from where it was a year ago, but his .381 OBP ranks seventh among NL hitters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Padres’ maddeningly meek offensive output does not offer many All-Star candidates of any genre, let alone first-timers, though\u00a0Gavin Sheets\u00a0<\/strong>would be a cool inclusion, considering his career trajectory. On the mound,\u00a0Michael King\u00a0<\/strong>has been rock-solid yet nothing special. Things are trending toward Mason Miller rolling solo in Philly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 13.\u00a0Washington Nationals\u00a0(38-35)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Don’t count on Washington garnering All-Stars beyond the fantastic duo of James Wood and\u00a0CJ Abrams. But the Nationals aren’t a two-man show. They’ve benefitted from promising steps forward from catcher\u00a0Keibert Ruiz<\/strong>\u00a0and instant impact from fresh faces\u00a0Curtis Mead\u00a0<\/strong>and\u00a0Foster Griffin<\/strong>. Any of them being named an All-Star for the first time is unlikely as things stand, but their contributions have been crucial to Washington’s unexpected competitiveness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Eduardo Rodriguez<\/strong>\u00a0has carried the momentum from his strong showing for World Baseball Classic champion Venezuela into an impressive first half with Arizona. There has been some good luck involved \u2014 he has one of the largest gaps between his ERA (2.55) and xERA (4.83) of\u00a0any starting pitcher\u00a0\u2014 but the results have been great, and the D-backs are 10-4 across Rodriguez’s 14 starts. Of note: Among active pitchers, only\u00a0Carlos Carrasco\u00a0has thrown more innings without making an All-Star Game than Rodriguez.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Not far behind ace\u00a0Paul Skenes\u00a0on the pitching fWAR leaderboard is 26-year-old right-hander\u00a0Braxton Ashcraft<\/strong>, who is quietly enjoying one of the bigger breakouts of 2026. At the same time, this is a continuation of what Ashcraft did in a swingman role as a rookie last season: Among 126 pitchers who have thrown at least 150 innings since the start of 2025, Ashcraft’s 3.03 ERA\u00a0ranks 15th, tied with Jacob deGrom. Pretty good!<\/p>\n\n\n\n 16. Athletics (36-36)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Two no-brainers here.\u00a0Shea Langeliers\u00a0<\/strong>is miles ahead among American League catchers\u00a0in the fan voting\u00a0and has been arguably the best-hitting backstop in MLB this season. And\u00a0Nick Kurtz\u00a0<\/strong>picked up right where he left off after a historic rookie season and just enjoyed a superboost to his statistics by playing six games in Las Vegas \u2014 not that he needed help. He might not get the starting nod like Langeliers, but Kurtz will absolutely be on the All-Star roster for the first time in Philadelphia,\u00a0where he grew up\u00a0going to games.<\/p>\n\n\n\n No active major leaguer has\u00a0accumulated more baseball-reference WAR\u00a0in his career without making an All-Star appearance than\u00a0Brandon Nimmo<\/strong>, who has been solid in his first year as a Ranger, though probably not quite good enough to remove that distinction from his r\u00e9sum\u00e9. Instead, keep an eye on lefty closer\u00a0Jacob Latz<\/strong>, whose .115 batting average against and 0.60 WHIP are both the lowest marks\u00a0among MLB relievers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Dylan Cease<\/strong>\u00a0exemplifies the flukey nature of All-Star selections, as the right-hander has two top-four Cy Young finishes and a seven-year free-agent contract but no Midsummer Classic on his r\u00e9sum\u00e9. That should change in the coming weeks, as Cease has made a wonderful first impression in Toronto, with a 2.91 ERA across 68 innings and an AL-leading 103 strikeouts. On track to join Cease in Philadelphia as a first-time All-Star:\u00a0Ernie Clement,\u00a0<\/strong>the leading vote-getter among AL second basemen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Take your pick:\u00a0Otto Lopez<\/strong>, leading MLB in hits (97) and batting average (.339) while providing steady defense at shortstop, or right-hander\u00a0Max Meyer,\u00a0<\/strong>who has yet to take a loss through 15 starts and\u00a0is floating on the periphery of the spectacularly loaded NL Cy Young race. Both are huge reasons this young Fish team has surged in June, and both deserve to be in Philadelphia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 20. Cincinnati Reds (34-37)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n In the category of \u00fcber-talented youngsters who could make their first of many All-Star appearances, right-hander\u00a0Chase Burns\u00a0<\/strong>\u2014 currently fourth among NL starters in fWAR, behind Misiorowski, Cristopher S\u00e1nchez and Skenes \u2014 fits the bill. But how about\u00a0JJ Bleday?\u00a0<\/strong>The former fourth overall draft pick didn’t crack the Reds’ Opening Day roster but has been an impact bat since being recalled from Triple-A. Since April 26, Bleday’s 155 wRC+ ranks ninth\u00a0among qualified NL hitters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It has been a bizarre first year in Baltimore for outfielder\u00a0Taylor Ward<\/strong>, but it might be good enough to earn him his first All-Star invite. Ward has started all 73 games while batting first or second for the Orioles and has hit only three home runs, yet his 16 doubles rank fourth in the AL and his .404 OBP ranks third behind only Kurtz and\u00a0Yordan Alvarez.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It’s slim pickings here. Rookie\u00a0Nolan McLean\u00a0<\/strong>came out of the gate hot and could still pitch his way into the All-Star mix, but his ERA has ballooned to a pedestrian 4.01, and the competition among NL starters is stiff. Mets fans can at least look forward to\u00a0Juan Soto\u00a0making his first All-Star Game as a Met (and fifth overall) after being snubbed a year ago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 23.\u00a0Minnesota Twins\u00a0(34-40)<\/p>\n\n\n\n A hamate injury has sidelined him since mid-May, but\u00a0Ryan Jeffers\u00a0<\/strong>was raking to a ridiculous degree (163 wRC+) over the first six weeks and could have been well on his way to his first All-Star Game. Depending on when he returns, he could be an interesting name to monitor at the trade deadline before\u00a0he hits the free-agent market as the top catcher available.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Among active position players, only\u00a0Randal Grichuk\u00a0has hit more career home runs (218) than\u00a0Christian Walker<\/strong>\u00a0(192) without ever being named to the All-Star Game. The Astros might not get any additional All-Stars beyond MVP candidate Yordan Alvarez, but Walker’s resurgence (121 wRC+) after a lackluster first season (99 wRC+) in Houston warrants consideration. His 52 RBI are third in the AL behind Kurtz and Alvarez.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He doesn’t have the same support in the fan vote, but catcher\u00a0Dillon Dingler\u00a0<\/strong>nearly matches Langeliers in most offensive categories and is much better on defense, hence his\u00a0sizable lead atop the fWAR leaderboard\u00a0(3.2 to Langeliers’ 2.4). Amid a difficult season for Detroit, Dingler’s breakout from stellar starting catcher to all-around star has been a welcome silver lining.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 26. Boston Red Sox (29-40)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n By far the most likely Red Sox All-Stars are veterans who have been there before:\u00a0Willson Contreras\u00a0and\u00a0Aroldis Chapman. But\u00a0Ceddanne Rafaela\u00a0<\/strong>has taken a big step forward with the bat (116 wRC+), a notable development in tandem with his exquisite glovework, which remains elite (+10 Outs Above Average, second among center fielders behind only\u00a0Pete Crow-Armstrong).<\/p>\n\n\n\n Count\u00a0Willy Adames\u00a0as another one of the most accomplished active position players who has never made an All-Star Game, and his middling production won’t be altering that status this summer.\u00a0Jung-Hoo Lee\u00a0<\/strong>is the potential first-timer to watch, as his advanced hit tool has finally started to translate to the highest level in his third major-league season. Lee’s five three-hit games are the most in MLB, with only three other hitters (Crow-Armstrong, Dingler, Ward) having three such performances.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Does this dismal Royals club deserve any additional All-Stars beyond expected AL starting shortstop\u00a0Bobby Witt Jr.? No. But sophomore slugger\u00a0Jac Caglianone\u00a0<\/strong>has made some encouraging progress (118 wRC+) after a difficult rookie season (46 wRC+) and would be welcome as a dark-horse invite to the Home Run Derby.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The All-Star headline in Anaheim is that\u00a0Mike Trout\u00a0is in good position to make his 12th All-Star Game, joining\u00a0the 38 others in MLB history\u00a0who were invited to a dozen or more Midsummer Classics. The leading first-time All-Star candidates are a pair of pitchers.\u00a0Jos\u00e9 Soriano<\/strong>\u00a0was unbelievable through six starts (0.24 ERA across 37 \u2154 innings) but has been more inconsistent in the nine outings since (4.74 ERA across 49 \u2153 innings), while\u00a0Reid Detmers\u00a0<\/strong>has gotten better as the season as progressed\u00a0and currently ranks third in fWAR among AL starting pitchers, behind Schlittler and Martin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In all likelihood, catcher\u00a0Hunter Goodman\u00a0(20 HR, 122 wRC+) will head to the All-Star Game as the lone Rockies representative for the second straight year. But how cool would it be if\u00a0Mickey Moniak\u00a0<\/strong>\u2014 10 years removed from being selected first overall by the Phillies \u2014 returned to Philadelphia as a first-time All-Star? His .607 slugging percentage (third among hitters with at least 150 plate appearances, behind Alvarez and Rice) is eye-catching, but an ankle injury has limited him to just 43 games, and he remains on the injured list, so this scenario might be a bit too fanciful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The 96th edition of the MLB All-Star Game is right around the corner, and the league’s biggest stars as well as some surprise candidates are making their final pushes toward earning invitations to\u00a0Philadelphia\u00a0next month. Not only do we have nearly three months of performance to inform which players warrant a roster spot, but we also […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12903],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-417290","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-12903"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/6gnx6dd.cc\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/417290","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/6gnx6dd.cc\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/6gnx6dd.cc\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/6gnx6dd.cc\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/6gnx6dd.cc\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=417290"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/6gnx6dd.cc\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/417290\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":417291,"href":"https:\/\/6gnx6dd.cc\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/417290\/revisions\/417291"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/6gnx6dd.cc\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=417290"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/6gnx6dd.cc\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=417290"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/6gnx6dd.cc\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=417290"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}2.\u00a0Atlanta Braves\u00a0(46-25)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
3. Milwaukee Brewers (43-26)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
5. Tampa Bay Rays (41-28)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
6. Philadelphia Phillies (39-33)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
8.\u00a0Cleveland Guardians\u00a0(39-33)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
9. Seattle Mariners (37-36)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
11. Chicago Cubs (38-35)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
12.\u00a0San Diego Padres\u00a0(37-34)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
14. Arizona Diamondbacks (37-35)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
15.\u00a0Pittsburgh Pirates\u00a0(36-37)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
17.\u00a0Texas Rangers\u00a0(35-37)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
18.\u00a0Toronto Blue Jays\u00a0(34-38)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
19.\u00a0Miami Marlins\u00a0(36-37)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
21. Baltimore Orioles (34-39)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
22. New York Mets (32-40)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
24.\u00a0Houston Astros\u00a0(33-41)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
25.\u00a0Detroit Tigers\u00a0(30-42)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
27.\u00a0San Francisco Giants\u00a0(29-43)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
28.\u00a0Kansas City Royals\u00a0(29-44)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
29.\u00a0Los Angeles Angels\u00a0(29-44)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
30. Colorado Rockies (27-46)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n