The now meaningless MLB All-Star game (it used to determine home field advantage in the World Series) takes place in the middle of summer yearly. It’s more than just an exhibition—it is (was, more on that to come – obviously) a celebration of baseball’s top talent and a break in the grind of the regular season. It gives fans a chance to see their favorite players wear a different jersey (for the past few years at least, now the MLB will go back to how it should be – players wearing their own jersey for the game) and share the lineup with their rivals. Since 1970, the MLB has allowed fans to make the determination of the starting lineup for the mid-summer classic.
However. It’s time for that to change. It’s gone too far.
The All-Star starter nod used to mean something, however now it has turned into a popularity contest… which it alwasy has been, but the level of it is getting more and more out of hand yearly. It has evolved (ot even necessarily a popularity contest based on the player – but more so the team they play for.
In 2015, we saw a prime example of this when the Kansas City Royals fans voted 7 of the starting 9 players into the All-Star game. Some deserving, some not even close to deserving. We are currently witnessing the same thing take place with the Los Angeles Dodgers.
The most current round (which is the second) of voting allows fans to vote for the top 2 players at each position – the winner will be selected as the starter for next months game. However, fans of 29 other teams are questioning the validity of some of the choices they have to select from.
Current Voting (Second Round)
As expected, Shohei Ohtani (NL) and Aaron Judge (AL) are the two top vote getters in each league, making them the only two starters officially selected, and guess what… both are well deserving… the AL has it’s issues with finalists – but the rest of the NL is a bit of a question mark:
Catcher:
Will Smith (Dodgers)
Carson Kelly (Cubs)
First Base:
Freddie Freeman (Dodgers)
Pete Alonso (Mets)
Second Base:
Ketel Marte (D’backs)
Tommy Edman (Dodgers)
Third Base:
Manny Machado (Padres)
Max Muncy (Dodgers)
Shortstop:
Francisco Lindor (Mets)
Mookie Betts (Dodgers)
Outfield:
Pete Crow-Armstrong (Cubs)
Teoscar Hernandez (Dodgers)
Ronald Acuna Jr. (Braves)
Kyle Tucker (Cubs)
Andy Pages (Dodgers)
Juan Soto (Mets)
Designated Hitter:
*Shohei Ohtani (Dodgers)
Your eyes are not fooling you. 8 out of 8 categories feature a Dodger, with a legitimate chance that 8 out of 9 starting lineup positions are filled by a Dodger if their fans stuff the ballot box (metaphoric box, since all voting is done online).
Diving into each position:
Each position will be broken down by WAR, the number in parenthesis after the player’s name. ^ for players who are in final 2 voting.
Catcher:
1. ^Will Smith (2.9)
2. Gabriel Moreno (2.0)
3. Drake Baldwin (1.9)
–
6. ^Carson Kelly (1.7)
Will Smith is deserving of the All-Star nod, being the best catcher in the NL without a doubt. However, Carson Kelly being the #2 could be an issue considering he is tied for 6th in WAR.
First Base:
1. ^Pete Alonso (2.7)
2. Matt Olson (2.5)
3.^Freddie Freeman (2.3)
Again, a position that doesn’t have any issue with the #1 and #3 being in the finalists…however Matt Olson not being mentioned for starter even though he is statistically #2 best?
Second Base:
1. ^Ketel Marte (2.9)
2. Brendan Donovan (2.4)
3. Nico Hoerner (2.2)
–
6. ^Tommy Edman (1.5)
Ketel should be the starter without question – but again we have a chance for the 6th best player at his position in the NL to be the starter due to Dodger popularity.
Third Base:
1. ^Manny Machado (2.7)
2. Matt Chapman (2.3)
3. Eugenio Suarez (2.3)
4. ^Max Muncy
Do I need to say anything? Max Muncy is not a better player than Chapman defensively, and Suarez has 25 HR’s this year – if anyone should be getting the All-Star starter, why is Eugenio not being honored for having arguably a career year?
Shortstop:
1. Trea Turner (3.7)
2. ^Francisco Lindor (3.0)
3. Elly De La Cruz (2.7)
–
7. ^Mookie Betts (1.9)
Six players statistically are better than Mookie Betts, and this is the position that is a prime example of “voting for a name, not play” with Lindor and Betts both being popular NAMES in the sport, regardless of play on the field.
Outfield:
This is tough because everyone plays different positions but we will try our best when looking at the players who are votable in this round, using “All OF” as the category for WAR, not position based:
1. ^Pete Crow-Armstrong (4.0)
2. ^Kyle Tucker (4.0)
–
6. ^Andy Pages (2.9)
7. ^Juan Soto (2.4)
8. ^Ronald Acuna Jr. (2.1)
–
31. ^Teoscar Hernandez (0.7)
Once again, there is zero – ZERO – reason Teoscar Hernandez is even sniffing the starting lineup of the MLB All-Star game, let alone even making the roster as the statistically 31st overall outfielder in the National League. For comparison – Corbin Carroll (3.5), James Wood (3.5), and Fernando Tatis Jr. (3.3) are 3,4,5 in WAR and not even eligible to be All-Star game starters.
The Title of “All-Star” Has No Worth
If we want to make the All-Star game “The Most Popular Player Game”, by all means… let’s make it happen. But to award the title of All-Star to a player who is not the most deserving “star” at his position is what annoys me.
And more so, this is something that was brought to my attention a while back and I have started to implement into my arguments that needs to be addressed across the board – Stop saying how many All-Star game appearances players have when talking about their Hall of Fame resume or comparing them to other players – because it doesn’t mean anything.
Just an old man on his soap box yelling at the sky – that’s me. But when the Royals did this in 2015 it was absurd, the Dodgers doing it in 2025 is absurd. I’m all for kids, fans, whoever it may be selecting some aspect of the team… maybe the back ups if the players/media don’t vote the fans favorite in… but to have a real world posibility of Teoscar Hernandez being in the starting lineup of the 2025 MLB All-Star game… what are we doing?
Till Next Time,
Trevor
