I don’t have any particular say or interest in the MLB All-Star Game. I loved it as a kid, though. I’m old enough (50) that the All-Star Game meant a chance to see players face opponents they’d never see except maybe in the World Series, and the thrill of seeing a whole bunch of the best and/or most famous players in baseball all playing in one game, and clearly enjoying it. It was, and really still is, a spectacle.
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It’s also a big marketing event for baseball, the tentpole event of the summer around which MLB has now packed the Futures Game, now relegated to Saturday night and held to just seven innings, but still the best part of the weekend; the Draft, for some reason; and the Home Run Derby. It is a big four days for baseball, but the All-Star Game has lost most of its appeal for me – there are too many players in it, so most players don’t stay in the game very long, and it doesn’t look that much like a real game anymore. (Old man yells at cloud dot gif.)
That said, I do have some interest in who gets to play in the game because that comes down to a question of what the game is about – and I say if it’s a marketing event, well, lean into that. Get the best players there. Get some guys who aren’t quite the best, but are very good and also or otherwise famous, or can do something really unusual and interesting, or who maybe get more countries represented on the rosters. Get a couple of the best rookies and sophomores on the roster, even if you squeeze out a veteran having a slightly better half-year. And whatever you do, don’t just make it about who’s having the best first half. I thought that’s what the game was about when I was 8 years old. It doesn’t make any sense now. It’s the All-Star Game, not the Best First Half Game. You can go play that one in a cornfield in Iowa if you want. I hear there’s a field available.
For this piece, I spent more time on who the starters should be at every position, but mention at least one backup at each spot because that allows me to get at least one player from every team (a rule I still don’t like, as the result is this ridiculous roster bloat). I also limited myself to 10 pitchers because diminishing returns set in quickly even at that number. My starting point on performance was the best performers from the beginning of 2022 through today, although I deviate from those lists as well for reasons I try to explain.
Finally, this is just an exercise in fun. Nobody’s getting hurt here.
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American League All-Star Picks
Catcher: Adley Rutschman, Baltimore
A no-brainer; he’s by far the best catcher in the American League, this year and last year, and a huge part of why the Orioles are so good this year. I think he’s going to win an MVP award someday. Backups would be Cal Raleigh and Jonah Heim.
First base: Yandy Díaz, Tampa Bay
The American League first base crop is … it’s really bad, actually, just shockingly so for a position that is usually so stacked with mashers. It’s Díaz or Nathaniel Lowe, and after that, it’s some guys who are famous but haven’t produced that well or a lot of part-time first basemen. I’d love to include Vlad Guerrero Jr., because he’s so fun and talented, but he’s underperformed this year even more so than last, so maybe he’s just the backup? Ryan Noda from Oakland would make the cut as well as the token A’s rep.
Second base: Andrés Giménez, Cleveland
Giménez is one of the 10 best position players in the American League, and has been for over a year now, putting himself into the troika of AL second basemen who all deserve a nod here with Jose Altuve and Marcus Semien. Altuve’s probably the best of the three when healthy, but he hasn’t been available most of this season. Gimenez is also the best defender of the three, which gives him another nudge.
Shortstop: Wander Franco, Tampa Bay
A healthy Franco is an MVP candidate, as we’ve seen this year, and no, I don’t really care that he was benched this week, he’s still one of the best players at any position in the league and Outs Above Average has him as the best defender anywhere this year at only 22 years old. Get your young stars on the field, MLB. Backups would be Bo Bichette and Corey Seager, along with Bobby Witt Jr., as the Royals’ rep.
Third base: José Ramírez, Cleveland
He’s leading all AL third basemen in fWAR this year after doing so last year and the year before that. With some stalwarts having down years – Alex Bregman, Rafael Devers – I’d give a backup spot to Gunnar Henderson to get one of the AL’s best rookies into the game.
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Outfield: Aaron Judge, N.Y. Yankees; Mike Trout, L.A. Angels; Julio Rodríguez, Seattle
I approach this like I would a real team, so we need a proper center fielder, and Trout is that, still an above-average defender out there at age (checks notes) OK, he’s not that old, never mind. Judge is another obvious one, even with the lost time to injury his year. Rodríguez is actually third among all AL outfielders in fWAR since the start of 2022, and is seventh in the group this year despite a slow start. He won the Rookie of the Year award last year and finished seventh in the MVP voting. And he can play center field, as well. He’s been outhit this year by the likes of, say, Alex Verdugo, but I’d rather have the budding 22-year-old superstar starting the game even if he’s had a disappointing half-season. Verdugo can be one of the backups along with Adolis Garcia and Randy Arozarena, or perhaps Luis Robert. Riley Greene gets a spot to represent Detroit, although he’s hurt and I assume won’t be ready to play by July 10.
Designated hitter: Yordan Alvarez, Houston
Alvarez is hurt, and unavailable, so I’ll replace him with Shohei Ohtani in the starting lineup, and everyone is happy!
Starting pitchers: Shohei Ohtani, L.A. Angels; Kevin Gausman, Toronto; Framber Valdez, Houston; Gerrit Cole; N.Y. Yankees; Dylan Cease, Chicago White Sox; Luis Castillo, Seattle; Shane McClanahan, Tampa Bay; Joe Ryan, Minnesota
It’s rather an anonymous group outside of Ohtani and Cole, but these are the best starting pitchers in the American League right now. Gausman and Valdez are tied for the AL lead this year in fWAR, and Cole and Valdez are tied in rWAR. Sonny Gray was my last cut.
Relievers: Emmanuel Clase, Cleveland; Felix Bautista, Baltimore
I stuck with 10 pitchers, just to avoid this article going on forever, and these are the two best relievers in the AL right now. Clase and Bautista are also both incredibly fun to watch, doing impossible things with the baseball. Should Bautista’s teammate Yennier Cano, one of the year’s most improbable success stories, be here too? If we’re carrying 13 or 15 pitchers, sure, why not. Relievers come and go too fast to worry about it.
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National League All-Star Picks
Catcher: Sean Murphy, Atlanta
This was the toughest call between two players at any position, as Murphy is just so very barely ahead of Will Smith, and I finally just decided it based on Murphy’s defense, thinking maybe we see some guys try to steal in the All-Star Game this year thanks to the various new rules, and that makes Murphy’s throwing arm a little more valuable. Smith’s the backup, of course.
First base: Freddie Freeman, L.A. Dodgers
And …
Designated hitter: Paul Goldschmidt, St. Louis
Or flip these two; they both should be in the starting lineup. Both are recent MVP winners still playing at the peaks of their abilities. Pete Alonso would be the backup. All three are guys I underestimated as prospects, too!
Second base: Luis Arraez, Miami
Arraez is a story, and he’s also having an excellent season, leading NL second basemen in rWAR and behind only Thairo Estrada in fWAR. I don’t think hitting .400 in and of itself makes you an All-Star, and I’m skeptical that he can do it all season, but the fact that it’s still even a possibility coming out of June makes him worth the starting spot. I’d have Jonathan India as the backup to give us one Reds position player, although I also have a Cincinnati pitcher on the roster as well.
Shortstop: Dansby Swanson, Chicago Cubs
Swanson has been the most valuable shortstop in the NL this year, even ahead of Xander Bogaerts and Francisco Lindor, while tying with Franco and Ke’Bryan Hayes for the MLB lead in Outs Above Average at any position. Lindor would be the backup.
Third base: Nolan Arenado, St. Louis
The second-toughest call at any position, as Arenado and Manny Machado were neck-and-neck last year, and neither is having a typical season by his own standards, with Arenado just having enough of a better year to get the nod. No third baseman in the NL is having a true standout season – J.D. Davis leads the pack with a 126 wRC+, Jeimer Candelario leads with just 2.2 fWAR, Ryan McMahon with 2.5 rWAR – so these two, who were MVP candidates a year ago and two of the biggest stars in the game, get my hypothetical votes. I’d start Arenado with Machado, McMahon and Candelario as his backups, going with the last two as the only reps for their teams, as well.
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Outfield: Ronald Acuña Jr., Atlanta; Corbin Carroll, Arizona; Juan Soto, San Diego
I would have pushed for Carroll just on the basis of him being the best rookie in baseball this year, but as it turns out, he’s also one of the three best outfielders in the NL this year, and he’ll be flanked by two perennial stars. Mookie Betts, Fernando Tatis Jr. and Brandon Nimmo would be the backups.
Starting pitchers: Zac Gallen, Arizona; Zack Wheeler, Philadelphia; Aaron Nola, Philadelphia; Sandy Alcantara, Miami; Logan Webb, San Francisco; Marcus Stroman, Chicago Cubs; Corbin Burnes, Milwaukee; Clayton Kershaw, L.A. Dodgers
A mix of the very best pitchers in the league right now and some of the best over the last season or two, which is why Nola and Alcantara, both of whom have had worse results in 2023 than 2022, are still here. I don’t think winning a major award, as Alcantara did with the NL Cy Young last year, is an automatic ticket to the following year’s All-Star Game, but I do think it should count in a player’s favor. You win an award – even if maybe you weren’t the best candidate – you are a star, at least temporarily.
Relief pitchers: David Bednar, Pittsburgh; Alexis Díaz, Cincinnati
Bednar might be the best reliever in the NL right now and he also gives us a Pirates player. Díaz leads all NL relievers in fWAR this season and is seventh going back to the start of last season, just 0.4 fWAR behind the leader in that time span … his brother Edwin, who hasn’t thrown a pitch this season after suffering a season-ending knee injury in March.
(Top photo of Wander Franco: Mike Ehrmann / Getty Images)
