The fans got their say, and they leaned into familiar names and championship glow. But if you strip away the sentiment and pick the All-Star Game starters strictly on merit, the list changes fast. That’s the case Tom Verducci makes with his own lineup choices, where he says he disagrees with half of the elected starters and builds a roster that reflects what baseball looks like right now: younger, more international, and packed with players drafted early or developed far from the usual path.
His American League lineup starts behind the plate with Dillon Dingler of the Tigers over Shea Langeliers of the Athletics. Verducci says Dingler’s edge is small in the numbers, but the difference behind the plate is bigger, pointing to his blocking and framing, where he ranks in the 97th and 98th percentiles.
At first base, he goes with Nick Kurtz of the Athletics over Vladimir Guerrero Jr. of the Blue Jays, calling it “not close,” especially because Guerrero has had trouble getting the ball in the air with any authority.
At second, there’s no debate for Verducci: Colt Keith of the Tigers gets the nod. He leads AL second basemen in OPS and tops the league with 22 doubles.
Gleyber Torres of the Tigers gets the second-base spotlight in another section of the piece, where Verducci says he leads the league in WAR and stolen bases, plays hard every day and can change a game in more ways than most players.
At shortstop, he turns to Junior Caminero, noting that the young slugger has cut his chase rate for a third straight season. Verducci also points out that with his bat speed, Caminero is one of the best fastball hitters in the game and has a .788 slugging percentage against four-seamers.
In the outfield, Verducci keeps some of the biggest names in the mix. Mike Trout is back on his AL All-Star list, with Verducci saying he hasn’t played in an All-Star Game since 2019 but should be on the field in Philadelphia next week with his imminent return to the Angels’ lineup this week. Verducci adds that Trout joins Cal Ripken Jr. and George Brett as the only AL players elected as a starter at least 11 times.
He also goes with Riley Greene of the Tigers over Aaron Judge of the Yankees, explaining that Judge’s injury opens the door and that Greene gets the edge over Cody Bellinger because he has more total bases and the better OPS+.
The final AL outfield spot belongs to Yordan Alvarez, whom Verducci calls the best hitter in baseball. Alvarez leads the AL in hits, OBP, slug, OPS and total bases.
The National League side has its own shakeups. Hunter Goodman of the Rockies gets the nod at catcher over Drake Baldwin of the Braves after a huge June, when Goodman hit 13 homers and posted a .680 slugging percentage. Verducci also notes that most of his damage has come on the road, where he has 18 homers, compared with nine in Colorado.
At first base, Bryce Harper of the Phillies beats out Freddie Freeman of the Dodgers. Verducci says Harper leads all NL first basemen in OPS and is second in homers, runs and walks, with Freeman and Matt Olson right there with him.
Second base is the kind of race Verducci describes as a multiple-choice question with no bad answers. JJ Wetherholt of the Cardinals leads in WAR, Brandon Lowe of the Pirates leads in homers and RBIs, Ketel Marte of the Diamondbacks leads in total bases and Brice Turang of the Brewers leads in runs. Still, Verducci says there’s no denying a player hitting .326 with the most hits and highest OPS+ at the position.
At shortstop, he points to Lopez, who retooled his approach over the winter to get more into his legs. The result, Verducci writes, is a huge season. Lopez leads the league regardless of position in hits, singles and batting average, and he leads Abrams comfortably in WAR, 4.1 to 2.9.
At third base, Muncy gets the call, and Verducci says that at 35, he is having the best season by a player that old at that position since Adrian Beltre 10 years ago.
Juan Soto is in the NL outfield for the fifth All-Star Game of his career. Verducci says Soto remains an on-base machine, with more walks than strikeouts for the eighth season, thanks to a career-low strikeout rate.
James Wood of the Nationals is another outfield pick over Brandon Marsh of the Phillies. Verducci says Wood leads the league in runs, walks and total bases while also leading all NL outfielders in home runs.
Pete Crow-Armstrong of the Cubs rounds out the NL outfield over Andy Pages of the Dodgers. Verducci calls it close, but says Crow-Armstrong leads the NL in WAR and has better numbers than Pages in most categories. He also notes that Soto, Wood and Crow-Armstrong rank 1-2-3 among NL outfielders in OPS.
And then there’s Shohei Ohtani, who keeps pushing the limits on both sides of the ball. Verducci says Ohtani has thrown 50 pitches at least 100 mph, already a career high and third most among MLB starters, and has hit 76 pitches at least 100 mph, which ranks 27th among MLB hitters.
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Dave Roberts has already said the Dodgers are willing to adjust if Ohtani does not feel right, and the All-Star break adds another layer to the uncertainty around how much they want to push him right now. He is not expected to pitch in the All-Star Game, but he should still be in the lineup as the starting designated hitter, which keeps him in the spotlight even if Arizona mostly cares about whether it has to deal with him on the mound again by Friday. [Read more 🡒]