Plenty of the biggest names in baseball were named starters for the 2025 MLB All-Star Game, from former MVPs Aaron Judge and Shohei Ohtani to rising stars Cal Raleigh and Pete Crow-Armstrong.
The rest of the AL and NL All-Star rosters will be filled by Sunday, but some first-half standouts would have liked to hear their name called on Wednesday. Between finalists who fell just short and stellar seasons that weren’t enough to advance to Phase 2 of voting, the results surely disappointed a few fan bases.
Here’s a look at six snubs who had a strong case to make the MLB All-Star Game starting lineups.
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MLB All-Star starters snubs 2025
All stats through Tuesday, July 1.
James Wood, OF Nationals
Wood didn’t advance to Phase 2 of voting despite six outfielders moving on, which is a travesty in itself. As of Wednesday, it’s hard to make the case there are three better outfielders in the National League than Wood, despite the Nationals’ uninspiring record.
The 22-year-old is batting .283 with 22 home runs and a .938 OPS, recording 41 extra-base hits. Only one NL outfielder has more home runs than Wood, and no NL outfielder has a higher OPS than Wood.
The former Padres prospect becoming the first player since Barry Bonds to be intentionally walked four times in one game sums up the kind of impact he is having in an inconsistent Nationals lineup, and it should have been enough to make him a starter in Atlanta. Even so, there is no doubt Wood will be a first-time All-Star when the full rosters are revealed on Sunday.
Pete Alonso, 1B, Mets
Alonso finished behind Freddie Freeman in Phase 2 of voting at first base in the NL, but with Freeman struggling a bit of late, the Mets first baseman had the stronger case to start the All-Star Game.
After struggling to generate much interest in his high price tag on the open market in the winter, Alonso has bounced back strongly with one of his best all-around seasons to date. The 30-year-old is batting .291 with 18 home runs and a .921 OPS through 85 games, leading the NL in doubles with 24 and carrying a higher OPS+ than his 53-home run rookie season.
Jonathan Aranda, 1B, Rays
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. has had a solid, if not unspectacular, season for the Blue Jays, but the most consistent offensive first baseman in the AL has been Tampa Bay’s Jonathan Aranda.
The 27-year-old was little-known before this season and has never held down an everyday role for the Rays, but he has emerged as one of the best contact hitters in the AL with a .325 AVG along with 10 home runs and a .899 OPS. For a player who wasn’t guaranteed to be an everyday player this season, Aranda has been ultra-reliable for the Rays — he has 27 multi-hit games and seven three-hit games on the year.
The AL WAR leader among all first baseman, Aranda was done in by his obscurity along with the Rays’ obscurity, but he should be headed for his first All-Star selection on Sunday.
MORE: How MLB All-Star voting works
Jeremy Pena, SS, Astros
Houston’s Jeremy Pena would not have been able to play in the All-Star Game regardless after suffering a rib fracture, but the mere fact he didn’t advance to Phase 2 of voting after a dominant start to the season was a miss by the voters.
Shortstop is a competitive position with Jacob Wilson starring as a rookie and Bobby Witt Jr. coming off an MVP-caliber season, but Pena has been the best of the bunch with a .322 AVG, 11 home runs, an .867 OPS, and strong defense. At the time of his injury late last week, Pena led all shortstops — AL and NL — in fWAR. Even if he can’t suit up for the All-Star Game, Pena deserved the distinction of being named a starter.
Byron Buxton, OF, Twins
A healthy Byron Buxton is rare, but the results are hard to argue with — and the Twins have gotten the most out of a (mostly) healthy Buxton this season.
The 31-year-old is having one of his best seasons to date, batting .277 with 19 home runs and a .900 OPS through 68 games. He’s already exceeded last season’s home run total in 34 fewer games, and his defense remains strong even if’s not quite what it once was.
In a weak AL outfielder crop outside of Aaron Judge and Riley Greene, it was striking to see names like Javier Baez and Mike Trout named finalists over Buxton, who is hurt by the Twins’ apathy as Minnesota again hovers near .500. If the game is about rewarding the best players, Buxton should be in Atlanta next to Judge and Greene.
Elly De La Cruz, SS, Reds
There was a case to be made for Francisco Lindor over Reds star Elly De La Cruz, particularly because De La Cruz’s best stretch of the season came at the end of Phase 1 of voting. There wasn’t much of a case for Mookie Betts to be a finalist over De La Cruz, and you could argue De La Cruz should be starting the All-Star Game for the NL.
Despite a quiet start to the season, the 23-year-old is batting .279 with 18 home runs and an .858 OPS, improving in just about every major category other than stolen bases. De La Cruz has dropped his strikeout rate from 31.3 percent in 2024 to 25.1 percent in 2025, and his OPS+ is 30 points higher than Betts plus eight points higher than Lindor, whose defense makes him competitive head-to-head.
