{"id":774336,"date":"2026-07-02T13:19:12","date_gmt":"2026-07-02T13:19:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/774336\/"},"modified":"2026-07-02T13:19:12","modified_gmt":"2026-07-02T13:19:12","slug":"2026-mlb-all-star-game-roster-predictions-rosenthals-picks-for-the-midsummer-classic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/774336\/","title":{"rendered":"2026 MLB All-Star Game roster predictions: Rosenthal\u2019s picks for the Midsummer Classic"},"content":{"rendered":"

In putting together my All-Star teams, I reached an inescapable conclusion.<\/p>\n

The National League playoffs should be really good.<\/p>\n

I could have formed almost my entire NL roster with players from four of the league\u2019s top clubs \u2014 the Los Angeles Dodgers, Milwaukee Brewers, Atlanta Braves and Philadelphia Phillies.<\/p>\n

But that\u2019s not how this process works, is it?<\/p>\n

I follow the rule that every team must be represented on July 14 at Philadelphia\u2019s Citizens Bank Park, and that each All-Star team must feature 20 position players and 12 pitchers, at least three of whom are relievers.<\/p>\n

How did The Miz get this good, this fast?<\/p>\n

Derek VanRiper and Eno Sarris<\/p>\n

That\u2019s 64 All-Stars before certain selections bail on the event for one reason or another, enabling many of the players snubbed to wind up participating.<\/p>\n

Some of the game\u2019s biggest names, including Aaron Judge, Jos\u00e9 Ram\u00edrez and Ronald Acu\u00f1a Jr., will miss this year\u2019s game with injuries. Yet even without them, narrowing down the field is more difficult than you might think.<\/p>\n

In picking my teams, I largely ignored the fan vote, which \u2014 among other things \u2014 resulted in the Toronto Blue Jays finishing in the top two at all four infield positions, catcher and designated hitter, and landing two of the top six spots in the outfield as well.<\/p>\n

The Jays are defending American League champions, but they\u2019re only 41-46 this season. I like to honor the biggest names and rising stars. First-half performance isn\u2019t everything for me. But at some point, it\u2019s difficult to ignore what is happening on the field.<\/p>\n

Every year, this is one of my favorite columns to write, in part because it allows me to recognize so many of the amazing players we watch every day. I\u2019m quite certain that my choices again will elicit the type of anger that is best directed toward more meaningful concerns. But for those who absolutely must release their venom, hit me in the comments section below or at my X handle, @Ken_Rosenthal<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Without further ado, my 64 All-Stars (starters noted with an asterisk):<\/p>\n

American LeagueCatcher
\n PlayerTeam<\/p>\n

Tigers<\/p>\n

Athletics<\/p>\n

Notable omission:\u00a0Adley Rutschman, Orioles<\/p>\n

Dingler entered Wednesday with a 101-point advantage over Langeliers in OPS (.913-.812), and his defensive metrics were better, too.<\/p>\n

Hard to believe that Cal Raleigh, coming off a 60-homer season, does not even belong in this discussion after a disappointing, injury-marred first half.<\/p>\n

First base<\/p>\n

Notable omissions: Jonathan Aranda, Rays; Paul Goldschmidt, Yankees; Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Blue Jays; Munetaka Murakami, White Sox.<\/p>\n

Kurtz, Rice and Contreras entered Wednesday ranked sixth, eighth and 10th in the majors in OPS. If Murakami were healthy, this would be an even tougher call.<\/p>\n

Guerrero, who is likely to win the fan vote? He ranked 10th out of the 12 qualifying AL first basemen.<\/p>\n

Second base
\n PlayerTeam<\/p>\n

Blue Jays<\/p>\n

Guardians<\/p>\n

Notable omissions: Jazz Chisholm Jr., Yankees; Ezequiel Duran, Rangers; Oswald Peraza, Angels<\/p>\n

Clement, who has already been named the starter as the top vote-getter in the AL, is the league\u2019s second-worst defensive second baseman according to Statcast\u2019s Outs Above Average. But he\u2019s also the top AL hitter at the position and is coming off a fantastic postseason, so no quibbles there.<\/p>\n

Bazzana did not debut until April 28, but he was the No. 1 pick in the 2024 draft and would be the first Australian native to start an All-Star Game.<\/p>\n

Shortstop<\/p>\n

Notable omissions: Zach Neto, Angels; Brayan Rocchio, Guardians<\/p>\n

Witt, the league\u2019s top hitter and defender at the position, is an easy choice.<\/p>\n

Montgomery entered Wednesday with 42 home runs in 622 career plate appearances, essentially a full season\u2019s worth.<\/p>\n

McGonigle, who entered Wednesday ranked ninth in the majors in on-base percentage, is a leading candidate for AL Rookie of the Year.<\/p>\n

Third base<\/p>\n

Notable omissions: Josh Jung, Rangers; Kazuma Okamoto, Blue Jays; Jos\u00e9 Ram\u00edrez, Guardians (injured)<\/p>\n

Nine of Caminero\u2019s 24 homers have come in the last six games. This will be his second ASG, and he doesn\u2019t even turn 23 until Sunday.<\/p>\n

Vargas, only 26, is probably the MVP of the most surprising team in the majors.<\/p>\n

Designated hitter<\/p>\n

Notable omission: Joc Pederson, Rangers<\/p>\n

Alvarez entered Wednesday leading the majors in OPS. D\u00edaz ranked seventh. Alonso is the most worthy Oriole, so I\u2019m cheating a bit to squeeze him onto my roster. He mostly plays first base, where his defensive metrics this season are much improved.<\/p>\n

Outfield<\/p>\n

Notable omissions: Jac Caglianone, Royals; Aaron Judge, Yankees (injured); Ceddanne Rafaela, Red Sox; Julio Rodr\u00edguez, Mariners; Tyler Soderstrom, Athletics (injured)<\/p>\n

I\u2019m assuming Trout will be healthy. I\u2019m also going with five outfielders instead of six to accommodate Alonso. Otherwise, my preference would be Rafaela for his defense in center \u2014 and would you believe he entered Wednesday with a higher OPS than Rodr\u00edguez?<\/p>\n

Pitchers<\/p>\n

Notable omissions: Jacob deGrom, Rangers; Reid Detmers, Angels; Kevin Gausman, Blue Jays; J.T. Ginn, Athletics; Emerson Hancock, Mariners; Jos\u00e9 Soriano, Angels; Ranger Su\u00e1rez, Red Sox<\/p>\n

Relievers<\/p>\n

PlayerTeam<\/p>\n

Rangers<\/p>\n

Guardians<\/p>\n

Blue Jays<\/p>\n

Notable omissions: Aroldis Chapman, Red Sox; Bryan Baker, Rays; Sean Newcomb, White Sox; Grant Taylor, White Sox<\/p>\n

I excluded Chapman to make Latz my only Ranger, and shafted Su\u00e1rez, Detmers and others to include Skubal.<\/p>\n

No disrespect to any of the snubbed starters, but we\u2019re talking about a back-to-back Cy Young winner. Oh, and not to worry: Skubal probably would back out even if honored, lest he risk pitching even an inning in his free-agent year when he is only recently recovered from NanoNeedle arthroscopic elbow surgery.<\/p>\n

Both of my Rays selections are studies in perseverance. Martinez would be making his first All-Star appearance in a career that began in 2014 and included a four-year stint in Japan. Rasmussen would be making his second straight appearance after undergoing three major elbow operations.<\/p>\n

National LeagueCatcher<\/p>\n

Notable omissions: Drake Baldwin, Braves; Liam Hicks, Marlins; Gabriel Moreno, Diamondbacks<\/p>\n

Goodman, second in the majors with 27 homers, with 18 of them coming away from Coors Field, isn\u2019t simply my lone Rockies selection. He\u2019s more than deserving of the start.<\/p>\n

Baldwin looked like an MVP candidate before missing nearly a month with a strained right oblique; he\u2019s 4-for-51 since returning. Contreras, who leads all catchers with 65 games started, is the worthier choice.<\/p>\n

First base<\/p>\n

Notable omissions: Jake Bauers, Brewers; Alec Burleson, Cardinals; Luis Garcia Jr., Nationals; TJ Rumfield, Rockies<\/p>\n

I badly wanted to include Bauers, a former Rays prospect who is enjoying a breakout at 30 and entered Wednesday with a higher OPS than both Freeman and Olson. I just couldn\u2019t justify it when Freeman and Olson are two of the bigger stars in the game and still performing at such high levels.<\/p>\n

In June, Freeman recorded his 2,500th hit. On Wednesday night, Olson appeared in his 867th consecutive game, the second-longest streak since 2000.<\/p>\n

Harper\u2019s .908 OPS entering Wednesday ranked ninth in the majors and would be his highest since 2021. He also was last in Outs Above Average at first, but no one watches an All-Star Game to see first basemen pick balls out of the dirt. Playing in his home park, Harper will try like heck to do something dramatic \u2014 and chances are, he\u2019ll pull it off.<\/p>\n

Second base<\/p>\n

Notable omissions: Ozzie Albies, Braves; Xavier Edwards, Marlins; Brandon Lowe, Pirates; Ketel Marte, Diamondbacks; JJ Wetherholt, Cardinals<\/p>\n

My toughest position of all to whittle down \u2014 every player I omitted would be a worthy choice. I went with Arraez because of his remarkable resurgence, both offensively and defensively. Turang is also a terrific two-way player, the backbone of the Brewers.<\/p>\n

Shortstop<\/p>\n

Notable omissions: Willy Adames, Giants; Xander Bogaerts, Padres; Mookie Betts, Dodgers; Geraldo Perdomo, Diamondbacks; Dansby Swanson, Cubs; Trea Turner, Phillies<\/p>\n

None of the omissions is actually worthy of an All-Star selection \u2014 not even Swanson, who has hit eight homers in his last 10 games but was batting .175 on June 16. I just grouped them because all but Perdomo are signed for at least $177 million and would at least figure to be in the ASG conversation.<\/p>\n

The Braves\u2019 Mauricio Dub\u00f3n arguably had a more impactful first half than all of them.<\/p>\n

Third base<\/p>\n

Notable omissions: Nolan Arenado, Diamondbacks; Sal Stewart, Reds<\/p>\n

Muncy, the expected winner of the fan vote, will be making his first All-Star appearance since 2021 \u2014 quite an accomplishment for a player who turns 36 in August.<\/p>\n

Otherwise, it\u2019s fairly slim pickings, particularly with the Cubs\u2019 Alex Bregman, Padres\u2019 Manny Machado and Giants\u2019 Matt Chapman in the middle of down years.<\/p>\n

Schmitt, playing on the same team as Chapman, has started only three games at third. But he entered Wednesday with an .805 OPS while appearing at every infield position and spending much of his season in left field.<\/p>\n

Stewart is more of a first baseman, but he\u2019s one of the NL\u2019s better rookies. Honoring him would hardly be an affront.<\/p>\n

Designated hitter
\n PlayerTeam<\/p>\n

Phillies<\/p>\n

Dodgers<\/p>\n

Ohtani will be the actual starter as the top vote-getter in the NL, but Schwarber is practically even with him in OPS and leads in home runs, 30-18.<\/p>\n

I know it won\u2019t happen, but it would be cool to see Schwarber as the starter in his home park.<\/p>\n

Outfield<\/p>\n

Notable omissions: Jackson Chourio, Brewers; Oneil Cruz, Pirates (injured); Michael Harris II, Braves; Brandon Marsh, Phillies; Bryan Reynolds, Pirates<\/p>\n

Phillies fans will howl over my exclusion of Marsh, who currently is the leading vote-getter among NL outfielders. Well, I\u2019m also frustrated with my omissions of Harris, Reynolds and the electric Chourio, whose season debut was delayed until May 4 due to a fractured left hand.<\/p>\n

Soto, Crow-Armstrong, Carroll and Walker are their respective teams\u2019 only representatives on my roster, and all but Walker entered Wednesday ranked in the top eight in the majors in OPS. (PCA, thanks to his elite defense, also led all position players in fWAR).<\/p>\n

Marsh was 12th in OPS, while Pages was only 33rd after crashing in June. Still, I\u2019m going with Pages, the far superior defender, taking comfort that Marsh likely will make the team through the fan vote.<\/p>\n

Pitchers<\/p>\n

Notable omissions: Braxton Ashcraft, Pirates; Eduardo Rodr\u00edguez, Diamondbacks; Foster Griffin, Nationals; Jes\u00fas Luzardo, Phillies; Michael McGreevy, Cardinals; Logan Webb, Giants; Justin Wrobleski, Dodgers<\/p>\n

Notable omissions: Anthony Bender, Marlins; Raisel Iglesias, Braves; Trevor Megill, Brewers; Adrian Morejon, Padres; Robert Su\u00e1rez, Braves (injured); Antonio Senzatela, Rockies; Alex Vesia, Dodgers; Luke Weaver, Mets<\/p>\n

Yep, The Miz is my starter. I love S\u00e1nchez, and Philly would be electric if he took the mound in the first inning. But the type of electricity The Miz generates would captivate the entire country. Fans would be on immediate high alert, waiting to see how hard he might throw.<\/p>\n

Just as Phillies fans will scream about my snub of Marsh, Dodgers fans will stew over my omission of Wrobleski, especially when Wheeler did not return from thoracic outlet surgery until April 25.<\/p>\n

Sorry, Wheeler is one of this generation\u2019s best pitchers, and at 36, he is again in peak form.<\/p>\n

Happy 250th birthday, America. Happy All-Star Game to all.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In putting together my All-Star teams, I reached an inescapable conclusion. The National League playoffs should be really…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":774337,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[558],"tags":[592,5654,4996,64,63,1186,5156,5158,5256,5257,5258,5259,5260,5163,5261,5262,1187,1188,5159,2364,591,1830,2704,2365,5160,1189,5157,5162,85,2366,1190,2367,5161,5264],"class_list":["post-774336","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mlb","tag-arizona-diamondbacks","tag-athletics","tag-atlanta-braves","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-baltimore-orioles","tag-boston-red-sox","tag-chicago-cubs","tag-chicago-white-sox","tag-cincinnati-reds","tag-cleveland-guardians","tag-colorado-rockies","tag-detroit-tigers","tag-houston-astros","tag-kansas-city-royals","tag-los-angeles-angels","tag-los-angeles-dodgers","tag-miami-marlins","tag-milwaukee-brewers","tag-minnesota-twins","tag-mlb","tag-new-york-mets","tag-new-york-yankees","tag-philadelphia-phillies","tag-pittsburgh-pirates","tag-san-diego-padres","tag-san-francisco-giants","tag-seattle-mariners","tag-sports","tag-st-louis-cardinals","tag-tampa-bay-rays","tag-texas-rangers","tag-toronto-blue-jays","tag-washington-nationals"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/774336","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=774336"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/774336\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/774337"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=774336"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=774336"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=774336"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}