When the All-Stars took the field Tuesday in Philadelphia, many of the biggest names in the sport were center stage. And with them, some of the loudest tools in the game. There was extreme velocity, incredible power and breathtaking speed.
This spring, as part of our annual anonymous MLB Player Poll, The Athletic asked 100 major-league players across 23 teams a simple but impossible question: If you could have any tool from one current player, which would you choose? The players were granted anonymity to speak candidly (and perhaps be more willing to admit wanting to steal a rival’s skill).
The responses were an All-Star collection, with a few predictable standouts.
“I feel like all the answers are going to be a combination of (Shohei) Ohtani and (Aaron) Judge just because they’re gross,” one NL West player said. “They are gross at baseball.”
Indeed, New York Yankees right fielder Judge was mentioned 14 times, meaning his name came up in nearly one out of every seven responses. Some players wanted his overall hitting ability — “Everything involved with his bat, period,” one former first-round draft pick said — but most specifically longed for Judge’s mammoth power.
“Wouldn’t it be nice to hit 50 home runs a season?” one fellow New Yorker said.
“It just looks so easy,” said an NL East starter.
“I don’t even hit,” one NL pitcher said, “but that would be fun.”
Ohtani’s name came up slightly less often — 10 times — perhaps because the Los Angeles Dodgers superstar has a uniqueness that requires more than one tool. Ohtani’s power was mentioned most often — “Shohei’s pop, that would be amazing. It would be sick.” — but it was hard to ignore his standalone ability to do it all.
“To pitch and hit, you get the best of both worlds,” one NL Central player said. “What baseball player wouldn’t want to do that?”
All of them, surely, want a bit of Ohtani’s magic, but five different players singled out Luis Arraez’s ability to make contact — “I’d be a .330 hitter with 30 bombs!” one position player fantasized — and even non-hitters seemed in awe of Juan Soto’s eye and approach at the plate.
“I get I’m a pitcher,” one NL player said. “But maybe that’s why I’m so impressed by it.”
Another player put the Soto appreciation in deeper perspective.
“He wants you to think he’s in control of what’s going on,” one lefty reliever said, “when our whole life, we think the pitcher’s in charge, the pitcher’s in control. He tries to flip that on you, and I think that’s impressive.”
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Four players mentioned Ronald Acuña Jr., but two longed for his power and two wanted his speed. Four also mentioned Bobby Witt Jr., two singling out his speed, one wanting his first-step quickness on defense, and another requesting all of the above.
“All of (his) tools,” an NL Central outfielder said, “power, speed, arm strength, all of it. Him. … he’s incredible.”
When asked during All-Star Week whose tool he’d most like to steal, Witt offered that he’d like to have Munetaka Murakami’s power.
Elly De La Cruz and Trea Turner were also singled out twice for their speed, and José Ramírez got nods for his hitting ability and consistency. We also heard the names of Ozzie Albies (barrel control), Freddie Freeman (bat-to-ball skill), Yordan Alvarez (power), Chandler Simpson (speed), and Shea Langeliers (arm). And we heard some love for the diminutive Houston Astros second baseman with the second-highest batting average of any qualified active player.
“I would take Jose Altuve’s skill of being able to kind of hit any kind of pitch,” one former teammate said. “Out of the zone, in the zone, just how he kind of flicks the ball sometimes. I’d take that skill.”
Altuve has long defied expectations, but we will admit that the ability to “flick” is not what we expected when asking for elite major-league skills. We were expecting answers more like this.
“Give me Mason Miller’s velo all day,” one player said.
That was a popular response. Ten different players mentioned the San Diego Padres closer, the most of any pitcher, and the word “fastball” or “velocity” was always somewhere in their answers.
“Self-explanatory, right?” one rival NL West pitcher said.
“I barely throw 90, dude,” said an AL reliever.
“102 to 105 is pretty electric,” another NL pitcher said. “That would be awesome to have in my back pocket.”
During All-Star media day, we sought out the popular Miller to inform him of his much-desired skill set and asked what he covets. His response? “Yoshinobu Yamamoto’s curveball. Something a little slower for me.”
Tarik Skubal was singled out by five players in our poll, with one specifically mentioning his changeup. Devin Williams’ changeup was also mentioned by four players, and another four singled out Aroldis Chapman — three wanting his fastball and another specifically admiring his ability to maintain that fastball into his late 30s.
“I spoke to him last year,” the player said. “And he said, ‘As soon as I stop throwing hard, I’ll know it’s time to go home.’ I was like, ‘Well, you’ve got another 12 years in you!’ Even if he loses 5 mph, he’s still one of the hardest-throwing lefties in the game.”
(Editor’s note: Speaking of guys with velocity, you might be wondering why Jacob Misiorowski is notably absent from this list; our data was collected from February to May of this year — just slightly before The Miz began breaking velocity records at a regular clip.)
Three different players wanted something of Jacob deGrom’s, but each chose something different. One wanted his command, another wanted his fastball and another wanted his mechanics.
“His body control is flawless,” the AL Central resident said.
Three pitchers wanted either Paul Skenes’ sinker or his splinker. Two wanted either Yamamoto’s flexibility or pitchability. Two more wanted either Gerrit Cole’s fastball command or his mentality.
“I think just Gerrit, in general, honestly,” one fellow AL East player said. “He’s just extremely smart. Kind of knows what he wants to do. Knows how all of his pitches play off each other. We could go with that.”
Sixteen other pitchers were mentioned once, including Edwin Díaz for his ninth-inning mentality and Nolan McLean for his spin.
“It is the best I have seen,” one multiple-time All-Star said.
But more often, pitchers longed to steal a specific pitch. We heard about enviable fastballs (Dylan Cease, Ryne Nelson, Louis Varland), sliders (Griffin Jax, Jesús Luzardo), curveballs (Nick Lodolo), splitters (Fernando Cruz), and changeups (Martín Pérez). And if that changeup choice seems surprising, keep in mind that the one player who wanted a Cristopher Sanchez pitch asked specifically for his sinker, not his changeup.
But some players tried to be more practical in their envy. Four singled out pitchers specifically for their longevity and durability.
“Who’s been staying crazy healthy?” one player asked before choosing Toronto Blue Jays veteran José Berríos, who promptly went on the injured list in spring training and hasn’t pitched in a major league game all year. Others singled out specifically for their durability and longevity were Kenley Jansen, Logan Webb and Justin Verlander, all of whom have been on the injured list this season, and one of whom, Verlander, went to the All-Star Game as a “Legend Pick” after making just one start this season and announcing his intention to retire at the end of the year.
Two potential takeaways: Either the baseball jinx is real, or you must be careful what you wish for.