⚾ The 2025 MLB All-Star Game

Baseball's Data Renaissance Hits AtlantaNo fluff. Just numbers, narratives, and needle-movers.

Author

Samuel Rogers
July 11, 2025

📍One Game, 65 Superstars, A League in Transition

The 2025 MLB All-Star Game, set for July 15 at Truist Park in Atlanta, isn't just a midsummer celebration. It's a statistical X-ray of the sport’s future. Between rookie risers, legacy legends, and shifting fan engagement patterns, this year’s roster reveals more about the direction of baseball than most league memos.

✅ 65 players
✅ 19 first-time All-Stars
✅ 22 players aged 23 or younger
✅ 1 “Legend Pick” — Clayton Kershaw
✅ League-wide OPS and ERA leaders clustered at the top

🧠 The Macro Trend: A Youthquake + Legacy Insurance

Category

Number of Players

Notable Names

Rookies

19

Paul Skenes, James Wood, Pete Crow-Armstrong

Under 23

22

Elly De La Cruz, Jackson Chourio, Jacob Wilson

Veterans

12 (≥ age 33)

Kershaw (36), Sale (35), Machado (33)

“Legend Pick”

1

Clayton Kershaw (11th selection, 3,000+ Ks)

MLB has algorithmically rebalanced its showcase: youth is on display, but the league baked in institutional memory via Kershaw’s honorary slot.

🧩 Roster Snapshot — Data-First Breakdown

🔥 AL Starters (via fan vote)

Player

Team

Notable Stat

League Rank

Aaron Judge

Yankees

.361 AVG, 1.202 OPS

1st AL, 1st MLB

Cal Raleigh

Mariners

35 HR, 74 RBI

1st AL, 1st MLB

José Ramírez

Guardians

.302 AVG, 5.1 WAR

Top 5 AL WAR

Gleyber Torres

Yankees

.840 OPS

Top 3 AL 2B

Javier Báez

Tigers

.968 OPS

1st AL SS

Riley Greene

Tigers

20 HR, .556 SLG

Breakout OF

📊 Judge led ALL players in fan votes with 1.57 million ballots — the first Yankee to do so since Derek Jeter in 2012.

🧨 NL Starters

Player

Team

Notable Stat

League Rank

Shohei Ohtani

Dodgers

30 HR, 1.021 OPS

1st NL HR, OPS

Will Smith

Dodgers

.332 AVG, .433 OBP

1st C OBP

Freddie Freeman

Dodgers

.312 AVG, .895 OPS

Top 5 1B OPS

Francisco Lindor

Mets

.856 OPS, 13 HR

Top 3 SS WAR

Manny Machado

Padres

.884 OPS

Top 3 3B

Ronald Acuña Jr.

Braves

26 SB, .840 OPS

Fan favorite

🧮 Analytical Leaders (Through July 6)

Hitting

Player

Team

OPS

HR

WAR

Judge

NYY

1.202

26

4.9

Raleigh

SEA

.980

35

3.7

Ohtani

LAD

1.021

30

4.8

Smith

LAD

.975

17

3.6

Seiya Suzuki

CHC

.905

20

3.9

Pitching

Player

Team

ERA

K

WHIP

Hunter Brown

HOU

1.82

117

0.99

Paul Skenes

PIT

2.03

124

1.07

Tarik Skubal

DET

2.18

136

0.83

Zack Wheeler

PHI

2.41

139

0.91

Garrett Crochet

CHW

2.29

144

1.05

📈 The ERA and WHIP spreads suggest pitching dominance is tighter than it has been in years — the top 6 pitchers all sit under 2.50 ERA and 1.10 WHIP.

1. Rising Teams = Rising Starters

  • Tigers placed 3 starters (Báez, Greene, Skubal) — a team not featured prominently since 2013

  • Dodgers again lead with 5 total selections — elite franchises still dominate

2. Fan Behavior Mirrors WAR, Not Just Brand

  • Top vote-getters (Judge, Ohtani, Raleigh) also top OPS and WAR charts

  • Suggests MLB’s voting fan base is increasingly stat-savvy, not just nostalgic

3. Pitching Parity Across Leagues

  • ERA compression means offense is not being watered down, but pitching is finally keeping pace

  • Skenes (NL) vs. Skubal (AL) vs. Brown (AL) is shaping up as the cybernetic Cy Young race

🧠 Blunt Insights — Why This All Matters

  1. Baseball is getting younger and faster — 22 All-Stars are 23 or younger

  2. Data now drives exposure — the players getting fan votes are backing it up with xwOBA and fWAR

  3. Legacy + Future — Kershaw’s 11th ASG nod symbolizes a pivot point in the league's historical arc

→ Watch how WAR, OPS+, and ERA trends post-ASG.
→ Bet on rookie momentum post-break: Skenes, Wood, Crow-Armstrong, Wilson.
→ If you’re building for future comps (media, NIL, collectibles), start with these 22 players under 23.

This isn’t just an exhibition game. It’s a predictive model for the second half of the season — and the next era of the league.