Read our story on the balloting format, which includes two phases of fan voting to determine the All-Star starters.
Phase 1 of the balloting for the 2025 MLB All-Star Game presented by Mastercard at Truist Park in Atlanta is underway, allowing fans to vote for the starting position players in both leagues.
Here are some of the most interesting storylines we’ll be following as the voting progresses.
(All stats below are through Tuesday.)
1. Will Judge repeat as leading vote-getter?
A player hasn’t repeated as the leading All-Star Game vote-getter since Alex Rodriguez did it as a member of the Yankees in 2007-08, but there’s a good chance that drought will come to an end in 2025.
Yankees slugger Aaron Judge earned that distinction last year -- marking the second time in three years that he was the leading vote-getter -- en route to his second American League MVP Award. Judge is having an even better season in 2025, so he should receive overwhelming support from All-Star voters.
Of course, we can’t count out reigning National League MVP Shohei Ohtani. Coming off the first 50-50 season in baseball history, the Dodgers superstar is tied for the MLB lead with 23 homers and ranks third in the Majors with a 1.039 OPS. Somewhat surprisingly, Ohtani has never been MLB’s leading vote-getter.
2. The NL outfield is loaded
Deciding on the NL’s starting outfield is probably going to be the toughest call for fans, because, boy, is this group ever packed with star power.
We have to start with the Cubs’ Pete Crow-Armstrong, a budding superstar and potential NL MVP candidate in the midst of his first full MLB season. We already knew Crow-Armstrong was going to be a stellar defender and baserunner, but his bat also has broken out in 2025. The 23-year-old leads the NL with 3.6 WAR (per FanGraphs), having recorded a 143 wRC+ with 15 homers and 21 steals while playing elite defense in center field.
But Crow-Armstrong isn’t even the only strong starting candidate on the Cubs. There’s also Kyle Tucker, who has recorded 12 homers, 16 steals, a 155 wRC+ and 2.5 WAR for Chicago after coming over from the Astros in an offseason trade.
Elsewhere, the Nationals’ James Wood has the highest wRC+ (162) among NL outfielders to go along with his 16 dingers, so the 22-year-old should be in the mix as well. The D-backs’ Corbin Carroll also has a case. Among NL outfielders, Carroll leads everyone with 18 homers and ranks second behind Crow-Armstrong in WAR (3.0).
Fernando Tatis Jr. and Jackson Merrill in San Diego? Oneil Cruz in Pittsburgh? Juan Soto in New York? The list goes on and on.
And we can’t forget about 2023 NL MVP Ronald Acuña Jr., who has looked fantastic in his return from a torn left ACL on May 23. Acuña has played only 10 games in 2025, but based on his overall body of work and dynamic skill set, he could earn serious consideration from the fans.
3. Will Witt get his first starting nod, or will an upstart crash the party?
Given he went on to finish second behind Judge in the AL MVP voting, it’s easy to forget that Bobby Witt Jr. didn’t start the All-Star Game for the AL in 2024. Rather, the Orioles’ Gunnar Henderson won the vote.
But while Witt is having another tremendous year -- and thoroughly outperforming Henderson -- that doesn’t mean he’s a lock to earn his first All-Star start. Witt’s hitting stats are down some from 2025, leaving the door open for another AL shortstop to win the fan vote.
The Athletics’ Jacob Wilson? He’s batting .355 with the highest wRC+ (156) among qualifying shortstops -- and as a rookie, no less. The Astros’ Jeremy Peña? He has more homers (nine) and a better wRC+ (143) than Witt and is right behind the Royals superstar in WAR, 3.0 to 2.9. The Angels’ Zach Neto? He leads all AL shortstops with 10 homers despite missing the first few weeks of the campaign while recovering from shoulder surgery. Each of them presents a legitimate threat to Witt’s bid for his first All-Star start.
4. The Tigers have MLB’s best record -- but how will they fare in the voting?
It will be interesting to see how much support the Tigers’ position players receive as balloting gets underway. Detroit has raced out to the best record in baseball, but it has done so without the kind of star power that usually dominates All-Star ballots, relying on a well-rounded lineup lacking headline-grabbing names.
You have to go back to Miguel Cabrera in 2014 to find the last Tigers player who started the All-Star Game. (Cabrera also won the fan vote in 2015 but missed the game due to an injury.) While first baseman Spencer Torkelson, second baseman Gleyber Torres and outfielders Riley Greene and Kerry Carpenter should all be in contention to win the fan vote, the Tigers’ best chance to end that drought may actually come from reigning AL Cy Young Award winner Tarik Skubal, who is a strong candidate to get the starting nod on the mound from AL manager Aaron Boone.
5. Raleigh could make Mariners history
On track to post one of the greatest seasons by a catcher in MLB history, Cal Raleigh is likely to earn his first All-Star selection in 2025. He’s tied with Ohtani for the MLB lead with 23 homers and ranks second behind Judge with 3.8 WAR, while slashing .259/.374/.625 with a 183 wRC+.
If he wins the fan vote, Raleigh would also end a franchise-long drought, becoming the first Seattle catcher to start the All-Star Game. To date, Dan Wilson -- now the club’s manager -- is the only Seattle catcher to be an All-Star, doing so in 1996.
6. The Cardinals could end a 39-year drought
Much like the Mariners, the Cards could be positioned to end a lengthy All-Star drought. A St. Louis second baseman hasn’t started the All-Star Game since 1985, when Tom Herr did it, but Brendan Donovan has a good chance to win the fan vote this year.
The 28-year-old leads all second basemen in WAR (2.2) while slashing .321/.384/.462 over 57 games, and his 140 wRC+ is 34 points higher than that of the next-closest qualified NL second baseman, the Cubs’ Nico Hoerner.
That said, Donovan could face a strong challenge from the D-backs' Ketel Marte, who missed much of April with a left hamstring strain but has put up 10 homers and a 177 wRC+ over 34 games in 2025.
7. Can Lindor get some love?
For as great of a career as he’s having, you’d think Francisco Lindor would have started the All-Star Game before, but each of his four All-Star selections have come as a reserve. Moreover, he hasn’t made the All-Star team at all since 2019, when he was still with Cleveland. Which means that, during his time with the Mets, Lindor has received MVP votes in three seasons (finishing second in 2024) without earning a single All-Star selection.
Granted, part of the problem is that Lindor has been a notoriously slow starter in recent years, so he hasn’t had a compelling All-Star case in most of them. That isn’t an issue in 2025 -- he’s hitting .284 with 14 homers, 11 steals and an .854 OPS for a first-place Mets team.
If Lindor wins the fan vote, he’d become the third Mets shortstop to do so, joining José Reyes (three times) and Bud Harrelson (1971). The club hasn’t had an All-Star starter at short since Reyes in 2007.