How the 2025 All-Star Game starting lineups might look

July 6th, 2025

Imagine for a moment that you are either Yankees manager Aaron Boone or Dodgers manager Dave Roberts. First of all, that means you are the manager of either the reigning American League pennant winner or the 2024 World Series champion, so that's pretty cool. And your team is on a path to the postseason once again in 2025.

But in a little more than a week, you will be given the privilege of arranging your league's lineup for the 2025 MLB All-Star Game presented by Mastercard. It's an honor bestowed every year upon the two most recent Fall Classic skippers.

It is also a bit of a chore. How exactly do you order nine of the best players in the game into one lineup?

A couple of MLB.com writers have given their best guesses with this year's All-Star starters. Here is how they think Boone and Roberts should draw it up on July 15 from Truist Park in Atlanta.

2025 All-Star Game presented by Mastercard
• July 15, 8 p.m. ET (Watch on FOX)
• Special events and ticketing info
• All-Star Game starters

Note: No starting pitchers are included in these lineups -- we've already written about possible pairings there.

All stats updated through Friday's games.

AMERICAN LEAGUE

1. , 2B
2. , RF
3. , 1B
4. , C
5. José Ramírez, 3B
6. , LF
7. , DH
8. , CF
9. , SS

There is a debate to be had with this lineup right off the top. This projection originally had Greene leading off, but here's thinking that Boone might want to do well by his former second baseman. Torres, who has hit either first or second for the Tigers in almost every game this season, thrived once New York put him atop its lineup last August, and he is now enjoying the best offensive season of his career (130 OPS+) with the best team in baseball.

Judge batting second is the easiest call here, followed closely by the decision to put Raleigh, the other top contender for AL MVP, in the cleanup spot. The Yankees' captain seems to be the favorite right now with his absurd .365/.474/.740 slash line. But can he hold off a slugger who is on pace for an AL-record 65 home runs while playing the game's most demanding position?

You could flip-flop the two players sandwiched around Raleigh, and either choice would be sound. Guerrero and Ramírez are putting up stellar numbers once again, highlighted by their OPS+ totals of 127 and 136, respectively. Boone might side with an AL East foe -- and the leader of the club that just swept the Yankees -- so we'll give the slightest edge to Vlad Jr.

Greene could very well be the first batter of this year's All-Star Game. But since we're assuming that Boone will play favorites, the Tigers' 24-year-old star swaps spots with his Detroit teammate and ends up sixth here. A first-time All-Star last year, Greene owns an .883 OPS and is on pace for 38 homers, which would be the most from any player age-25 or younger in Tigers history.

The bottom third of the lineup is full of surprises. Would would have thought in March that this trio would be starting in the Midsummer Classic? O'Hearn will play in his first All-Star Game about two weeks shy of his 32nd birthday and just a couple of years after he was designated for assignment by both the Royals and the O's. Now he's batting .290 with an .840 OPS and could be one of Baltimore's top trade chips at the Deadline if the club decides to sell.

Báez looked like he would be a perennial All-Star with the Cubs not too long ago. Then he compiled a 71 OPS+ over his first three seasons with the Tigers, fifth-worst among all hitters with at least 1,000 plate appearances during that span. But his fourth season has been a bit of a renaissance -- .279 average with a 114 OPS+ -- and has featured a new position. Although he still starts often at shortstop, Báez has played the first 33 games of his career in center field this season, and he's handled the switch well (+2 outs above average).

Speaking of shortstops, Wilson beat out 2024 AL MVP runner-up to become the first A's shortstop to start the All-Star Game since Bert Campaneris in 1975. And Wilson will do so in his rookie season. His .337 average, second only to Judge among qualified hitters, has made him a strong AL ROY favorite.

This isn't an easy exercise, but the challenge of putting together the AL lineup is nothing compared to predicting how Roberts will configure his collection of NL studs. -- Brian Murphy

NATIONAL LEAGUE

1. , DH
2. , RF
3. , 1B
4. , C
5. , LF
6. , 3B
7. , CF
8. , SS
9. , 2B

There are obviously no real weak spots in a typical All-Star lineup, but this year's NL squad is a major challenge even by those standards. Almost any construction you can come up with would work just fine because this roster is delightfully, comically stacked. But here's what we're thinking:

Ohtani should hit leadoff. Duh. If there was ever an "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" situation, it's this one. Ohtani is a terrifying notion no matter where or when he hits -- five straight 30-homer seasons, that 50-50 spectacle last season, an OPS north of 1.000 this season -- so there's no sense removing him from his usual spot.

In the No. 2 hole, we have Acuña, who could just as well hit leadoff given his MVP-level career there (160 homers, .923 OPS), but hitting him behind Ohtani is a good recipe for a quick "in play, run(s)" situation. Acuña's return to all-world form this season after a second ACL surgery has been remarkable. Hitting second, he'll get a chance to get an ovation from his hometown Atlanta crowd right away.

Freeman is as strong of a three-hole hitter as you'll find. He's having another stellar season -- .313 average, .890 OPS -- as he continues his path toward Cooperstown. If he comes up with Ohtani and/or Acuña on base, there's an excellent chance he'll poke a single to left field to score a run. Or he might launch a three-run homer into the Chop House. Or he could rope a two-run double into the gap. He's a complete hitter, you know. And as with Acuña, the 2021 World Series champion with the Braves should get a nice early ovation from the Atlanta crowd.

In the cleanup spot is Freeman's teammate Smith, who's having a career year for the Dodgers. He leads the NL with a .330 average and a .433 on-base percentage, and he has a career-high .997 OPS. So, like Freeman, he can do damage in a lot of ways. He has an .832 career OPS hitting cleanup (1.095 this season), if you're curious. Behind Smith is another lefty bat in Tucker, who's having an outstanding first season in Chicago with a .284/.388/.518 slash line and 17 home runs. You want his bat in the middle of the lineup to keep things moving.

Batting sixth (!) is Machado, and this is where the depth of the roster really hits you. He hasn't hit sixth since 2021, and that was just one at-bat as a pinch-hitter. Before that, he hadn't hit sixth since 2015. But in a lineup this stacked, someone has to hit sixth, so Machado (.839 OPS this season) gets the nod. We don't envy the AL pitching staff.

At seventh is Crow-Armstrong, who has actually hit in this spot more than any other this season (132 PAs) but has become a middle-of-the-order bat of late because of his power (23 homers) and speed (26 stolen bases). In this lineup, though, he just provides a stern reminder that there is absolutely no letup in the attack. He leads the NL with 5.0 bWAR and is on pace for a 40-40 season. And he's hitting seventh. For Pete's sake! Literally!

At this point, it seems like the unpleasantness has to be nearing an end as the eighth spot comes up. But, nope, you're wrong -- it's freakin' Francisco Lindor. Like every other guy in this lineup, the switch-hitting Lindor -- who finished second in NL MVP voting last season -- is never an easy out. He can beat you in so many ways. Should you be lucky enough to face him with nobody on, he only has an .866 OPS this season with the bases empty. That's tough.

Rounding out the NL starting nine is the switch-hitting Marte, one of the most talented nine-hole hitters you'll ever see. That means there's an excellent chance that he'll successfully flip the lineup back to Ohtani and help create a nice little jam for the AL. He's hitting .298 this season with 19 homers, a .401 OBP and a .998 OPS. It's not often that a nine-hole hitter flirts with a .300/.400/.500 slash line. Good luck, Junior Circuit. -- Jason Foster