MLB announces – MLB announced the 2025 All-Star Game rosters for Philadelphia’s Citizens Bank Park, with Mike Trout, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Aaron Judge named to start—while Paul Skenes, Jacob Misiorowski and Shohei Ohtani face uncertainty about pitching appearances due to
Philadelphia is ready to host baseball’s summer showcase, but the All-Star stage is arriving with a familiar edge: not everyone will be in the role they earned.
MLB’s announcement of the All-Star starting lineups and staff came with a warning that could shape how the game’s key moments unfold. Pittsburgh’s Paul Skenes. Milwaukee’s Jacob Misiorowski and the Dodgers’ two-way star Shohei Ohtani all could miss All-Star mound appearances because of starts next weekend.
For fans, the biggest jolt is how quickly the spotlight can shift from the ballot to the calendar. Skenes—who has been the NL starter in the last two All-Star Games—was still selected by players and is scheduled to pitch for Pittsburgh on Tuesday and Sunday. The 24-year-old right-hander is 0-6 in his last nine starts. dropping to 6-8 with a 3.62 ERA for the season. a stretch that has turned his All-Star selection into something more complicated than a simple reward.
“It wasn’t easy,” Skenes said of his selection, adding, “To be honest, probably a little surprised.”
Misiorowski, also voted in by players, arrives with a different kind of momentum. Averaging 100.4 mph with his fastball and leading the major leagues with a 1.47 ERA. the 25-year-old earned an All-Star nod last year after just five big league games. He is also scheduled to start Sunday. His quote carried the frustration of one who wanted the full stage.
“We’re looking for September, October,” Misiorowski said Friday. “It sucks — obviously I want to throw in a game like that — but so be it.”
Ohtani’s situation adds another layer. The three-time, two-way All-Star and six-time pick overall is unlikely to pitch because of a right biceps issue that will push his last pre-break start to next weekend, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said.
Still, Philadelphia will see plenty of familiar All-Star faces—plus a striking number of Dodgers and first-timers.
Mike Trout’s selection provided the cleanest headline. The Los Angeles Angels outfielder earned his 12th All-Star selection and first since 2023 based on the second round of fan balloting announced Saturday by Major League Baseball. Trout, who grew up near Philadelphia in Millville, New Jersey, was voted by fans to start for the 11th time. He is hoping to return from a strained right hamstring sustained June 17.
But it isn’t only health shaping the week. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. is being forced to step back from the game’s spotlight. The Toronto Blue Jays first baseman—one of four All-Stars from the AL champion Blue Jays—said he will skip the July 14 game at Citizens Bank Park to rest a bad back that has bothered him for much of the season.
“Those four days will be great,” Guerrero said through a translator, “to come back strong in the second half.”
Aaron Judge, meanwhile, has a long gap between All-Star week and his next start. The Yankees outfielder, elected to his eighth start, will miss the game because of a broken rib that has sidelined him since May.
With three prominent names tied to absences or altered workloads, the rosters themselves tell a second story: how the game’s center of gravity has shifted toward a few teams—and toward a new wave of players.
Freddie Freeman became a 10-time All-Star when he was announced Sunday. joined by Dodgers third baseman Max Muncy and outfielder Andy Pages as winners in the second phase on fan voting that ran from June 29 to Thursday. Those results also reflect how Ohtani won the NL designated hitter spot by finishing with the most votes in the initial round of fan selection announced June 25.
Pages’ fan surge was nearly razor-thin. He edged Atlanta’s Michael Harris II by fewer than 5,000 votes for the third NL outfield spot.
Four Dodgers were elected to start for the first time since Steve Garvey. Davey Lopes. Bill Russell and Reggie Smith in 1980. World Series MVP Yoshinobu Yamamoto was picked for the NL pitching staff by Major League Baseball with one of its six selections. giving the Dodgers five or more All-Stars for the seventh straight time.
The broader All-Star pool includes 26 first-time selections among the 64 players picked, including four rookies: Cleveland second baseman Travis Bazzana, Detroit shortstop Kevin McGonigle, Cleveland left-hander Parker Messick and Cincinnati third baseman Sal Stewart.
McGonigle is the youngest player at 21, while Boston closer Aroldis Chapman at 38 is the oldest.
Philadelphia and Atlanta each have five All-Stars, and the home-field group is packed with headline bats. Philadelphia outfielder Brandon Marsh was elected to start and will be joined by four fellow Phillies: first baseman Bryce Harper. DH Kyle Schwarber. reliever Jhoan Duran and left-hander Cristopher Sánchez. Harper was a legend pick added by baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred.
Atlanta’s starters lean into pitching and punch, with catcher Drake Baldwin and second baseman Ozzie Albies voted in to start, joined by left-hander Chris Sale—a 10-time All-Star—and closer Raisel Iglesias.
Toronto’s total is four, with Guerrero paired with second baseman Ernie Clement, who led AL players in the first phase of voting from June 3-25, plus pitchers Dylan Cease and Louis Varland. John Schneider, the AL manager, framed it as more than fan enthusiasm.
“Our fan support is unlike any other team, obviously, because of the country backing you,” Schneider said. “Not just Canada — I think a lot of baseball people really recognized how those guys play the game.”
The AL starting lineup also includes Athletics catcher Shea Langeliers; Kansas City shortstop Bobby Witt Jr.; Tampa Bay third baseman Junior Caminero; Houston designated hitter Yordan Alvarez; and Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge and Minnesota’s Byron Buxton in the outfield.
Judge and Guerrero won’t stay put in Philadelphia’s opening lineup. Guerrero will be replaced in the starting lineup by the Athletics’ Nick Kurtz, and Judge will be replaced by Yankees teammate Cody Bellinger. Replacements are based on player, manager and coach voting.
Bellinger earned his third All-Star selection but first since 2019.
“That’s going to be cool. Last time I had no kids or family or anything,” he said.
On the NL side, starters include New York Mets outfielder Juan Soto and Washington shortstop CJ Abrams.
MLB added a familiar layer for fans used to later reveals: in previous years, starters were announced first, then pitchers and reserves several days later.
Other AL pitchers elected by players include Boston’s Chapman, Tampa Bay’s Drew Rasmussen, Minnesota’s Joe Ryan, the Yankees’ Cam Schlittler and Cleveland’s Cade Smith. Other NL pitchers voted in by players include Cincinnati’s Chase Burns and San Diego’s Mason Miller.
The rosters are set to play out under a week of shifting availability—where a fan ballot can land, but workload and injury realities decide who can actually deliver on the mound.
AL starters: Shea Langeliers, Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Ernie Clement, Junior Caminero, Bobby Witt Jr., Mike Trout, Byron Buxton, Aaron Judge, Yordan Alvarez.
AL pitchers (elected): Bryan Baker. Dylan Cease. Aroldis Chapman. Jacob Latz. Parker Messick. Drew Rasmussen. Joe Ryan. Cam Schlittler. Cade Smith. Ranger Suarez. Louis Varland. Michael Wacha. Dillon Dingler. Adley Rutschman. Travis Bazzana. Nick Kurtz. Kevin McGonigle. Ben Rice. Miguel Vargas. Randy Arozarena. Cody Bellinger. Riley Greene. Yandy Diaz.
NL starters: Drake Baldwin, Freddie Freeman, Ozzie Albies, Max Muncy, CJ Abrams, Brandon Marsh, Juan Soto, Andy Pages, Shohei Ohtani.
NL pitching staff includes Chase Burns, Jhoan Duran, Raisel Iglesias, Max Meyer, Mason Miller, Jacob Misiorowski, Eduardo Rodriguez, Chris Sale, Cristopher Sánchez, Paul Skenes and Logan Webb, alongside Louis Varland, Michael Wacha, Yoshinobu Yamamoto.
Reserves: William Contreras, Hunter Goodman, Luis Arraez, Bryce Harper, Otto Lopez, Matt Olson, Sal Stewart, Corbin Carroll, Pete Crow-Armstrong, Jordan Walker, James Wood, Kyle Schwarber, among others.
MLB All-Star Game Philadelphia Citizens Bank Park Mike Trout Vladimir Guerrero Jr. Aaron Judge Paul Skenes Jacob Misiorowski Shohei Ohtani Dodgers Blue Jays Yankees Freddie Freeman Max Muncy Andy Pages
So they just… skip pitching? That’s lame.
I thought the All-Star pitchers were set already?? Like if Judge/Trout are starting but Skenes might not, how is that fair. Also Ohtani uncertainty sounds made up to me.
Wait are they saying Skenes is being benched because his record is bad? 0-6 in his last nine starts doesn’t sound like “All-Star” vibes lol. But then he’s still supposed to pitch? MLB be doing the most. I’m confused.
This is why I don’t really care about All-Star games anymore. Ballots don’t matter if the calendar decides who gets on the mound. Citizens Bank Park is in Philly right, so maybe Philly teams are messing with it? Or it’s like a scheduling conspiracy or something. idk just seems dumb.