If you are one of millions of baseball-loving Americans, like me, then you get excited for the Major League Baseball All-Star Game, which will be taking place in Atlanta on July 15th. And if you are one of millions of die-hard, crazy Giants fans, like me, you are very excited to see which players will be standing on the sidelines of Truist Park when the National League All-Star lineups are announced to the world.
There is something truly joyous about seeing the players you root for wearing the jersey of the team you love take center stage amongst baseball's best. It validates the success of rising stars, and reaffirms the greatness of established legends. Growing up as a kid, I got to witness Barry Bonds tower over the best in baseball every summer. As the years went by, the Giants were routinely represented for almost every pitch when Buster Posey was a fixture behind the plate in the All-Star Game.
The 2025 Giants are off to a fast start, and their 28-20 record to start the season has been built on many stellar performances. But how many of those performances are worthy of a call to the Midsummer Classic? To answer this question, I decided to break my All-Star tier system to sort out who the most likely Giants all-stars will be this season. These rankings are based on what we have seen from these players as of Sunday, May 18th. Things can easily change over the next month, which is why I will provide an updated list in June.
Here is a refresher of my all-star tier breakdown.
Everybody Gets One: That is the rule. In the MLB All Star Game, each team gets one representative. So even if the Giants go 0- the rest of the first half, THIS GUY will at least be at the All-Star Game.
Locks: No doubt about it, book their flights now because this guy has absolutely played well enough to be considered one of the stars of the National League
Should Be In: These players have had great season that should warrant all-star selections, but a numbers game could force them out of the game or into the final vote. Maybe they are the first names brought up when another guy drops out.
On The Bubble: It could go either way with these guys. They have played well enough to garner consideration, but no one will be crying snub if they do not get in.
Outside Looking In: As well as these guys have played, they have not done enough to get into the all-star conversation, but that does not take away from the success that they have had this season.
Let’s begin:
Everybody Gets One: Jung Hoo Lee
The Capitalist in you will go on about the marketing potential of getting one of the big South Korean baseball stars into the All-Star Game as a way to grow the game and things of that nature. And that is valid. But that does not take away from how great Jung Hoo Lee has been for the Giants this year. The month of May has been rough for him so far (a .203 average is definitely something I could consider rough) but I expect Lee to burst out of this slump and continue to be the most exciting part of every Giants game on a night in and night out basis. If there is one Giant who should be representing the orange and black in Atlanta, it should be Jung Hoo Lee.
Locks: Logan Webb
He is first in pitching WAR (1.9) and FIP (1.99) second in innings pitched (55.1) third in strikeouts (65) sixth in ERA (2.60) and K-rate (29%) and is very much still owed an appearance or two after being snubbed in 2022 and 2023. Webb has looked every bit the part of the ace of the Giants rotation that he is and right now is a certified lock to be at his second all-star game.
Should Be In: Heliot Ramos
Three weeks ago, Ramos would not even be on this list. He had a two week stretch in April where he hit .215 from the series in New York against the Yankees to the home series against the Rangers. It was a stretch that made one more worried that his breakout 2024 was fools gold. No one was thinking about him being an all-star. Then he scored the winning run on a little league home run and has been on a tear since, hitting .388 since that walk-off win.
Now, Ramos is third in batting average amongst NL outfielders (.297) fifth in wRC+ (144) and OPS (.868) which will have him in the discussion. But Ramos could find himself the victim of a numbers game in the outfield. Consider that the National League will probably take seven outfielders, maybe eight. Now figure you got five guys who look like locks to make the team for the NL: Fernando Tatis Jr for the Padres, Corbin Carrol for the Diamondbacks and Kyle Tucker for the Cubs are having all-star caliber seasons. And Juan Soto of the Mets will probably get in on the fan vote if not on his own baseball merits as well. And don’t forget Lee either. That leaves two, maybe three spots, for Ramos to battle it out with the following:
· Pete Crow-Armstrong (Cubs)
· Andy Pages (Dodgers)
· Oniel Cruz (Pirates)
· Teoscar Hernandez (Dodgers)
· Jackson Churio (Brewers)
· Nick Castellanos (Phillies)
Some of those guys will drop off over the next month. Others might rise up in their place. And it is not impossible that Ramos beats them all out to make the NL roster. But don’t be shocked if Ramos is also left off the roster in favor of one of these above names.
On The Bubble: Robbie Ray, Wilmer Flores
It seems crazy to put a 6-0 pitcher on the bubble, but then again look who is the one writing this piece. Ray has been excellent for the Giants this year, and as of right now, his 6 wins is tied with the Diamondbacks Brandon Pfaadt for tops in the National League.
So why is he on the bubble? Outside of the 6 wins, there is not much that Ray has been elite at this season per se. He has benefitted from the second most run support in the league (39 runs of support is second to Sonny Gray at 43) which is a big reason for the 6-0 record. He is 13th in ERA (3.04, which is still good) and a .7 WAR, which is the same WAR that Jordan Hicks has (that might be an indictment on what WAR means as a stat, but that’s a conversation for another day). He is 13th in strikeouts per nine innings (9.8) and 17th in innings pitched (50.1). He has been amongst the best in the league in opponent batting average, coming in at 8th (.202).
The National League had seven starters last year and five relievers/ closers. Using those same parameters, Logan Webb will be on the team as was established above. Zach Wheeler (Phillies) Paul Skenes (Pirates) Yoshinobu Yamamoto (Dodgers) Hunter Greene (Reds, and is making good progress on his recovery from a groin injury) and Kodai Senga (Mets) will likely be on the roster as well. That is six pitchers right there who are more or less locks to be all-stars. Which leave Ray to battle it out for the final spot (or two) with the following guys:
· Jesus Luzardo (Phillies)
· Michael King (Padres)
· Mackenzie Gore (Nationals)
· Freddy Peralta (Brewers)
· Shota Imanaga (Cubs)
· Matthew Boyd (Cubs)
· Matthew Liberatore (Cardinals)
Some of these guys will drop off the list over the next month, and a couple of guys not listed could find themselves in the mix as well.
Could Ray be one of the pitchers who falls off this list? It's possible, because there are some concerning metrics on his stat sheet that suggest a negative regression could be in store for him. While his .202 Opp BA and 3.04 ERA are really good, his .260 BaBIP and 3.75 FIP imply that a measure of luck has been in play. He also leads the NL in walks (26) which has not come back to haunt him just yet. Let’s check back in a month and see where his season is at and we will have a greater sense of his all-star chances. Even if Ray is not on the initial roster, he should be one of the first names called when someone drops out.
I originally had Flores in the “Outside Looking In” category, and then he hit three home runs and drove in 8 runs against the A’s on Friday night. Flores has had an incredible start to the season, and should be among the leading candidates for National League Comeback Player of the Year (Fan Duel does not even have him on the board here, but check out HOO* the betting favorite right now is). As for his all-star chances, they are not as rosy as his performance with runners on base. The National League will take two designated hitters, potentially three but that is very unlikely. Shohei Ohtani is a safe bet to get the starting DH nod. That leaves Flores fighting for the final spot with Kyle Schwarber, Marcell Ozuna and Seiya Suzuki.
Flores has put up some good numbers as the Giants designated hitter so far this season, punctuated by his major league leading 42 RBI’s. And while he has been a major producer for the Giants as an RBI and WALK-off machine, the rest of his game has not produced all-star results. His .263 batting average is 7th amongst other NL DHs, and his .5 WAR is 8th best. His 23 runs scored is 5th best in the league. On their own, these are good numbers for a DH to have, and Flores is absolutely performing like one of the four or five best DH’s in the league this year.
Schwarber is the easy pick for that second spot. He is second amongst DH’s in home runs (15) and runs (32) and is known for putting on the booming displays of power that play well for the “Made for Primetime” game.
If Schwarber or Ohtani drop out for whatever reason though, then Flores’ chances go up a lot. Ozuna is third in NL DH WAR (1.1), 2nd in on base percentage (.415) and 5th in OPS (.860) Those are the only major offensive categories that he ranks ahead of Flores in. Home runs, runs, RBI’s, batting average and slugging percentage are all categories that Flores ranks ahead of Ozuna in so far this season. But the game is in Atlanta, and while Ozuna will not be the only member of the Braves to make the team, he could find his way onto the roster anyways thanks to the hometown boost.
Suzuki is a more interesting case. He is 11th in batting average (.244) and 5th in WAR (.6, just ahead of Flores). He is just ahead of Flores in slugging percentage (.517 to .463) and runs scored (24 to 23). Suzuki is doing it for the first place Cubs, which could be the dumb reason that keeps Flores out of the Midsummer Classic.
Outside Looking In: Matt Chapman, Mike Yastrzemski, Tyler Rogers
Chapman is second amongst third baseman in the NL in WAR at 1.4 behind Manny Machado’s 1.8. He is third in RBI’s (24) and runs (24) and second in home runs (8). So why is he on the outside looking in? The lack of consistency is the big reason. He is heating up at the plate this month (.246 BA in May) but he had a couple of very rough stretches at the plate in April. There was the 12-game stretch from April 1st through the 14th when he hit .143, and then after spending a week ruining Phillies and Angels pitching, hit .097 for the final nine games in April. Combine that with strong seasons from Machado, Eugenio Suarez and Austin Riley, I do not see an all-star nod for Chapman right now.
Yastrzemski could be part of the same numbers battle with Heliot Ramos, but with more competition. While he has had a solid season so far, and has provided some spark at the top of the lineup of late, I just do not think Yaz has done quite enough to be considered for an all-star spot so far this season.
Tyler Rogers has, as per usual, been excellent this season. Unfortunately, he has the distinction of being just a late game reliever, not a closer. The only teams that send late inning relievers with no saves to the all-star games are teams that look more like the Rockies than they do the Giants. If the All-Star Game made an effort to recognize set-up and other dynamic late inning relievers, then Rogers would be a lock to make the team. Alas, that is not the world we live in.
Check back in about a month and we will see how these All-Star trends have changed.
*See what I did there