For the first time since 2007, the Tigers could have three starters in the All-Star Game. Count the starting pitcher and they could have four for the first time since 1966.
As Phase 1 of voting draws to a close this Thursday, three Tigers are currently positioned as starters and slated to advance to Phase 2: second baseman Gleyber Torres and outfielders Riley Greene and Javier Baez. Sounds about right for the top team in the majors.
Torres comfortably leads all American League second basemen with over 1.1 million votes, more than 300,000 clear of Jackson Holliday of the Orioles. In his first season in Detroit, Torres is tops among primary AL second basemen in average (.278), OPS (.804) and fWAR (1.8). He's also the only hitter at any position in the AL with more walks than strikeouts.
Greene and Baez trail only overall vote-leader Aaron Judge in the AL outfield. Greene is second with about 1.4 million votes, while Baez holds a slight lead over Mike Trout for third with about 900,000 votes.
Greene is second among AL outfielders in RBI (59), third in OPS (.875) and fWAR (2.6) and tied for third in home runs (17). An All-Star for the first time last season, Greene is having his best season yet at age 24. He looks like a lock to be a starter next month in Atlanta.
Baez will have to beat out the likes of Trout, Steven Kwan of the Guardians and Cody Bellinger of the Yankees in Phase 2 of voting to secure his first All-Star start since 2019 when he was a shortstop with the Cubs. He also started in 2018 as a second baseman.
Which makes his All-Star candidacy as an outfielder all the more impressive in 2025. Baez starred in center field in place of the injured Parker Meadows for a month and a half earlier this season and is also building a strong case for AL Comeback Player of the Year, which no Tiger has ever won.
After hitting two homers on the night he achieved 10 years of MLB service time last week, Baez grinned and said, "Usually when I do good it’s in the second half, so I'm impressed that I’m doing pretty good right now. And if I get in the All-Star Game, I’m honestly going to be happy. If not, I’m going to get my rest for the second half."
A year after hitting .184 and losing his job as the Tigers' starting shortstop before his season was cut short by hip surgery, Baez is batting .290 with an .801 OPS. He's had two multi-homer games, one that he punctuated with a walk-off bomb against the Red Sox. He's also started for the Tigers at four different positions: center field, shortstop, third base and second base.
"We have arguably one of the best stories in baseball in him being Javy Baez again and knocking on the door of the All-Star Game, potentially the Comeback Player of the Year," said Tigers manager A.J. Hinch. "I don't know that there’s that many stories over the last couple decades that represent so much of a roller-coaster ride and the feel-good that’s coming out it."
So, what's next? The top two vote-getters from each position advance to Phase 2, along with the top four in the outfield assuming Judge remains the overall vote-leader in the AL. Those players will go head-to-head in a voting sprint next Monday-Wednesday to determine the All-Star Game starters.
Torres should easily advance to Phase 2, where he'll face either Holliday or Jose Altuve of the Astros. The top four outfielders after Judge are currently Greene, Baez, Trout and Kwan. Vote totals do not carry over from Phase 1.
The Tigers last had three All-Star Game starters in catcher Pudge Rodriguez, second baseman Placido Polanco and first baseman Miguel Cabrera in 2007.
If Tarik Skubal, who's a lock to be elected by either the Player Ballot or the Commissioner's Office, is then chosen as the starting pitcher for the AL by Yankees manager Aaron Boone, the Tigers could have four starters for the first time since shortstop Dick McAuliffe, center fielder Al Kaline, catcher Bill Freehan and pitcher Denny McClain in 1966.
It's no guarantee that Boone would tab Skubal. While the overall numbers say the Tigers' ace has been the best pitcher in the AL, Boone could go with his own ace in Max Fried, whose 2.05 ERA is a tick better than Skubal's (2.06). At least for now.
The All-Star Game pitchers and reserves will be chosen via the Player Ballot and selections made by the Commissioner’s Office, with Boone managing the AL and setting its lineup as the skipper of the reigning AL-champs.