This is a weird part of the baseball calendar. It’s kind of a liminal space, with three days of games left in the first half of the season, with the All-Star break looming as a nice little pause in the season. And then, once the second half starts up, we’ve got a furious 10-day run to the trade deadline, the last big shockwave that could shake up the Fantasy Baseball landscape.
Over the next week or so at the Fantasy Baseball Today Newsletter, we’re going to be taking the opportunity to catch our collective breath. We won’t have our usual daily recap of all the action because, All-Star game festivities aside, there won’t be any action to recap or react to. Next week will be more future-focused; instead, we’ll be previewing the trade deadline and offering some sleeper, breakout, and bust picks for the second half of the MLB season.
You can use those to make trades – either selling on guys we’re viewing as busts or trying to buy the sleepers and breakouts we expect to take a big step forward in the second half. But we’ll get to that in due time. For today’s newsletter, we’re taking a big retrospective look back at the first half. With the All-Star game looming, let’s put together our 2025 Fantasy Baseball All-Star teams, focusing not just on the best players but the players who have made the most outsized impact on our Fantasy success to date.
Oftentimes, the best players and the most valuable players will be the same – that’s certainly the case for someone like Aaron Judge, who was a No. 1 pick contender and has been the clear best player in Fantasy so far this season. But he arguably hasn’t been the most valuable player in Fantasy, thanks to his main competition for AL MVP so far.
Let’s get to it:
Fantasy Baseball All-Star Team
Catcher – Cal Raleigh, Mariners
It couldn’t be anyone else. Raleigh has probably been the most valuable player in Fantasy this season, towering over his peers at the catcher position: He has 19 more homers than anyone else, naturally, but also 18 more runs, 18 more RBI, and even for more steals than anyone else. He is a legitimate threat to win AL MVP and is putting together one of the greatest seasons by a catcher ever.
Honorable mention: Hunter Goodman, Rockies – In any other season, Goodman’s leap from Draft Day afterthought to the clear No. 2 player at the position would be enough to earn him this nod. He’s going to the real All-Star game, anyway.
First base – Michael Busch, Cubs
Despite a solid rookie season, Busch was mostly viewed as a bench piece in Fantasy coming into the season. Despite still seeing some time off against tougher lefties, he’s the No. 3 player at the position entering the second half. And Busch’s .405 wOBA is backed up by a .401 xwOBA, the 16th-best mark among all hitters. This might not be a fluke.
Honorable mention: Spencer Torkelson, Tigers – Batting average is the only thing holding Torkelson back, but he enters the final weekend of the first half tied with Pete Alonso for the position lead in homers with 21. Remember, he was in the minors for much of last season.
Second base – Brandon Lowe, Rays
A recent injury has cost Lowe a few days, but he has managed to stay healthy and remarkably productive before this, ranking as the position’s top player in Roto thanks to a position-best 19 homers. I will note: If Ketel Marte hadn’t gone on the IL, he’d probably be the choice here, as he has been one of the very best hitters in baseball yet again.
Honorable mention: Maikel Garcia, Royals – A little love for Garcia, who has managed to improve his quality of contact while elevating the ball more frequently without sacrificing his excellent plate discipline. I was skeptical after last year’s hot start fizzled out, but he has remained a productive hitter well into the summer for the first time in his career.
Third base – Eugenio Suarez, Diamondbacks
Suarez dropped out of the top 150 in ADP despite hitting 30 homers and finishing with 191 combined runs and RBI last season. Well, he’s been a bit hit or miss, but he’s also one homer shy of last season’s mark and ranks just two RBI behind Seiya Suzuki and Aaron Judge for the MLB lead. Suarez has been a top-20 player in Roto and even ranks 18th among hitters in points leagues.
Honorable mention: Junior Caminero, Rays – How about a little love for everyone’s favorite breakout pick, who, thanks to a furious pace over the past month and a half or so, has largely lived up to everyone’s hopes. He’s on a near-40 homer pace despite having just eight through the first 50 games of the season.
Shortstop – Trea Turner, Phillies
There were plenty of candidates here, but I opted for Turner to highlight the return of his standout baserunning. Turner stole just 19 bases last season and hasn’t had more than 32 since 2019, but he enters the final weekend of the first half with 24, putting him on pace for a career-high mark. He’ll have to stay healthy, but Turner returning to elite all-around production deserves some praise.
Honorable mention: Jeremy Pena, Astros – If not for the rib injury that currently has him on the IL, Pena might have been the choice here. As is, he’s on pace for career highs across the board, and his .322 batting average is backed up by an 89th percentile expected BA.
Outfielders – Aaron Judge, Yankees; Pete Crow-Armstrong, Cubs; James Wood, Nationals
There was a legitimate debate at the top of drafts between Judge and Shohei Ohtani, but with Ohtani slowing down as a base stealer, Judge has been the clear top player in Fantasy – he’s actually only six steals behind Ohtani right now while being top two in the majors in homers, RBI, runs, and batting average. He might be the first player to lead the majors in all four of those categories since Mickey Mantle in 1956.
Crow-Armstrong is the No. 3 player in Roto leagues right now, and that was before his two homers Thursday. If the season ended today, he might be the NL MVP, and while I think he’s bound to slow down at some point, he hasn’t really shown any signs of it yet.
Still just 22, Wood is the closest thing the NL has to Aaron Judge, and he’s doing it despite still not really elevating the ball as much as he could. He might hit 40 homers and steal 25 bases this season, and his .285 batting average doesn’t look like a fluke thanks to his plus athleticism and elite quality of contact.
Honorable mention: Byron Buxton, Twins
Buxton has been the AL’s Pete Crow-Armstrong, overcoming mediocre plate discipline with elite results when he makes contact. As has been true for more than half a decade at this point, the only thing that can slow Buxton down at this point is health.
Utility – George Springer, Blue Jays
We keep waiting for Springer to fall apart, but the 35-year-old has responded to a mediocre June with five homers in his first nine July games. And his expected wOBA over the past 100 plate appearances is .409, which would be a top-20 mark in the majors for the season.
Honorable mention: Andy Pages, Dodgers – Pages’ bat has caught up to his glove, and now he looks like one of the best all-around young outfielders in baseball. I still have my doubts – he chases a lot – but it’s impossible to argue with the results so far.
Starting pitchers – Tarik Skubal, Tigers; Max Fried, Yankees; Hunter Brown, Astros
These guys were all picked in the first 10 rounds, but Fried and Brown were outside of the top 100 in ADP, and they’ve been two of the six or so best pitchers in baseball, so they seem like fine picks for our purposes. Skubal was the No. 2 pitcher picked in nearly every league, and while you’re happy to have Paul Skenes on your team, you’d rather have that pick back, wouldn’t you? Skubal is the best pitcher in the world right now, and he’s pitching with one of the best teams in baseball backing him up, putting him right on pace to get close to a 20-win season. We’re on Triple Crown watch here.
Honorable mention: Robbie Ray, Giants – Ray started to generate a bit of hype at the end of spring training, and he’s more than lived up to it, ranking 10th among starters entering play this weekend. What’s even more impressive about that is remembering that he had a 4.19 ERA with 15 walks in 19.1 innings in his first four starts. He has 27 walks in 15 starts since.
Relief pitcher – Andres Munoz, Mariners
Munoz has always been an elite reliever, but he hasn’t necessarily been an elite reliever for Fantasy because the Mariners rarely just let him be the clear-cut closer. Well, with three games left in the first half, he’s one save short of his career high, while putting up career-best ratios and an elite 34.1% strikeout rate. He was the No. 9 reliever in ADP, but he’s closer to No. 1 right now.
Honorable mention: Kris Bubic, Royals – I don’t know how much I trust Bubic to hold up in the second half, given the massive jump in innings he’s already pitched through. But there’s no question he’s been one of the most valuable pitchers in Fantasy so far this season; his ADP was just 351.6 as the No. 134 pitcher taken on average. He’s been the 22nd-most valuable pitcher in Fantasy so far.
