Maikel Garcia and Carlos Estévez snubbed
Two Royals were named to the 2025 MLB All-Star Game rosters, which were revealed this afternoon.
Unsurprisingly, Bobby Witt Jr. made hit second All-Star Game. What more can be said about the Royals franchise star? He’s off to a “slower” start than last year at .292/.344/.493 with 12 HR, 24 SB, and a league-leading 30(!) doubles. But he is still 4th in MLB in fWAR and 9th in bWAR for position players. He probably should have been voted the starter at SS over Jacob Wilson of the A’s, but All-Star voters are going to All-Star vote. #VoteOmar
That said, before you get upset about the fans, take a look at the player vote:
Player all-star voting results. Always interesting.
Why is Juan Soto not an all-star, for example? Wasn’t voted onto the team by either the players or the fans. pic.twitter.com/1g418s29ao
— Jayson Stark (@jaysonst) July 6, 2025
Kris Bubic’s first All-Star game selection is a bit more of a surprise, but maybe it shouldn’t be. He’s “only” 7-6, but with a 2.36 ERA in 103 IP, in which he’s only given up 32 BB against 107 K. That puts him at 7th in fWAR and 8th in bWAR in all of MLB.
There are 11 teams with only 1 player but there aren’t any teams dominating the All-Star Game selections as we’ve seen in year’s past. The Los Angeles Dodgers and their NL-best record lead the way with 5 selections. That includes Clayton Kershaw being added as a “Legend Pick” by Commissioner Rob Manfred. The AL-best Detroit Tigers and current Wild Card Seattle Mariners each have 4 selections.
Potential snubs from the Royals include Maikel Garcia and Carlos Estévez. However, they could make it as injury replacements. ESPN’s Bradford Doolittle lists Garcia as a potential oversight. The Kansas City Star’s Jaylon Thompson lists both Garcia and Estévez. Matt Snyder at CBS Sports has Seth Lugo on his “best of the rest” list.
In case you’re wondering, here are the roster rules, per an article from ESPN:
Rosters are expanded from 26 to 32 for the All-Star Game. They include starters elected by fans, 17 players (five starting pitchers, three relievers and a backup for each position) chosen in a player vote and six players (four pitchers and two position players) selected by league officials. Every club must be represented.
The All-Star Game is one week from Tuesday, on July 15th, at Truist Park in Atlanta.