Runs Produced News Flash: All-Star Voting Results
Who gets the nod this season?
Just a brief news flash for the 4th of July (have a fun and safe holiday, readers!) as the final All-Star game votes are in for the 2025 midsummer classic in Atlanta.
The fans don’t always get it right, but they did this time as Cal Raleigh and Will Smith are officially the 2025 MLB All-Star starters at catcher.
Raleigh has been the story of the MLB season thus far, with arguably the greatest half-season hitting stretch by a catcher ever. The Big Dumper hit 33 home runs before July 1st, which is tied for the third-most all-time behind only Barry Bonds (39 home runs in 2001) and Mark McGwire (37 in 1998).
In addition to those 33 home runs, which is one less than he had in the ENTIRE season last year, he leads the league in RBI with 71 and is second in the American League in both runs (60), slugging (.631) and OPS (1.009). He beat out Alejandro Kirk who was the runner-up.
Smith is having a great season as well, as he leads the National League in batting average (.324) and on-base percentage (.425) to go along with 11 home runs and 44 RBI.
Carson Kelly finished second in the NL catcher vote.
The rest of the All-Star rosters will be announced on Sunday. There are 23 reserve spots total in each league, with at least 12 of those spots being pitchers. Each team also gets at least one All-Star - so which other catchers will be named to the squad?
My predicted reserves are Alejandro Kirk for the AL squad and Hunter Goodman for the NL squad.
Others deserving consideration in the NL: Carson Kelly, who had a blazing start to the season; Agustin Ramirez, who has put himself in Rookie of the Year consideration for the Marlins; and Ivan Herrera, who when healthy this season has looked like a future star for the Cardinals. The other names in the AL: Salvador Perez, the longtime veteran who has bounced back after a slow start; Logan O’Hoppe, who has shown his pop and power for the Angels, and Austin Wells, who should hit career highs this season in home runs and RBI.
Catcher Rankings
Willson Contreras hasn’t started one game at catcher this season, so we are taking him out from consideration in the rankings.
Ben Rice makes his season debut in the rankings as he is gaining catcher eligibility in some leagues after making 10 games at catcher for the Yankees.
Another new name in the rankings is Gary Sanchez, highlighted as a recent Waiver Wire pick up, as he continues his hot play as of late. He has two home runs and 10 RBI with a .346 average over the last two weeks.
1. Cal Raleigh
2. Will Smith
3. Hunter Goodman
4. William Contreras
5. Adley Rutschman
6. Salvador Perez
7. Alejandro Kirk
8. Agustin Ramirez
9. Ivan Herrera
10. Yainer Diaz
11. Logan O’Hoppe
12. Austin Wells
13. Shea Langeliers
14. J.T. Realmuto
15. Drake Baldwin
16. Dillon Dingler
17. Gabriel Moreno
18. Gary Sanchez
19. Kyle Teel
20. Ben Rice
On the bubble:
Edgar Quero
Dropped out:
Willson Contreras, Francisco Alvarez, Tyler Stephenson
