5 shocking 2025 MLB All-Star snubs ft. Juan Soto, Cody Bellinger & others

As the 2025 MLB season passes its halfway mark, the highly anticipated All-Star Game is set to commence on Tuesday in Atlanta, Georgia. Also known as the Midsummer Classic, the event will be the 95th iteration in its long and illustrious history — and the first to be held in Atlanta since the year 2000.

With the event as prestigious and storied as the All-Star Game, one might think that the league has perfected the processes upon which the spectacle was built. However, this is still far from the truth as up to this point, the players' selection process has been a topic of debate between teams, players and fans.

One such critic of the selection process is Mets outfielder Brandon Nimmo. In a recent interview with the New York Post, the 32-year-old lambasted the procedure by which players were selected for the event.

"The process is broken," said Nimmo. "I don't think every team should get a person. It's supposed to be All-Stars. It's not supposed to be, 'Who is the best player on every team?' It's supposed to be, 'Who are the best players in the major leagues?'"

With at least one player representing each team in the event, several star performers for the season have been left out of this year's edition of the MLB All-Star Game. Let's now take a look at the biggest snubs of the 2025 Midsummer Classic.

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5 shocking 2025 MLB All-Star snubs

1) Juan Soto - OF, New York Mets

The most expensive sportsman has been left out of this year's All-Star Game after an early struggle in his career with the Mets. He became the first player in MLB history with at least 20 homers, 15 doubles, 10 stolen bases, and 70 walks to not make it to the Midsummer Classic.

However, through the first three months of the year, Soto registered a measly .231/.357/.413 slash line with nine home runs and 27 RBI, which led to arguments about his "snub" label.

2) Cody Bellinger - OF, New York Yankees

Whilst Soto's exclusion was a topic of contention due to his lukewarm start, Cody Bellinger's case is everything but the same. The former National League MVP has been off to a booming start in his maiden season with the Yankees with a .282 batting average, .830 OPS, 16 homers, and 54 RBI.

With inclusions such as Steven Kwan and Javier Baez on the team, who have both provided less fWAR than Bellinger has, there is an argument to be made that the latter has been snubbed.

3) George Springer - OF/DH, Toronto Blue Jays

Unanimously labeled as one of the biggest snubs in this year's MLB All-Star Game is Blue Jays star George Springer. The two-time Silver Slugger can slot in either the outfield or designated hitter role positions but was chosen for neither spot.

Springer holds the fourth-best OPS amongst all qualified American League outfielders at .856 and has posted better numbers than Kwan, Baez, Julio Rodriguez, and Randy Arozarena.

4) Trea Turner - SS, Philadelphia Phillies

At the time of writing, Trea Turner leads all National League shortstops in fWAR at 2.8. He has also posted a .291/.344/.436 batting line with 11 home runs, 40 RBI, and 24 stolen bases.

However, he still didn't get the nod as Francisco Lindor and Elly De La Cruz were selected to man the role in this year's MLB All-Star Game.

5) Cristopher Sanchez - LHP, Philadelphia Phillies

Another notable Phillies snub was starter Cristopher Sanchez. After MLB announced that Philly ace Zack Wheeler will be replaced by Brewers phenom Jacob Misiorowski for the event, eyebrows were raised as to why the league gave the chance to the upstart who only has five career starts under his belt.

Sanchez is having a career year for Philly with a 7-2 record, 2.59 ERA, 116 punch outs and a National League third-best fWAR for hurlers just behind Paul Skenes and his teammate Wheeler.