MLB All-Underappreciated Team 2025
A Blog By Brett
Every year, we see players who have fantastic seasons but do not get the “All-Star” recognition for their play. This causes me great frustration, as I strongly advocate for Major League Baseball to move the All-Star Game back. My main thought process for the moving All-Star weekend is simple. Each year, players are often overlooked if they don’t have a “hot start” to their season, and this ultimately hurts them in ASG voting. All-Star appearances matter! Especially for things like contract negotiations, Hall of Fame candidacy, and marketing/endorsement deals. Think of it as a resume booster for us, less athletic folk.
If you follow me enough, you know that I do not like the current format of All-Star Weekend. I try not to complain about it too often as I have not come up with a great resolution to it…yet. Once I do, I will be sure to send Major League Baseball my thoughts (realistically, I will write an article on how to change it with my reasons why).
That being said, I am putting together a list of players that the baseball community hasn’t treated as All-Stars but are having “All-Star” caliber seasons.
Catcher: Drake Baldwin - Atlanta Braves
Baldwin has been impressive, to say the least, in his rookie year with Atlanta. The Braves (49-67) are a bad baseball team in 2025. One of the only bright spots is Baldwin. The dude can mash at the plate. Honestly, I thought they would sell Murphy at the deadline for farm pieces, as it is clear Baldwin is the future behind the dish for Atlanta.
2025 Stats - 2.6 WAR | 13 HR | .354 OBP | .479 SLG | .833 OPS | 257 AB
First Base: Josh Naylor - Seattle Mariners
Did Cleveland make a mistake by moving Naylor? The answer is yes. Naylor has been raking since the move from Cleveland to Arizona and now Arizona to Seattle. He has been mashing so well that he has earned himself a big payday coming in the offseason. Not to mention he has racked up 21 steals in 2025...his career season best prior is 10.
2025 Stats - 1.4 WAR | 14 HR | .355 OBP | .451 SLG | .806 OPS
Second Base: Lenyn Sosa - Chicago White Sox
Sosa is top-10 at the Shortstop position in Home Runs, RBIs, Doubles, Hits, Average, OPS, and fringe OBP (11th). He is doing this in a weak White Sox lineup with no protection. Not to mention, he is also ranked 13th at the position in games played. Imagine he has 17 more games under his belt?
2025 Stats - 0.7 WAR | 13 HR | .306 OPS | .438 SLG | .744 OPS
Shortstop: Willy Adames - San Francisco Giants
Adames signed a massive contract with the Giants this past offseason for $182,000,000. If you asked Giants fans back in the Spring how they felt about the contract, you would have heard a ton of negative feedback. Now, Adames has finally got himself into a groove. He hit .337 during July and started to turn his season around. I’m expecting Adames to finish the year as one of the top Shortstops.
2025 Stats - 1.8 WAR | 18 HR | .317 OBP | .409 SLG | .726 OPS
Third Base: Addison Barger - Toronto Blue Jays
Barger’s bat is a big reason why Toronto sits atop the American League East. The Blue Jays have found themselves an excellent bat to lock down for the foreseeable future at the hot corner. Barger is currently top-10 in Home Runs and RBIs among all Third Basemen. If he continues to punish baseballs, there is no doubt he will climb in other statistical categories.
2025 Stats - 1.4 WAR | 17 HR | .319 OBP | .506 SLG | .825 OPS
Left Field: Taylor Ward - Los Angeles Angels
Ward is having another solid season. He is 2nd amongst all Left Fielders in Home Runs. How did the Angels not sell him at the deadline? Especially since he is entering his final year of arbitration and the Angels are showing signs of extending a 32-year-old with their current roster.
2025 Stats - 2.2 WAR | 26 HR | .307 OBP | .476 SLG | .783 OPS
Center Field: Trent Grisham - New York Yankees
As a Yankee fan, Grisham has been one of the bright spots to this frustrating season. There have been many ups and downs for New York in 2025, and Grishman is for sure a positive. Grisham has played fewer than 100 games this season and has managed to leave the yard in 20% of those games. The Yankees are getting their money’s worth with the “platoon” Center Fielder, easily one of the best contracts in baseball.
2025 Stats - 2.2 WAR | 20 HR | .347 OBP | .455 SLG | .802 OPS
Right Field: Sal Frelick - Milwaukee Brewers
Do I want @Discussbaseball to continue his season chug challenge when Frelick hits a bomb? Yes. Outside of that, Frelick has been balling out this season! He is one of the main cogs in the Brew Crew machine right now, batting .295 on the year. Not to mention, he is ranked in the 91% for his defensive Range (OAA).
2025 Stats - 2.5 WAR | 8 HR | .354 OBP | .409 SLG | .763 OPS
Starting Pitcher: Mitch Keller - Pittsburgh Pirates
If I told you that Mitch Keller was tied for second in all of baseball with 15 Quality Starts, would you believe me? Are there five players T-1st with 16? Yes. Are there another five T-2nd with 15? Yes. This doesn’t change anything for me in my view of Keller. Pittsburgh is a bad baseball team, but Keller is one of the pieces holding it together. In fact, Paul Skenes and Mitch Keller are both in the 5-way tie for second place with 15 quality starts apiece. Makes you wonder if Pittsburgh just spent some money on a lineup, how good they could be?
2025 Stats - 1.3 WAR | 5-10 | 3.86 ERA | 24 GS | 137.2 IP | 107 K | 1.24 WHIP | 15 QS
Relief Pitcher: Abner Uribe - Milwaukee Brewers
This one was a no-brainer. Uribe is another weapon at Milwaukee’s disposal. One of the most deadly arms in all of baseball. According to Baseball Savant, his Fastball Velocity (98%), Average Exit Velocity (96%), Whiff% (94%), K% (91%), Barrel % (96%), Hard Hit % (88%), and his Ground Ball % (88%) are all signs of an elite pitcher. Uribe has single-handedly kept me in contention in the Holds league that I am in this year, and I will be forever grateful. He screams “Closer” with his stuff, and he might be making a lot of money in a few short years.
2025 Stats - 1.7 WAR | 2-1 | 1.92 ERA | 56 G | 2 SV | 56.1 IP | 69 K | 1.08 WHIP | 31 HLD
Closer: Emilio Pagán - Cincinnati Reds
Pagán is not your typical closer. He lacks the velocity and size that some of the dominant closers possess. That being said, this does not stop him from producing positive results. The Reds have 61 wins on the year, and Pagán has come in to close out a game for them in almost half of those wins! He has pitched to a sub-1.0 WHIP, which is super impressive. Pagán is simply not allowing batters to get on base. Through just under fifty innings of baseball, he has allowed a total of forty-five hitters to get on base. He has been a stud and is slated to make some money in the offseason.
2025 Stats - 1.4 WAR | 2-4 | 2.92 ERA | 50 G | 25 SV | 49.1 IP | 57 K | 0.912 WHIP
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