Last year, Bobby Witt Jr., Salvador Perez, Cole Ragans and Seth Lugo all boarded a plane together and headed to Texas for the 2024 All-Star Game. Just the simple fact that the Royals had four All-Stars spoke to the team’s growth and success -- and provided another unique memory for Witt in a week full of them during his first All-Star experience.
“Traveling together, getting there together as a family, and then being together in the locker room together all next to one another -- you just felt comfortable,” Witt said. “First time going, sometimes you don’t know everything. But being around your guys, it feels like you should be there. That was really special.”
This year’s Midsummer Classic will be in Atlanta on July 15. Next week, Major League Baseball will announce which position players will advance beyond Phase 1 of All-Star voting to Phase 2 to determine who will start the July 15 All-Star Game in Atlanta. In the most recent voting update, Witt was narrowly trailing the Athletics’ Jacob Wilson for the top American League shortstop spot. The top two vote-getters at every position (and top six outfielders) will advance to Phase 2 of the voting, which begins June 30.
We’ll find out the full rosters, including the pitchers and reserves chosen by a player ballot and the Commissioner’s Office, on July 6.
Which Royals might get an All-Star nod? Here are four candidates:
The runner-up in American League MVP voting last year, Witt has not quite reached the level of consistency that allowed him to have his incredible and record-breaking 2024 season -- a high bar to reach, no doubt.
But he’s still among the best players in the league. His 3.9 fWAR ranks best among AL shortstops. His defense has been outstanding with 15 Outs Above Average and 2 Defensive Runs Saved.
Witt ranks in the top 10 of AL shortstops in several offensive categories: .286 average (fourth), .343 on-base percentage (sixth), .490 slugging percentage (fourth), .351 wOBA (fourth) and 123 wRC+ (fourth). His 10 home runs are tied with Boston's Trevor Story for the second most in the AL, trailing by just one to Bo Bichette, Jeremy Peña and Zach Neto.
Don’t forget, too, that it was right around All-Star week that Witt truly broke out last year with a scorching July.
The Royals’ most deserving All-Star and perhaps one of the most underrated, Garcia is having a career year. Behind Cleveland’s José Ramírez, Garcia has been one of the best third basemen in the league this year.
Garcia’s .312 average, .372 OBP, .376 wOBA and 140 wRC+ all rank second among AL third basemen. His .487 slugging percentage ranks third behind Ramírez and Tampa Bay’s Junior Caminero.
The Royals have recognized Garcia’s consistency and have him hitting third behind Witt in the lineup to create more dynamism on offense before the sluggers in the middle of the lineup step to the plate. There’s a case to be made Garcia should be hitting leadoff, too.
What shouldn’t be a debate is Garcia’s All-Star status. He has shown enough so far in 2025 that it should earn him a spot on the AL squad.
The title of MLB saves leader belongs to Estévez, the Royals' closer who has converted 22 of 25 save opportunities and has been every bit as valuable as the Royals thought he would be when they gave him a two-year contract this offseason to fortify their bullpen. Thanks to back-to-back-to-back saves last week, he holds a one-save edge over Padres closer Robert Suárez (21), but in the AL, Estévez has three more saves than Josh Hader and four more than Andrés Muñoz and Emmanuel Clase.
“Thankfully I’ve gotten a lot of opportunities to save games,” Estévez said. “I don’t really pay much attention to the number, but if I can help my team in those situations throughout the year, more often than not, then that’s what I want to do.”
The 32-year-old Estévez has a 2.13 ERA this year across 33 2/3 innings. This would be his second All-Star nod after he earned it with the Angels in 2023.
According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Estévez is the first Royals pitcher to lead the Majors outright in saves this late in the season (excluding 2020) since Aug. 28, 2014, when Greg Holland’s 40 saves paced the Majors.
“Just his presence, too,” Witt said. “We’ve never really had a guy that’s been a true closer for us. He knows his job is to come in when the game is close and come in and shut the door.”
LHP Kris Bubic
Two shaky starts this month hasn’t dropped Bubic completely from the Cy Young conversation, and that should help his All-Star case.
The lefty has a 2.12 ERA through 14 starts, which ranks fourth-best among AL starters behind Hunter Brown (1.88), Max Fried (2.05) and Tarik Skubal (2.06). Bubic earned AL Pitcher of the Month in May with his 0.56 ERA.
It’s hard to envision the Royals sending everyone to Atlanta, especially as they continue to hover around .500. But there are several candidates to at least talk about, and while fan voting will decide a lot -- with name-recognition no doubt helping some players -- there’s one key aspect that will determine who represents the Royals next month: On-field performance.
“It’s definitely an honor to make it,” Witt said. “If it happens, it happens for whoever we got in here. But it’ll be cool to see guys go and be recognized for what they’ve done so far this year.”