The Thursday Thorns column series tells it like it is, in the fashion and tradition of Howard Cosell. Oops, that’s how we started last week. Wait a minute. Strike that. Reverse it. We have fashioned a Thursday tradition here that is all our own, and today we’re going to mock the MLB fan voting that has put some suspect “All Stars” in the starting lineup for the Midsummer Classic that basically no one watches today.

How do we put this gently? Fans are the least knowledgeable of all tangental sports communities, yet they think they know the most. Highly ironic, of course, too, is that the sports media really isn’t the best, either, since they now have an agenda to drive ad revenue higher in this era of content-everywhere competition. We all know the lamestream media will get in bed with the Devil these days if helps the bottom line.

<whisper>Follow the money</whisper>.

What we think works best is when the players vote to choose their own All Stars, really. But we digress; let’s get to the core issue of the worst ASG starters in 2025’s MLB midsommar snoozefest …

  • Riley Greene, OF, Detroit: There are five AL outfielders with at least 3.0 WAR right now, and Greene is not one of them. We love the enthusiasm of the Detroit Tigers fans that got him here, but he should have been a reserve for this event—not a starter. His 2.9 WAR so far is a shade behind the upper echelon of American League outfielders. He is only in his age-24 season, so the future is bright.
  • Javier Báez, OF, Detroit: He sits 12th right now in total WAR among AL OFs, and that clearly demonstrates he wouldn’t even be a reserve in this game if the process was at all objective. Is this basically ballot-box stuffing by the Tigers? Possibly, and it’s wrong to overlook the handful of better performers this season right now, too. The leap from 12th objectively to third subjectively is real, sadly.
  • Freddie Freeman, 1B, Los Angeles (NL): This was clearly a popularity contest, as his 1.9 WAR is fourth in the senior circuit for his position—and the NL-leading first sacker is posting 3.5 WAR right now. It’s pretty ridiculous when you’re barely half as productive/valuable to your team as the true best player at your position right now … yet your fans still vote you in over the superior player(s). Come on!
  • Ronald Acuña Jr., OF, Atlanta: Like another player above, he is way down the list of actual production this season in the National League. He ranks 11th with 2.0 WAR right now, but there are three outfielders with at least 4.0 WAR right now, and one of them did not get named a starter because of the voters. This is his fifth starting nod, so you can see how illogically Braves fans vote (see above).

Every other starter has some kind of semi-legit, sabermetric argument to their election. But the MLB fans really whiffed on these choices, two of them especially. Yet maybe only four “wrong” starters isn’t that bad, in the grand scheme of the universe. It could be argued that the sports mediots have messed up MVP and Cy Young votes much more catastrophically than the fans have done here. Still, blind squirrels and all, right?