With the all-star break less than a week away, we are officially just past the halfway point for the 2025 season. With that in mind, I want to take a look at who the best players have been at each position this year and award my mid-season All-American League team. Next week, I will do the same with the National League.
For this, I will plan to award three starting pitchers, three relief pitchers, and one player at each other position including the designated hitter. I not only want to account for their offensive numbers , but also consider who has been the best mix of offense and defense. That means that some very good hitters may miss out due to their lack of performance on the defensive end.
Without further ado, here is Cole Negen’s mid-season All-American League Team.
Starting Pitchers: Tarik Skubal (Detroit Tigers), Garrett Crochet (Red Sox), Hunter Brown (Houston Astros)
The starting pitchers for the American League (AL) weren’t too hard to decide, and I’m sure none of these are controversial of picks.
First, Tarik Skubal has undoubtedly been the Cy Young front runner this year. He leads the AL in Fielding Independent Pitching (FIP), strikeouts per nine innings, and is second in earned run average (ERA). Perhaps what stands out the most though is his walk numbers, or lack thereof. Right now, Skubal has a strikeout-to-walk ratio of 10.57. The next closest in the league has a 5.52.
Second on the list is Garrett Crochet, who has transformed from a reliever into one of the best workhorses in the MLB. Crochet leads the league in innings pitched, and trails only Skubal in FIP. He only ranks sixth in ERA, but that is to be expected playing in one of, if not the most, hitter-friendly park in the MLB in Fenway Park.
Lastly, Hunter Brown leads the league in ERA, and by a sizable margin. Brown’s 1.82 ERA is currently 0.2 lower than Skubal in second. His FIP also ranks third in the league, giving credibility to his league-leading ERA.
Relief Pitchers: Aroldis Chapman (Red Sox), Bryan Abreu (Houston Astros), Bennett Sousa (Houston Astros)
My first pick is perhaps the reliever that has been making the most noise on social media for his inability to age. At 37 years old, Chapman has reemerged as the best reliever in the American League, coming in second in both ERA and FIP amongst that group. Once again, very impressive numbers considering his home ballpark is Fenway.
Second, I chose Bryan Abreu. Abreu is currently third in ERA and eighth in FIP amongst relievers in the American League. Those numbers wouldn’t necessarily stand out when trying to select the top three relievers in the league, but what makes those numbers impressive is that Abreu holds those numbers with a high batting average on balls in play (BABIP) and a low ground ball rate. What those numbers together say is that Abreu has been rather unlucky with his flyballs, having a lot of them drop for hits.
Another combination of stats to look at for Abreu: he is 14th in the AL in home runs per nine innings and fifth in strikeouts per nine innings amongst relievers. Those numbers indicate that while he is getting unlucky with flyballs, he is still controlling what he can control by not allowing batters to hit for power and getting them out without the help of his field.
My last choice is Bennett Sousa. Sousa’s numbers are pretty straight forward. He leads the league in FIP, and he’s eighth in ERA. Like Abreu, Sousa is maintaining these numbers with a low groundball rate, a rather high BABIP, a high strikeout rate, and a low home run rate. Put simply, Sousa, and Abreu, have maintained ERAs and FIPs amongst the best in the league despite not getting some favorable fly balls.
Catcher: Cal Raleigh (Seattle Mariners)
Once again, probably not stirring the pot with this selection. Raleigh currently leads all AL catchers in on-base percentage (OBP), slugging percentage (SLG), and, naturally, on-base plus slugging (OPS). Beyond just those at his position, Raleigh has been one of the best hitters in the AL. He is second only to Aaron Judge in OPS, and leads the entire AL in home runs.
Defensively, Raleigh hasn’t been quite the same as last year when he won the Platinum Glove award, given to the best fielder in the AL regardless of position. His Statcast caught stealing above average has taken a significant dip, going from 88th percentile to 45th percentile. Still, Raleigh maintains an above average statcast fielding run value, and when mixed with his performance as one of the best hitters in the league, Raleigh has unquestionably been the best at his position so far.
First Base: Vladimir Guerrero Jr (Toronto Blue Jays)
This was a very close battle between Guerrero and Jonathan Aranda of the Tampa Bay Rays. Aranda has been a slightly better batter than Guerrero, but Guerrero holds a slight edge in defensive performance.
What ultimately made me choose Guerrero is his isolated power and BABIP. Aranda’s BABIP right now is .118 higher than Guerreros with pretty much the same expected batting average (xBA). Once again, those numbers indicate Aranda getting a tad luckier on his batted balls. Guerrero’s superior power efficiency can also be illustrated in his isolated power, calculated by subtracting batting average from slugging percentage, as well as total home runs, where Guerrero has 12 to Aranda’s nine. Aranda has been the better hitter, but Guerrero has been the more effective player.
Second Base: Gleyber Torres (Detroit Tigers)
Another rather close decision between two different players. Torres and Tampa Bay Ray Brandon Lowe are right next to each other in OPS, with Torres ranking 24th in the AL and Lowe ranking 23rd.
What makes the difference in this case is defense. Torres hasn’t been terrific this year defensively (in fact he’s been below average) but Lowe’s value as a player has been plummeted by his defense. Lowe has been one of the worst defenders in the league, ranking in the first percentile in outs above average, and second percentile in fielding run value. Those numbers give the edge to Torres.
Third Base: Jose Ramirez (Cleveland Guardians)
Third base has had a list of players who have had great years. First, there’s the ever-steady Alex Bregman who, if not for missing time due to injury, would have a good shot at taking this spot. There’s also Maikel Garcia and Isaac Paredes, who have each had career years batting the ball.
This position, however, still belongs to Jose Ramirez. His value as one of the best hitters in baseball as well as a great defender has been a staple in the MLB for a decade now. Year after year, he continues to show why he is on pace to be a hall-of-famer.
Shortstop: Bobby Witt Jr (Kansas City Royals)
I feel so bad for the Houston Astros’ Jeremy Pena. He’s had such a good year, and he deserves every bit of praise he will get for the incredible season he is having. Pena has been the best batting shortstop in the AL and is having a typical season by his standards fielding the ball (which is great by regular standards). But it’s so hard to compete with Bobby Witt Jr.
Witt’s numbers are actually down from a year ago, but short of having one of the best seasons in MLB history, that is to be expected. He still ranks 10th in the league in OPS, and is just .018 away from Pena in that category.
Where Witt has the upperhand, and will for the foreseeable future, is on defense. Witt’s speed and ball skills while playing one of the toughest defensive positions has made him one of the absolute best players in baseball the last two years. Pena’s defense is extremely good, but Witt is perhaps the best defender in the AL.
Left Field: Riley Greene (Detroit Tigers)
Greene is having his best season in the majors this season. His .876 OPS is the best amongst AL left fielders by a wide margin, and he’s also continued to maximize his potential on the defensive end. His total value has been brought down a bit as he has transitioned from center to left field, but his combination of tools on both sides of the ball have already made him the best in the AL.
While guys like Steven Kwan and Randy Arozarena are intriguing candidates for this spot, Kwan doesn’t quite have the power output to match Greene, and Arozarena doesn’t come close to either Kwan or Greene on the defensive end.
Center Field: Byron Buxton (Minnesota Twins)
It feels like a rather down year for the center field position in the AL. In terms of total value, nobody really comes close at the position to Byron Buxton.
No other center fielder is anywhere near Buxton batting wise, as he ranks fourth in the AL amongst all positions in OPS. Buxton has also been a top-end fielder this year. Buxton’s only real contenders for this spot are New York Yankee Trent Grisham and Los Angeles Angel Jo Adell, both of whom are below league average fielders.
Right Field: Aaron Judge (New York Yankees)
This one doesn’t need much explanation. Judge is well on his way to winning the AL MVP, and it would take a catastrophic fall-off for him to lose it at this point. Beyond that though, Judge is having one of the best seasons in MLB history.
Judge currently has an OPS of 1.202, which is .181 higher than Cal Raleigh in second. That OPS also currently ranks as the eighth best in MLB history during the integration era. He’s starting to get the Barry Bonds treatment as well, where teams would rather just let him take first base than give him a chance to cause more havoc. Unlike Bonds, Judge is also doing it non-controversially as well.
What often gets overlooked in Judge’s game is his defense. Judge is currently 89th percentile in fielding run value, aided by his ginormous frame, his surprising amount of athleticism for his size, and an arm that is one of the best in the entire league for a position player.
Judge is well on his way to being the best player of this generation, and he will be making these lists for a long while yet.
Designated Hitter: Brent Rooker (Athletics)
This position would belong to Rafael Devers, however, with the Red Sox dealing him to the Padres, Brent Rooker now becomes the best DH in the AL. Yandy Diaz is a close second, but Rooker has Diaz slightly beat in mostly every category.
Rooker narrowly beats Diaz in OPS, currently sitting .021 higher, and is also .017 better in slugging. Diaz does have Rooker beat in batting average by .018, but that is the only significant category in which Diaz ranks higher than Rooker.
