The starters of the 2025 MLB All-Star game have already been announced. On Sunday, July 6, the reserves and pitchers from each league will also be revealed to the public.
We are just days away from officially finding out who will represent the Chicago White Sox in the All-Star Game and fittingly, the race has never been tighter.
Nevertheless, it’s time to predict which White Sox player will earn the distinction of being added to the American League All-Star roster.
How are All-Star reserves decided?
An annual players poll is used to name an All-Star back up at every position on the diamond as well as a handful of pitchers.
Nine position players, five starting pitchers, and three relief pitchers in both leagues will be named to the All-Star rosters. Those spots go to the players that received the most votes from their peers. If the winner of the players poll was also the highest vote-getter in the fan voting, the reserve position goes to the player with the next highest vote total.
The commissioner’s office then fills out the rest of the roster and ensures that every team has at least one representative in the All-Star Game.
It seems highly unlikely that a White Sox player will be elected by the players. Therefore, the commissioner’s office will be appointing Chicago’s lone All-Star.
White Sox All-Star Prediction
Predicting the White Sox All-Star representative feels nearly impossible. As of a few weeks ago, right-handed pitcher Shane Smith and infielder Miguel Vargas were the two most likely options, but both have been seriously struggling leading up to the All-Star break.
Smith has allowed 16 earned runs in his last 11 innings pitched. His ERA has jumped from 2.37 to 3.86.
Vargas is 1-for-33 over his last nine games, dropping his season OPS from .761 to .695.
Adrian Houser has been awesome in a White Sox uniform and has an argument of his own. He has an ERA of 1.90 over seven starts since joining the team. But while Houser has great numbers, I don’t think he has the sample size to warrant an All-Star nod.
Andrew Benintendi’s recent hot streak has put him in the conversation, as well. Benintendi has the highest OPS (.730) of any White Sox regular with over 200 at-bats. He is tied for the team lead in home runs (10) and is one off the lead in RBIs (33).
Outfielder and designated hitter Mike Tauchman received a lot of support in the fan vote. Tauchman’s time on the IL hurts his counting stats and his case, but I could see the commissioner factoring in fan support and making Tauchman the White Sox All-Star.
It is also very common to see bad teams have their lone All-Star representative come from the bullpen.
Mike Vasil has a commendable 2.73 ERA in 56 innings of work while Steven Wilson has been lights out in a high leverage role. Wilson’s ERA is 1.65 over 27.1 innings.
Vargas, Smith, Houser, Benintendi, Tauchman, Vasil, or Wilson. That’s seven names right there, and only one of them is going to be announced on Sunday night.
My official prediction is that Andrew Benintendi will be named to the American League All-Star team for the second time in his MLB career (2022).
I recently wrote about how Benintendi being Chicago’s All-Star was the worst case scenario. But every day that goes by, he gets more and more deserving.
Benintendi gets somewhat of a bad rap because he was once an elite prospect and his $75 million contract is the largest in Chicago White Sox history. But between his 2024 second half and first half of 2025, Benintendi has actually been a really solid player.
Is he an All-Star? Not if he’s on any other team in baseball. But maybe if he’s named to the All-Star roster, some team will be more motivated to give up decent prospects for him at the upcoming trade deadline.