Surprising Orioles Pick to Earn MLB All-Star Game Nod

The Baltimore Orioles are showing signs of life, having won 10 of their last 14 games going into Sunday. Pitching has been superb during this stretch and the bats have come around just enough to string some wins together.

Though it hasn’t been enough to climb out of the American League East basement, the Orioles aren’t dead in the Wild Card race. The club is 6.5 games out of the last playoff spot with more than half the season to play and the trade deadline still more than a month away.

The other major date on the baseball calendar is the 2025 MLB All-Star Game on July 15 in Atlanta. The O’s will be represented – all teams send at least one player to the Midsummer Classic – but the question is who?

Which of the Orioles is headed to the All-Star Game?

Gunnar Henderson, Cedric Mullins, Adley Rutschman and Ryan O’Hearn are among the candidates to fill that one guaranteed spot. MLB.com took a different route in a recent article centering on “outside-the-box” All-Star candidates.

MLB.com writer David Adler selected 12 candidates, which included Orioles second baseman Jackson Holliday. Per Adler:

Holliday is finally coming into his own. Last year's No. 1 overall prospect has looked like a different player since taking some hitting advice from his dad near the end of April. Over Holliday's 43 games since, he's batting .284 with six homers, six stolen bases and 16 extra-base hits. Gleyber Torres and Jose Altuve are probably the AL favorites at second base for now, but that position race is wide open. Matt Holliday made seven All-Star teams … Jackson's swing changes might have him on the path to his first.

Holliday’s play at the moment is giving O’s fans hope going into the dog days of summer. An All-Star berth would be a quite a reward for one of baseball’s bright young stars.