Top 10 First-time All-Star Candidates: Position Players

As of MLB’s latest update in the fan voting, Dingler had the fourth-most votes to start the All-Star Game for the AL. Shea Langeliers, who we’ll touch on in just a moment, is the runaway favorite right now, with Alejandro Kirk and Rutschman also currently having an advantage in the voting over Dingler.

Still, Dingler’s fWAR is tied for the top spot on the Tigers, and if there needs to be one representative on this team, why shouldn’t it be one of the best catchers our sport has going?

Michael Harris II, OF, Atlanta Braves

Harris broke into the league as a 21-year-old back in 2022 and immediately hit the ground running. He won that year’s NL Rookie of the Year Award, turned in another solid campaign the following year, and then saw his numbers decline in each of the next two years.

Now, Harris looks to be back to where he was in his rookie form. The 25-year-old has 14 home runs and 41 RBI through his first 68 games of the 2026 campaign, while hitting .306 with a .370 wOBA and 135 wRC+. He’s on pace to turn in his best showing since his rookie one, and the 2.2 fWAR he’s already posted is his highest since 2023.

It’s a bit surprising that Harris has yet to appear in the All-Star Game to represent the NL. However, outfield has historically been stacked, so the competition is always stiff. As of the last voting update, he’s fourth amongst NL outfielders, so he’s sitting pretty.

Nick Kurtz, 1B, Athletics

Kurtz didn’t come up until the end of April last year, but he would’ve easily made the roster last season if he had debuted a bit earlier. In the new year, he’s picking up right where he left off. After turning in a Rookie of the Year-winning season in 2025 in which he finished 12th in AL MVP voting and won a Silver Slugger, Kurtz is finding ways to branch off of that and get even better.

Through his first 74 games this season, the 23-year-old has hit 18 home runs with an MLB-leading 57 RBI and 68 walks. Pitchers are terrified to pitch to him, and his walk rate has gone up a tick over 7%. Oh, and he also leads the majors with nine intentional walks already.

Kurtz is a demon at the plate, and the 170 career wRC+ he’s boasting through his first 191 MLB games backs that up. He’s still so young, and a prolific slugger like this should easily be an All-Star on an annual basis for as long as he sticks around. We’re witnessing a special talent here.

Shea Langeliers, C, Athletics

Sticking with Kurtz’s teammate, we move from one of baseball’s best first basemen to the oldest player on our list and one of baseball’s best catchers. As mentioned before, Langeliers has a sizable lead in the fan voting for AL catchers, and he’s going to sail right into his first All-Star Game. The way he’s played for the past year-plus, he’s earned it.

While the NL has William Contreras, Liam Hicks, and Hunter Goodman occupying many top offensive categories for their catching leaderboards, Langeliers stands alone on the American League side. To date, he’s leading the league in catcher hits (78), home runs (19), runs (48), AVG (.276), OBP (.340), SLG (.530), and wRC+ (136). Thanks to an absence from Alejandro Kirk that he’s only just returned from, the spot for starting catcher in the AL seems to be Langeliers’.

Langeliers has been impacting the baseball as well as anyone this year. He’s in the 86th percentile in AVG Exit Velocity (91.6) and 90th in Barrel% (14.7) while occupying an 83th percentile ranking in LA Sweet-Spot% (38.2). We began talking about Langeliers as a premier offensive talent behind the plate last year, yet every single one of his major Statcast markers are vastly improved from his 2025 showing. He’s only getting better.

Otto Lopez, SS, Miami Marlins

In Lopez, the Marlins have uncovered a legitimate talent in the form of a diamond in the rough. After coming up through the Blue Jays’ system as a speedy, versatile player with little pop and a solid eye, Lopez hit 15 home runs last year and currently carries a 132 wRC+ through 74 games this season.

While he’s only got five home runs, he’s raised his ISO by .16 points and his SLG is up over .100 as well. Lopez and his .336 batting average lead all the of the major leagues, and his 2.9 fWAR so far this season is above players like Ohtani, Byron Buxton, Matt Olson, and Cody Bellinger on the leaderboards.

Historically an outstanding defender at both second base and shortstop, Lopez has -1 Defensive Runs Saved and 0 Outs Above Average as a full-time shortstop this year, so you can’t even point to his defensive contributions when looking at his fWAR. He’s doing it all on offense, which makes the output for a player like him all the more impressive.

Andy Pages, OF, Los Angeles Dodgers

Pages is in his third season as a big leaguer and he’s already got two World Series rings in his trophy case. Next up, he’s going to be an All-Star. The 25-year-old first started turning heads last year when he hit 27 home runs and finished his campaign with 4.1 fWAR. Granted, he had some slow streaks and a handful of defensive imperfections in center field, but it was clear from the beginning that the talent was there.

Maybe it just took a second ring for him to figure it out, but Pages has elevated his game this year. Now, he’s gone from a talented but flawed player to one that’s got legitimate aspirations of becoming a star. He should have no problem sailing past last year’s marks in home runs and RBI, his walks are up and his strikeouts are down at the same time, and his triple-slash line is improved as well.

Pages and his vastly improved OPS is not just a bat, either. It him a little bit to get his feet under him as an everyday center fielder last year, but this year he’s in the 93rd percentile in OAA, 95th in Arm Value and 97th in Arm Strength. He gives the Dodgers yet another weapon and the comfortable lead he had over the field in the latest round of fan voting should tell you that he’s on his way to being rewarded for it.

Ben Rice, 1B, New York Yankees

Rice is another player whose stock has absolutely skyrocketed this year. As he’s aged and gotten more reps at the big league level under his belt, he’s just gotten better and better. Through his first 68 games, he’s clearly not willing to just settle for “star,” he’s looking more like a superstar.

One of just nine players to reach the 20-homer mark this year so far, Rice is also fifth in baseball in runs scored and his 171 wRC+ is only behind Yordan Alvarez down in Houston, who somehow is still all the way up at 190.

While Rice’s strikeout rate has climbed a bit from his breakout showing last year, he’s also bumped up his walks but just under 4%, and he’s improved in virtually every facet of his game outside of limiting the strikeout.

One area in particular he has shown out in is his ability to handle left-handed pitching. The Yankees handled him with some caution against southpaws earlier this year after he hit just .208 with a 28% strikeout rate against them last season. Sure, his wRC+ still sat at 104 against them in his limited action against them in 2025, but he’s now simply too dangerous to be kept out of the lineup, regardless of who’s pitching.

Now getting the consistent ABs he deserves, Rice has five home runs with a .278 AVG, .886 OPS, and 147 wRC+ against left-handed pitching this year. Being able to handle both righties and lefties just makes him a more complete player, and we’re going to be spending much more time talking about MVP votes than an All-Star Game selection by the time this year is over.

Brice Turang, 2B, Milwaukee Brewers

Turang has experienced such a cool career turnaround, as he’s gone from a light-hitting speedster to one of the best all-around second basemen in the league. This year, he’s hitting for more power than ever before and has seen a significant uptick in nearly all of his major offensive categories.

Like others on this list, Turang’s strikeouts are up a tick, but he’s walking nearly 16% of the time and has the highest wRC+ (135) amongst all qualifying second basemen; what more do you want from the guy?!

There are a lot of second basemen that are showing out this year, especially on the NL side. Turang still needs to leapfrog Ozzie Albies and Bryson Stott in the fan vote, but Brandon Lowe, Luis Arraez, JJ Wetherholt, Xavier Edwards, and a whole host of other names are really playing some solid ball as we close in on the month of July. Still, Turang’s bat is leading the way amongst the rest of the field.

Jordan Walker, OF, St. Louis Cardinals

It feels like Walker’s been around for ages now, yet he’s still only 24 and is in just his fourth season at the big league level. We’ve seen so many versions of him over the years, but none that come even close to the one that’s on display in 2026.

There’s no doubt that Walker’s going to shatter all of his career-highs by the time this year is over. In fact, he’s already done that in a lot of offensive categories in about 50 less games than his rookie year!

The Cardinals’ right fielder has 18 home runs and 57 RBI while sporting a .291 average and 145 wRC+ through his first 72 games this year. His 2.4 fWAR is second-highest on the Cardinals (behind Wetherholt, who’s at 3.1), and he’s currently tied with Kurtz for the most runs driven in in all of baseball. Not too bad for someone who people had already labeled as an early-career bust.

We’ve seen various highs and lows for Walker in his professional career, but he’s never ridden a high this high before. He’s demolishing both righties and lefties, stayed consistent through each of the first few months of this year, and is occupying a high spot on the league-wide leaderboards in a bunch of different categories.

Walker is yet another example of a top prospect’s journey to stardom not being linear. So what if it took a while, he’s still only 24 and has a long career ahead of him. A first-time All-Star at 24 is pretty far off from the bust people thought he was not that long ago.