With a disappointing season underway, to say the very least about the 2025 Red Sox, now comes one of the most challenging times of the summer for Red Sox Nation: All-Star Ballot voting. In the past years, fans have chosen not to vote as a way to rebel against the Fenway Sports Group who, up until this past offseason, seemed to not care about the team as much as some of their other teams: the Premier League’s Liverpool, NHL’s Pittsburgh Penguins, NASCAR’s RFK Racing, and TGL’s Boston Common Golf. However, this past offseason, they seemed willing to do what it takes to get the once mighty AL East competitor back in one of the top spots in the standings. Unfortunately, it’s been no secret that the team hasn’t performed up to the projected success many assumed they would have after watching the front office and ownership group reinvest in a team with a promising core after their 2024 campaign in which they had a bit of a Cinderella run for the third wild card spot. Despite the team not playing up to the standard that many, including Alex Cora, had hoped for, it’s the reality or nightmare everyone is living this season. While the team at large is not producing well, there are still individual performances that have stood out this season amidst the overall struggles of the club.

Rafael Devers has been the Red Sox’s “franchise player” since around 2021, when he first earned the honor to play in the All-Star Game. Then, the following year, Devers played alongside his “baseball” bestie, Xander Bogaerts, and had the opportunity to play beside one another in Los Angeles when the game was held at Dodgers Stadium. Raffy was also elected to represent the American League team last year, but opted to sit out to attempt to remedy his ongoing injuries throughout the 2024 season. This year, his first as the Red Sox’s full-time Designated Hitter, Devers has looked like a young David Ortiz at the plate. Despite having some troubles to start the season, and the drama surrounding whether or not he would play a position again once injuries began to take a toll on the roster, he still set the standard as one of the best hitters in the league. He currently ranks first in games played this year; he’s third in the AL in runs and doubles, and at one point for a good while this season, led the league in RBIs as well. If there is one player who deserves a vote for the Midsummer Classic, it’s Raffy. For May, he and his National League counterpart, Shohei Ohtani, were named their respective Players of the Month. Perhaps, this accolade is just the precursor to the two of them winning their respective leagues’ starting DH spot in Atlanta this year. After recently hitting his first walk-off home run a few games back, Raffy is coming into his own, and after everything this organization has put him through, he deserves the nod for his above-average bat (and charisma).

Rafael Devers unloads on this pitch to tie things up 💪 pic.twitter.com/w8YOZo1SOX

— MLB (@MLB) April 26, 2025

Despite Jarren Duran and Tanner Houck still appearing last year thanks to the votes cast by their peers and coaches, the fan vote in Boston has essentially been nonexistent, and to some extent, rightfully so. The Red Sox have objectively not been playing good baseball for some time now, but many had hoped that their biggest position-playing free agent acquisition in some time, Alex Bregman, would bring the much-needed change that the Red Sox longed for. Before suffering a quadricep injury in late May, Bregman had one of the best starts to a season, if not the best start to the season, this year, his first with Boston. Despite being shelved with his quad strain, he was putting up monster numbers. He had just a little under two hundred plate appearances in the months he was playing with his new team, and he was batting .299/.938/.486 before his injury, he had eleven home runs, and led the league (and team) in doubles for a little while, having seventeen on the year. Under the hood, he has generated a .359 xwOBA with a 48.1% hard-hit rate, both of which are well above the average marks as well. While he hasn’t been playing as of late, the numbers he was putting up before his injury absolutely warranted a case to make the All-Star team. The Red Sox just recently got news that his injury is progressing at “warp speed,” which, after the history of significant injuries from the last few seasons, something as minor as a few weeks on the IL will not impact his relevance nor diminish the reasons why he deserves to be an all-star this year. With Boston’s inability to win (or even remotely play well), it’s leading many to believe that Bregman will take the opt-out clause that was set for the end of each of the three years he signed to play with Boston, but perhaps being voted as the first “big name” from Boston who could land a starting spot during the coveted midsummer classic set to take place next month in Atlanta would entice him a bit more to establish the next phase of his career where he initially signed when first hitting free agency in 2024.

Another player deserving of some votes from Red Sox fans has to be one of this year’s top Rookie of the Year candidates. No, not Kristian Campbell, who, since being named the March/April Rookie of the Month for the American League, has taken a bit of a nosedive trying to learn yet another position. No, not Marcelo Mayer either. Carlos Narváez took over as the Red Sox catcher in early April when a struggling Connor Wong fell victim to the injured list. Narváez initially was viewed as a depth piece after Wong’s stellar 2024 campaign, winning him the spot of the Sox’s everyday catcher; however, after a staggering start to 2025 for him (in addition to his pinky injury), Narváez took over, then won over, the everyday role as the Red Sox backstop. Right now, he’s ranked second amongst American League rookies, sitting behind just Jacob Wilson of the Athletics. Carlos Narváez hit .254/.370/.412 with 20 doubles, 11 home runs, and 58 RBI in 96 games for the New York Yankees Triple-A affiliate last season, also earning his first big league call-up and going 3-for-13 over six games. He then responded with one of the most unexpected breakouts of the 2025 season, checking in fifth among all catchers with 1.8 WAR in 44 games. He hit .356/.427/.534 over 82 plate appearances in May, and even has found himself batting clean-up for the Sox throughout the month, being one of the most consistent hitters in the lineup. If Narváez can stay hot, there is a highly valid case for why Red Sox fans should rally behind this rookie catcher and vote him to the All-Star game to represent Boston.

Carlos Narvaez ties it up. He’s been so consistent in shooting the baseball the other way this season. Especially in spots like this. pic.twitter.com/qSJi637qV6

— Tyler Milliken (@tylermilliken_) June 4, 2025

The last position play for the Sox, who have made a valid case for All-Star Voting, would be one of their defensively elite outfield members. While there is an argument for any of the Duran, Rafaela, and Abreu trio to get a nod, it’s not likely that we see more than one of them on the AL’s roster come the mid-season break. Duran’s speed and recent heroics have started to show glimpses of his 2024 campaign, where he won the Ted Williams All-Star Game MVP after a two-run go-ahead blast to give the American League the win. Ceddanne’s recent resurgence at the plate has shown to be a necessary key feature to this current iteration of this 2025 squad; however, the third member of this trio, Wilyer Abreu, has the most compelling case for the invite to his first All-Star game. While the American League pool for an outfield is vast, Abreu’s hot start to the season, where he led the American League in On-Base Percentage, On-Base Plus Slugging, and was tied for the league lead in Walks. He also led the league in Batting Average for a good chunk of the beginning of the season. He’s significantly improved his swing and contact, batting .667 on breaking balls compared to .202 last season, and his defensive skills, including a 98th percentile arm strength, also make him a valuable asset. The one complication with Wilyer’s game that hinders his chances more than Devers or Bregman is that Abreu is a very streaky hitter. After his blistering start, he started to dull out, but much like Narváez, he has become a key fixture to this lineup with an improved read on situational hitting to boot.

Again, while this year has not played out the way many fans had hoped, putting some of our players who have played through this rough stretch to the best of their abilities, or in Bregman’s case, the hot start to the season and his projected performance upon his return, deserves to be commended as the Red Sox try to regain relevance in the sport.