The Baltimore Orioles are expected to be one of the better teams in baseball during the 2025 regular season.
As a result, it should come as no surprise that they are projected to be well-represented at the MLB All-Star Game this summer as well.
Over at Bleacher Report, Joel Reuter has shared his way-too-early predictions for who will be taking part in the Midsummer Classic this year at Truist Park in Atlanta, Ga., home of the Atlanta Braves.
He believes that the Orioles are going to have three players on the American League All-Star Team, but all of them will be coming off the bench or out of the bullpen.
In the lineup, Reuter believes that shortstop Gunnar Henderson is going to be a reserve for the AL team. He is currently on the injured list with an intercostal strain but is expected to return to the lineup when first eligible, which would be Friday.
Missing only a week isn’t terrible in the grand scheme of things, especially if it will help keep the injury from lingering. But he will be behind the eight-ball a little bit compared to his peers competing for a spot and it could be enough to keep him out of the starting lineup.
On the mound, Reuter has predicted that Baltimore will have a first-time All-Star with starting pitcher Zach Eflin.
The Opening Day starter for the team this year after Grayson Rodriguez was injured during spring training. He is filling a huge role as the nominal ace.
It isn’t a role he has filled previously in his career, but through 10 starts with the franchise, he has certainly looked like a front end contributor. He has a 2.64 ERA with 49 strikeouts through 61.1 innings with a 6-2 record and 1.8 WAR.
Last but not least is their star closer, Felix Bautista.
He is returning to the Major League roster in 2025 after hurting his elbow in August 2023 and eventually undergoing Tommy John surgery, which kept him sidelined for the entirey of the 2024 campaign.
His debut against the Toronto Blue Jays on Mar. 29 was electric, as he struck out three in an inning of work.
But his second outing against the Boston Red Sox showed that he still has some work to do returning to his old form, as he gave up two earned runs in an inning of work without recording a strikeout.
There will be some ebbs and flows as he knocks off the rust, but Reuter is under the belief the highs will far outweigh the lows, predicting him to be part of the AL All-Star Team’s bullpen.
It would be the second All-Star nod in Bautista’s career, as he also earned a spot during his dominant 2023 campaign before injury befell him.