It was supposed to be a celebration. The 2025 MLB All-Star selections dropped, standout performers across the league got the call they’d been working toward all year — and yet. Amid the noise, a particular lack of attention surrounding a player who has been performing well this season was quite noticeable.

Jo Adell,  25-year-old outfielder who’s finally found his rhythm in Anaheim, had every reason to expect a different outcome. On a team short on headlines, he has hit 21 home runs and brought in 58 runs while maintaining an OPS of .802 up to this point in the season. Those aren’t just respectable numbers; they’re the kind of numbers that normally land you on a charter flight to the Midsummer Classic. Instead? Crickets. No reserve spot. No Home Run Derby invite. Just a growing chorus of confusion from fans, analysts, and even Adell himself.

“I kind of felt like I had a pretty good chance at the reserve,” Adell said candidly. “But I didn’t grasp how that selection process went down. There’s kind of… felt like there were three different ways to get in, and I was kind of confused.”

And he’s not alone. The MLB All-Star selection process has long walked a strange line between merit and marketability. Starters are chosen by fan votes, essentially a popularity contest, while reserves are picked through a combination of player ballots and the Commissioner’s Office. It’s a system that often favors reputation over recent performance, and Adell knows exactly how that can play out.

He even gave a nod to his roots, saying, “I was a Joey Votto fan growing up. Every All-Star Game, I wanted to see Joey Votto. So I understand that fan side of it.” But understanding doesn’t make the snub any less frustrating.

Now Adell’s numbers this season aren’t just good, they’re All-Star caliber. His barrel rate and hard-hit percentage rank near the top of AL outfielders, and he’s turned a once-questionable bat into a consistent power threat. After years of inconsistency, he’s finally become the player many believed he could be.

No injury replacement, no Home Run Derby invite. Just a name left off the list.

But Adell isn’t sulking. He’s recalibrating. “It’s something to continue to work for,” he said. “It puts a chip on my shoulder to keep grinding and figure this thing out.”

At this rate, he won’t just make the All-Star team next year; he might force fans, players, and the league to rethink how they choose who belongs there.

Popularity vs. performance – where did the MLB All-Star get it wrong?

Here’s the part that’s hard to justify: Jo Adell didn’t just “deserve consideration,” he had the numbers to be in the All-Star Game. His 21 home runs before the break put him among the top American League outfielders in power, and his .802 OPS was higher than several players who were selected. Yet somehow, the system left him out. The message? Sometimes, flash still beats substance in MLB’s most visible showcase.

Sure, fan voting makes sense, it’s tradition, it drives engagement, and it gives fans a voice. But when the reserves, supposedly selected based on merit through a mix of player votes and league input, still lean on name value and reputation? That’s when things get questionable. Adell doesn’t have the household name recognition of a Julio Rodríguez or a Byron Buxton, but his production this season has rivaled or surpassed both. If All-Star nods are about what players are doing right now, shouldn’t the ballot reflect that?

The problem isn’t that fans picked their favorites; it’s that the backstop, the part meant to catch and reward guys like Adell, didn’t do its job. You can’t say to a player who is finally performing after facing years of challenges and expectations that he simply doesn’t “match the standard.” The All-Star Game should honor the best-performing players in baseball rather than just focusing on the most popular names in the sport.

And when players like Adell get boxed out despite proving themselves on the field, the system deserves a second look.