The baseball world is descending upon Atlanta early next week for the 95th All-Star game, and as we look forward to seeing the game’s best all on the same field, I thought it’d be a fun exercise to pick our PLV Decision Value All-Star squad. We’ll create just one team, not one for each league, since we (unfortunately) won’t get to see these guys on the field together. Although, if you’re looking for a fun exercise, throw this lineup into an MLB The Show Franchise and simulate a season or two.
If you’re unfamiliar with Decision Value, it’s one of our very own metrics here at Pitcher List. Decision Value grades a hitter’s ability to recognize the pitches he can turn into favorable contact and then make the appropriate swing decision. It’s measured on a scale where 100 is the league average, and every 15 points above or below 100 is one standard deviation. We can even break Decision Value down a little bit further to specifically look at pitches thrown inside (zDV) and outside (oDV) the strike zone.
For a more in-depth description of Decision Value, check out the intro to this piece. You can support Pitcher List and get access to full leaderboards for Decision Value and other PLV statistics by joining PL Pro.
Without further ado, here are your 2025 PLV Decision Value All-Stars.
Catcher — Danny Jansen, Tampa Bay Rays (131 Decision Value)
He may be on a new team, but Jansen has been his typical solid self at the dish this year. The 30-year-old backstop is slashing .208/.305/.380 with nine homers and 26 RBI. Overall, his production has been just under league average with a .305 wOBA and 96 wRC+, but his swing decisions have been excellent. His 131 Decision Value is the best of any qualified catcher (that’s at least 400 pitches faced for Decision Value) and the sixth-best of any hitter. Zooming in a bit more, Jansen’s been excellent on pitches thrown outside of the strike zone. His 129 oDV is almost two full standard deviations above the league average. His superb ability to lay off those pitches really jumps off the page with his 94th-percentile chase rate.
Honorable Mentions: Liam Hicks (130), Will Smith (127), Matt Thaiss (126)
First Base — Spencer Torkelson, Detroit Tigers (134)
Torkelson’s breakout campaign has been a huge part of the Tigers’ surprising MLB-best first half. The former first overall draft pick has come into his own with a .237/.339/.503 slash line in his fourth big league season. His 21 homers put him in a three-way tie for the 10th most in MLB. It’s not just the standard offensive categories that Tork’s breaking out in, either. Detroit’s first baseman has been significantly better at picking which pitches he should attack this year. His 134 Decision Value is the third-best in baseball and is a marked improvement from previous seasons. He posted a 113 Decision Value in both 2023 and 2024. When a hitter with Tork’s raw power develops elite pitch recognition, that’s a recipe to create one of the most fearsome bats in the game.
Honorable Mentions: Rhys Hoskins (121), LaMonte Wade Jr. (120), Nick Kurtz (119)
Second Base — Gleyber Torres, Detroit Tigers (142)
Torres is our first PLV Decision Value All-Star that also cracked the actual All-Star roster. Fans voted him in as the starter at the keystone for the American League squad, and he absolutely deserves the honor with his .275/.384/.415 slash line. His .356 wOBA and 131 wRC+ are both career highs, and yes, they’re even better than his incredible rookie and sophomore seasons when he combined for 62 homers.
On top of making his third career All-Star team, Torres is also the MLB leader in Decision Value. He started the season among the game’s best swing decision makers, and has only gotten better, distancing himself quite a bit from other standouts in the category. Here’s a good look at just how much better he’s been than even the 90th percentile of hitters.
Torres has been especially good against fastballs this season. He’s improved pretty much across the board against the most common pitch type, improving his whiff rate from 22.4% to 17%, xBA from .294 to .340, and xSLG from .419 to .613 over the last calendar year. It’s been a phenomenal season for Torres, and all these accolades are setting him up for what should be a great payday when he reenters free agency this winter.
Honorable Mentions: Jeff McNeil (119), Jonathan India (118), Marcus Semien (117)
Third Base — Max Schuemann, Athletics (136)
Yep, you read that right. Maxwell Carter Schuemann leads MLB third basemen in Decision Value at the halfway point. A small caveat — he’s only seen 431 pitches, by far the fewest of any Decision Value All-Star, but he’s been on the Athletics‘ roster all season long, so it’s not as if his performance is coming from a short big league stint. Despite the truncated plate appearances, Schuemann’s been a very valuable member of the Sacramento crew. He’s appeared in 31 games at third base, 17 at shortstop, 16 at second base, and seven in the outfield, many as a pinch runner or defensive replacement. Still, Schuemann has made the most of his limited opportunities.
The 28-year-old utility man is hitting a respectable .237/.353/.351 across 116 plate appearances. That’s a line that comes out to exactly league average at a 100 wRC+. As you’d likely expect, Schuemann’s excellent swing decisions have propelled him to great plate discipline numbers — a 16.4% strikeout rate compared to a 13.8% walk rate. His 0.84 BB/K ratio is the 16th best among all hitters with at least 100 plate appearances.
Honorable Mentions: Miguel Vargas (129), Max Muncy (126), Alex Bregman (120)
Shortstop — Taylor Walls, Tampa Bay Rays (122)
Walls and Perdomo are the closest battle for a spot on our All-Star roster, but I awarded the spot to Walls given his better PLV Strikezone Judgement score — he has a 111 compared to Perdomo’s 95. At a quick glance, Walls doesn’t look like a player who makes great choices in the batter’s box. His strikeout and walk rates are middling and he doesn’t punish the pitches that he does hit. The one area where he excels, though, is his 21% chase rate. That’s good for the 88th percentile and aligns closely with his 124 oDV. With Ha-Seong Kim’s recent return to the field, Walls looks to be out of a starting gig, especially given his poor .206/.277/.292 slash line. It serves as a good reminder that just because a hitter swings at good pitches to hit, it doesn’t mean he’ll always turn them into good results.
Honorable Mentions: Geraldo Perdomo (122), Dansby Swanson (118)
Outfield — Juan Soto, New York Mets (134)
Soto is an All-Star snub no longer! Sure, he probably cares a little bit less about making the PLV Decision Value All-Star team than the National League squad, but hey, it’s an All-Star selection nonetheless.
It’s not exactly surprising to see Soto rank as the top outfielder in this metric. The Mets’ newest superstar has generational plate discipline — his career 18.7% walk rate is the best in baseball since he debuted in 2018, and he’s one of just two players during that period who has walked more than he’s struck out (Luis Arraez is the other). Given that elite skill set, it tracks that his 136 oDV this year is also atop the leaderboard in a two-way tie for first place with fellow Decision Value All-Star Gleyber Torres.
Outfield — Ronald Acuña Jr., Atlanta Braves (132)
An outrageously productive return to the field has earned Acuña real-life All-Star honors as well as his inclusion on our Decision Value team. Atlanta’s phenom has been so good making decisions at the plate that he’s already made multiple appearances in these PLV Decision Value columns despite not making his season debut until May 23rd. Over his 169 plate appearances, Acuña’s slashing a remarkable .331/.450/.561 with nine home runs and four stolen bases.
Pitchers have been terrified of attacking Acuña and have largely been pitching around him. His strike rate has dropped from 48.1% in 2024 to 44.7% this year, a number lower than 85% of MLB hitters. Acuña’s become more patient as a result. His 43.2% swing rate is the lowest we’ve seen from the former NL MVP throughout a full season. It’s been more than just laying off of pitches out of the strike zone that have contributed to his success, though. Acuña has a 111 zDV, so he’s also making good choices in the strike zone, and when you couple that with some of the best raw hitting ability in the sport, you get elite results. His .399 xwOBA and .537 xSLG would be 90th+ percentile if he had enough plate appearances to qualify for leaderboards.
Outfield — George Springer, Toronto Blue Jays (131)
Springer looks to have found the fountain of youth. He’s routinely been one of the best hitters in Decision Value throughout the stat’s existence, but this year he’s not just making good swing choices, he’s making them count like he did in his prime years in Houston. Springer’s slashing .281/.376/.510 with 16 homers and 10 steals. His 147 wRC+ is his best since he reached a peak of 155 in 2019. The Blue Jays’ rightfielder has been making good swing decisions all season long, but you can really see where he caught fire in late-May in his Process+ chart.
Since May 29th, Springer has a .422 wOBA and 175 wRC+, both placing in the top 10 of qualified hitters. During his heyday, Springer massacred fastballs. He had wOBAs against the pitch over .400 three times in the five-year period of 2017-2021, but since then, his performance against the pitch group has been in a steady decline until this season. Springer owns a .432 wOBA against fastballs, and he’s even underperformed his expected results of a .451 xwOBA.
Honorable Mentions: Mike Trout (129), Alex Call (127), Fernando Tatis Jr. (126), Kyle Tucker (124)
Designated Hitter — Andrew McCutchen (124)
We’re rounding out our Decision Value All-Stars with McCutchen, and he’s the only member of the team that doesn’t rank first in the category at his position. Justyn-Henry Malloy just barely beats him out here, but because Malloy has only been on the active roster for about 60% of Detroit’s games and is currently in Triple-A, I thought McCutchen was more deserving of this hypothetical roster spot.
The long-time Pirate is up to his usual antics at the dish, attacking hittable pitches in the zone while being passive against the ones off the plate. He has an almost even 116 zDV and 117 oDV. McCutchen’s good swing choices are helping to keep the 38-year-old DH afloat. He has a .258/.337/.390 slash line which is just a hair above league average at a .322 wOBA and 103 wRC+.
Honorable Mentions: Justyn-Henry Malloy (125), Marcell Ozuna (119)
