MLB All-Star Game: Chicago Cubs officially send 3 to Atlanta; White Sox send promising pitcher
Major League Baseball has unveiled the complete list of Chicago White Sox and Cubs players who will participate in the Midsummer Classic in Atlanta.
The Cubs are sending starters Kyle Tucker and Pete Crow-Armstrong to the 2025 MLB All-Star Game, along with a surprising name. While the White Sox will send a promising young pitcher for a second year in a row.
What we know:
Although the Cubs expected to send catcher Carson Kelly, the surging infielder Michael Busch or the slugging outfielder Seiya Suzuki, journeyman pitcher Matthew Boyd got the nod for the Northsiders.
A big reason why the Cubs have leaped into first place in the NL Central is thanks to Boyd.
He signed a two-year contract on December 2024, and has been a revelation in the Cubs' rotation with an 8-2 record and a 2.65 ERA in 17 starts. Boyd has found a home in Chicago.
"He loves just playing," Cubs manager Craig Counsell said Sunday. "He loves his start days. He loves the days he's not starting and then being in the dugout and rooting for his teammates, and that's contagious. That's certainly another piece of what he's brought to this group."
On the Southside, MLB has tabbed White Sox starting pitcher Shane Smith as an All-Star.
This is the second year in a row the White Sox have sent a young pitcher to the All-Star Game. Last year, the Sox sent Garrett Crochet, whom they have since traded to the Boston Red Sox.
Smith is one of a handful of young White Sox who have made an impact this season, and he makes the All-Star Game as a rookie. So far in 2025, Smith has a 3-6 record with a 3.86 ERA.
The White Sox selected Smith from the Brewers with the first selection of the Rule 5 draft back in December, and he's become a fixture in the Sox's future. Smith is the second player in MLB history to make the All-Star Game in the year following his selection in the Rule 5 draft.
What's next:
The Cubs and White Sox All-Stars will head down to Atlanta, and play in the All-Star Game on July 15 with first pitch at 7 p.m. CT on FOX 32 at Atlanta’s Truist Park.