The MLB All-Star Game (ASG) is just over a month away, but voting is already open, and the Milwaukee Brewers have some intriguing candidates. The Brewers have sent multiple representatives to the mid-season ASG in each of the last six seasons (excluding the 2020 season in which no ASG took place). Last year, it was Christian Yelich and William Contreras representing the Brew Crew, with both of them in the National League starting lineup.
Yelich could certainly be an All-Star again this season, so long as he continues his hot streak for the next four weeks. Brewers' ace, Freddy Peralta, also figures to be in the conversation to make his second ASG appearance. And Rhys Hoskins has a case for his first All-Star honor, but with a crowded group at first base in the NL, it's looking like an uphill battle. However, the Brewers have a few other candidates that could earn a surprise All-Star nod if they put together a strong month of June. Here are three such candidates that weren't on anybody's All-Star radar prior to the season beginning.
1. SP Chad Patrick
Many Brewers fans didn't expect to see Chad Patrick on the Opening Day roster, and others weren't crazy to think that Patrick might not even spend much time on the big league roster at all this year. However, injuries to a number of Brewers starting pitchers gave Patrick the opportunity he needed to show the world of baseball his true potential.
Chad "Magic" has made 13 starts for the Brewers this year and is currently sporting a 2.84 ERA. While he's not a huge strikeout guy (just 63 in 69.2 innings pitched), and generally doesn't face a lineup three times through, Patrick has been the epitome of consistency. He has yet to allow more than three earned runs in a start and has never not pitched into the fifth inning.
So how does the 26-year-old rookie stack up against the rest of the National League? Patrick ranks seventh in ERA among qualified starting pitchers in the NL, but one of the names ahead of him, Corbin Burnes, just announced that he will have season-ending Tommy John surgery. Additionally, Patrick is tied for sixth among NL starting pitchers in WAR, according to FanGraphs, a clear indicator of the consistent value that he has added to the Brewers rotation this season.
Generally, seven or eight starting pitchers make the ASG from each league, which would put Patrick right on the border if things remained as they are, but the fact that Patrick's name is even being mentioned in ASG talks is an incredible development and a testament to the hard work that both he and the Brewers' pitching department have put in this year.
2. RP Abner Uribe
Abner Uribe's potential has been apparent since he was lighting up minor league hitters with his overpowering fastball several years ago. But up until his impressive start to the 2025 season, Brewers fans were unsure if the 24-year-old right-hander was going to put it all together. Uribe has quieted those concerns and then some this season, and his name rightfully belongs in All-Star conversations.
With a 1.53 ERA, Uribe is tied for sixth among qualified NL relievers. For Uribe, that number is inflated by just a couple of bad outings — he's allowed earned runs in just three of his 30 appearances, but in two of those he allowed multiple. Additionally, Uribe is currently setting the pace for holds in all of MLB with 16. The holds leader is generally the league's best set-up man because it means a majority of their appearances are coming in high-leverage situations where their team is winning a close game, but they aren't the ones to close things out.
However, it's very difficult for a non-closer relief pitcher to make the ASG. Last year, just one such player, Matt Strahm of the Philadelphia Phillies, made the coveted Midsummer Classic. To make matters even more difficult for Uribe, all of the six qualified relievers in the NL that have a better ERA than him aren't closers, meaning if a non-closer relief pitcher were to make the ASG from the NL, Uribe likely wouldn't be the first choice.
But that could all change in the next few weeks. Uribe is currently on a stretch of five straight scoreless appearances, and if he keeps racking up the strikeouts like he has been (39 in 29.1 innings pitched), his name will continue to pop up in All-Star conversations.
3. 2B Brice Turang
Brice Turang's name was all over All-Star talks a season ago, so it might feel strange to include him on a list of "surprising Brewers with a chance at the ASG," but the fact that Turang has put together an equally impressive first half of 2025 might come as a surprise to some Brewers fans who thought that his first three months of 2024 were a fluke.
A season ago, it was fake second baseman Luis Arraez, who stole a spot in the ASG away from Turang. Arraez was essentially an everyday first baseman at the time of his selection, but his history as a second baseman let him sneak into the game as the backup at the keystone position. Now, with Arraez cementing himself as a first baseman, the competition at second base in the NL looks a little bit thinner.
Brendan Donovan of the St. Louis Cardinals is putting together an impressive season and is likely the favorite to win the starting NL second-base job. Meanwhile, Ketel Marte, who missed the first month of the season due to injury, is starting to heat up and figures to be in the All-Star conversation as well. But Turang isn't far behind either of them and is actually ahead of both when it comes to bWAR — a metric that gives Turang's defense the respect it deserves.
Even still Turang will likely have to clearly outplay one of Marte or Donovan over the next month if he wants to earn a spot in this year's ASG, but the fact that he's replicated (and even improved upon in some areas) his 2024 first half is an encouraging indication that this won't be the last time Brewers fans are campaigning to get their Platinum Glove second baseman into the Midsummer Classic.