KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A few minutes past 6 p.m. here Saturday, Don Mattingly gathered the Phillies for a team meeting.
That’s when Brandon Marsh and Jhoan Duran found out they were All-Stars.
For the first time.
Marsh, the leading vote-getter among National League outfielders in the final phase of fan voting, will be joined on July 14 in Philadelphia by Kyle Schwarber, Bryce Harper, Cristopher Sánchez, and Duran. All but Harper were selected by their peers; Harper was named by commissioner Rob Manfred.
“It’s a dream come true,” Duran said after the Phillies’ 6-1 victory over the Royals. “I always wanted to be there, and it happened this year.”
Zack Wheeler, who has made a remarkable return from thoracic outlet syndrome, was notably not selected. Wheeler missed the season’s first four weeks. He’s also lined up to start the last game before the break, which would leave him unable to pitch in the All-Star Game.
Mattingly said he wasn’t sure if Wheeler’s unavailability led to the snub. But other pitchers who are scheduled to start the last game before the break were selected, including flamethrowing Brewers ace Jacob Misiorowski, and will likely be replaced.
Even without Wheeler, the five All-Stars will tie for the second-largest contingent in Phillies history. They had eight selections to the 2024 All-Star Game in Texas, though Wheeler chose not to attend and Ranger Suárez was injured.
Mattingly was looking forward to breaking the news to all five players, but especially Marsh and Duran, who are All-Stars for the first time.
“I think that first one is always special because it kind of like validates, ‘Hey, I’ve made it. I’ve been an All-Star,’” said Mattingly, selected to six All-Star games as a player and slated to be a coach on Dodgers manager Dave Roberts’ National League staff this year. “It’s just huge.”
Of all the Phillies’ big names, the fans turned out in droves to vote for Marsh, who will become the first Phillies outfielder to start an All-Star Game since Raúl Ibañez in 2009.
Marsh, 28, entered Sunday fifth in the NL — and third among all major-league outfielders — with a .310 average. He had 15 doubles, 15 homers, and an .856 OPS, the continuation of a promising final four months last season. Since the beginning of May 2025, he was batting .309 with 25 homers and an .852 OPS in 702 plate appearances over 199 games.
In the first phase of fan voting, Marsh pulled in the second-most votes among NL outfielders and advanced to the final stage with the Dodgers’ Andy Pages and Teoscar Hernández, the Braves’ Ronald Acuña Jr. and Michael Harris II, and the Mets’ Juan Soto. Pages and Soto were also named starters.
Schwarber, 33, was runner-up to Shohei Ohtani in the fan voting but was a lock to be named on the players’ ballot. Aside from being immensely popular with his peers, Schwarber leads the majors in homers (30, entering play Sunday) and ranked fourth in the majors with a .943 OPS. It will be his fourth All-Star appearance, all but one coming with the Phillies.
Harper, 33, didn’t advance to the final round of fan voting after finishing behind the Dodgers’ Freddie Freeman and Braves’ Matt Olson in the initial stage. But it wouldn’t have been an All-Star Game in Philadelphia without Harper, and his selection by Manfred was based as much on merit as reputation. Entering the weekend, the nine-time All-Star ranked 10th in the majors in OPS (.906) and was among only 15 players to reach the 20-homer mark.
“The longevity side of it with Harp — I think this is nine for him — I mean, it’s building to where you start getting those kind of guys that get 12-15,“ Mattingly said. ”Just the fact that he’s still continuing to play at that level is huge for me.”
Sánchez, 29, was a lock for the NL pitching staff after going 50⅔ innings without allowing a run, the longest streak ever by a lefty and fifth-longest all-time.
The only question is whether Roberts will choose him to start the game.
Sánchez is lined up to start the second-to-last game before the break, on Saturday in Detroit, which Mattingly said could put him on track to pitch one inning on July 14.
Whether or not Sánchez starts the All-Star Game, Duran could close it, in which case, warm up the tarantulas on the right-field scoreboard.
“That would be crazy,” Duran said. “We never know. I always say I never say never because you never know.”
Duran, 28, is having one of the best seasons ever by a Phillies reliever with 45 strikeouts, six walks, a 1.52 ERA, and a league-leading 21 saves (in 22 chances) entering the weekend.
Surely, he knew the All-Star Game was a possibility.
“I wasn’t thinking too much about that,” Duran said. “My wife, yes. She was on top of that. I never put too much time on it mentally.”
Now that the All-Star rosters have been announced, the Home Run Derby field will begin to form. Schwarber and Harper said they would consider competing in the Derby if they were on the All-Star team.
When he was with the Nationals, Harper raised his hand for the Derby — and won it — in Washington in 2018. He said earlier this week that he’s undecided about doing it again.
“The last time I did it, I won. I said I’d never do it again,” Harper said. “So, we’ll see how I’m feeling. … Obviously, I know the fans want me to do it, so I’ll take that into account, but we’ll see how much pump, I guess, I have behind me going out there and doing it.”
Said Mattingly: “It doesn’t bother me. It’s set up a lot better now than it was before where it’s not a zillion swings.”
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