The incredible rise of Alabama QB Jalen Milroe, from benched to irreplaceable
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Chris Low, ESPN Senior Writer
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — As his laser of a touchdown pass sailed toward the left corner of the end zone last Saturday in Alabama‘s miraculous Iron Bowl win, Jalen Milroe‘s season flashed before his eyes.
In real time, amid the euphoria of the Crimson Tide’s 27-24 victory over Auburn, it was more like a blur.
But as Milroe traces back through the windstorm that he endured to get to where he is now, including being benched for the third game of the season, it’s almost as if it all transpired in slow motion.
The irony is that Milroe is the antithesis of slow motion. He’s one of college football’s most dynamic players — as well as one of its most improved players — and is the cornerstone of Alabama’s transformation into a College Football Playoff contender.
“Seems like a dream, not always a good dream, but a dream that I never quit believing would become a reality,” Milroe told ESPN. “From where I was, the way I was doubted — and even some people in this building [Alabama’s football complex] doubted me — it truly blows my mind to where it’s all led to, and the best part, where it’s led to for our team.”
Milroe, who is rarely without a big smile, slowly shook his head when thinking about all the things he was told he wasn’t along the way, even going back to his high school days.
“I was told I would never be the starting quarterback at Alabama,” he said. “I’ve been told I was not smart enough to play the position. I’ve been told everything. Even when I was named the starter at the beginning of the season, I don’t think a lot of people thought I would keep it, and if I did, that we were going to have a bad season. So, yes, I’ve faced a lot of obstacles. The main thing is the right people believed in me, here at Alabama and within my family, and I remained grounded in believing in who I am.
“That takes you a long way.”
Milroe has indeed come a long way, from being benched against South Florida in Week 3 to delivering one of the most memorable plays in Alabama’s long and storied history — a winning touchdown pass to Isaiah Bond on fourth-and-31 with the Crimson Tide’s national championship hopes hanging by a thread.
“That’s Jalen Milroe,” Alabama cornerback Terrion Arnold, Milroe’s best friend on the team, said. “That’s who he’s always been.
“He’s trusting himself now to be who he is. We’ve always trusted him, and you see the way he’s grown. But it’s a lot more than what you see on the field with the way he’s in here at 4:30 in the morning watching film and the last one to leave the practice field.
“People tell those stories about Kobe Bryant. I think people will tell those same stories about Jalen because all that hard work is paying off.”
TWO AND A half months ago, Milroe watched from the sideline at Raymond James Stadium when the epitaph was all but being written on Alabama’s season. The 34-24 home loss to Texas the week prior was still smoldering, and the doom and gloom only worsened as Alabama limped to a 17-3 victory over South Florida, with quarterbacks Tyler Buchner and Ty Simpson combining for 107 passing yards and 10 completions in a game that was tied at 3-3 late in the third quarter.
There was a collective “uh-oh” among the Alabama fan base, and the narrative reverberated around the college football landscape: After enjoying a wealth of riches at the most important position on the field — four consecutive starters who would make it to the NFL — Alabama didn’t have a quarterback.
Milroe, admittedly frustrated and disappointed over his benching, turned those feelings into motivation.
“It wasn’t just me. It was this whole team that everybody kicked to the side,” Milroe said. “But I also knew that if we were going to get to where we all wanted to get to, I had to play to a different standard. I had to look in the mirror and say, ‘How can I improve? How can I get better?’ And not just so I could win the position back. It wasn’t about me. It was about being there for everybody else around me, being the best version of me.”
As ugly as the South Florida win was and as vulnerable as the Crimson Tide looked offensively that stormy day in Tampa, it was a watershed moment. Including that game, the Tide have won 10 straight and get a shot at No. 1 Georgia on Saturday in the SEC championship game at Atlanta.
“Sometimes you’ve got to have something bad happen to figure it all out,” Alabama coach Nick Saban said. “After the Texas game, when we took him out, it was a real thunderbolt or whatever you want to call it, that if you want to be our quarterback, you have to be our point guard. He’s done that, and as he’s gotten better, so has our team.
“We wouldn’t be here without his transformation.”
At one point, Milroe wondered how many opportunities he was going to get this season, as it was clear there wasn’t a consensus on the Crimson Tide’s staff who their best option at quarterback was.
After throwing two costly interceptions in the Texas loss, Milroe was informed by Saban that Buchner and Simpson were going to get their shot against South Florida. Milroe said he probably didn’t handle the news as well as he could have that week in practice, but he kept coming back to one thing.
“It was bigger than me,” Milroe said. “If I wasn’t good enough, then give somebody else a shot. I looked at it as an experiment, but through it all, I was going to be a good teammate.”
Milroe said after being told he wasn’t going to play in the game, he made up his mind that he was going to make a difference. He led his fellow quarterbacks onto the field, was right in the middle of meetings on the sideline and was the first one on the field to congratulate Simpson after Alabama’s first touchdown in the third quarter.
“At the end of the day, it’s about winning,” Milroe said. “You come to Alabama, and that standard never changes, whether you’re the starting quarterback, backup quarterback or on the scout team.”
Saban and Milroe met the Sunday after the South Florida game, and Saban assured Milroe he was the starter going forward, especially after seeing the way Milroe stepped up as a leader despite not playing. It was also obvious to Saban at that point that Milroe’s skill set gave the Crimson Tide their best chance to win.
“You’re our guy,” Saban told Milroe. “We believe in you. There’s no need to look over your shoulder.”
Milroe said that Sunday meeting with Saban was the first time he truly felt like he was Alabama’s starting quarterback.
“I’d been splitting reps throughout the offseason. Even the Texas week, I was splitting some of the reps,” Milroe said. “But after that meeting with Coach Saban, I felt like I could play freely and not be restricted. It’s been so different because now it’s my team and now it’s my offense. Now it’s me, Coach Saban and [offensive coordinator] Coach [Tommy] Rees all jelling together.”
Since the South Florida game, Saban and Milroe have met twice weekly, on Mondays and Thursdays.
“Sometimes it’s five minutes. Sometimes it’s 20 minutes,” Milroe said. “Initially, you’d probably think it was just Coach Saban talking, but it’s also an opportunity for me to talk.
“A lot of times, we just talk about life. He’s helped me with some personal things, and he’s been there for me throughout the season. The main thing is that we both talk, what we see in games, feedback from games. He sees a lot of things I don’t see, and he’s always willing to listen if I see something.”
MILROE IS THE first to admit that he’s far from a finished product. He’s still prone to taking sacks and made a few head-scratching decisions against Auburn when he tried to throw the ball (after he was across the line of scrimmage) but had room to run.
But he’s been electric in clutch situations as the Tide chase their ninth SEC championship under Saban and what they hope will be their eighth CFP appearance. Since his benching, Milroe has accounted for 26 touchdowns and turned the ball over just five times. In his past four games, he’s accounted for 15 touchdowns and turned the ball over only once.
An emotional Milroe left the Jordan-Hare Stadium field last Saturday minutes after his incredible touchdown pass to Bond, screaming, “Let’s f—ing go. Give me the Heisman!” Milroe admits he “let my emotions get the best of me.”
That may be, but some of his numbers stack up with those of the Heisman Trophy favorites. Milroe is third nationally in passing efficiency rating (179.6), behind only LSU’s Jayden Daniels and Oregon’s Bo Nix. He’s averaging 10.6 yards per pass attempt (second nationally behind Daniels) and is one of only five Power 5 quarterbacks with more than 2,500 passing yards and 400 rushing yards. Milroe and Oklahoma’s Dillon Gabriel are the only FBS quarterbacks with 12 rushing touchdowns.
Asked Monday if Milroe compared to Florida Heisman Trophy winner Tim Tebow with his blend of size, speed and running ability, Georgia coach Kirby Smart said a better comparison would be current Baltimore Ravens star Lamar Jackson, who won the Heisman at Louisville.
“No offense to Tim Tebow, but this guy’s different,” Smart said. “Tim was a different running style, a very different running style in terms of what they did and how they did things. This guy is like when I used to ask my sons who they were playing with on the Madden game, and they would say, ‘I’m playing with the Ravens,’ and I would say, ‘Why are you playing with the Ravens?’ And they would say, ‘They’ve got Lamar Jackson and nobody can tackle him.’ Well, this guy is a bigger, physical version of that. He’s playing at a different speed than everybody else.”
One of the things the 6-foot-2, 220-pound redshirt sophomore has done best is generate big plays. In the 11 games in which he’s played, he’s been a part of 54 plays of 20 yards or longer, 20 going for touchdowns.
And as he’s settled into a rhythm, he’s made a lot more game-changing plays than he has plays that have hurt the team. Both of his touchdown passes in the third quarter against Texas A&M to rally Alabama from a 17-10 deficit came on third-and-long. He also jump-started Alabama in the Tennessee game with a 46-yard touchdown pass to Bond in the first minute of the third quarter after the Tide trailed 20-7 at the half.
Of course, the winner against Auburn was one for the ages.
“He’s seeing the game differently now, how you play the position and execute the plan, and I think that has helped him play more decisively,” Saban said. “If you’re always thinking, ‘I’ve got to make plays,’ that makes you force balls when you shouldn’t. It’s hard to have any consistency or rhythm on offense when you play that way.”
But when things do get a little helter-skelter, Saban said he hasn’t seen many quarterbacks better than Milroe, with his ability to accelerate and extend plays.
“When he has to just ad-lib, he’s fantastic. He’s off the charts,” Saban said. “But simply processing everything versus his ability to be so dynamic when things started to break down, they were working against each other sometimes. But now, they’re working together.”
Once he was given the keys to the offense, Milroe’s competitive toughness became even more apparent to the coaches. When he has made mistakes, he hasn’t allowed them to fester. Rees has tweaked some things with the offense, not simply putting Milroe in a position to run more, but tailoring the game plan around the quarterback’s strengths.
“In the passing game, we’re doing a lot of stuff, and Jalen has developed confidence in reading things and seeing things and taking what they’re giving him,” Saban said. “As much as anything, Tommy has done a really good job of figuring out the stuff Jalen is really good at and then saying, ‘Here’s how we can put him in a position to play more instinctively.'”
Milroe joked that his relationship with Rees has morphed from going on a first date with someone and trying to figure out each other’s interests to celebrating a yearlong relationship. Milroe said it is the first time he’s been coached by someone who played quarterback.
“I guess we’re about to go into a five-year relationship now,” Milroe quipped. “He’s helped me understand that I should see football through the lens of the offensive coordinator. That’s when the quarterback can really grow and really play at the level you need to play at.”
Rees is in his first season as Alabama’s coordinator after coming over from Notre Dame. Milroe’s eyebrows naturally raised when Alabama brought in Buchner, who played for Rees in South Bend, as a transfer after spring practice when nobody was named the starter.
“I wasn’t going to run from competition,” Milroe said. “My attitude, and I learned it from my dad, was to turn your weaknesses into your strengths and make all your strengths even stronger.
“If anything, bringing in another quarterback only made me stronger.”
Milroe clearly feels the commitment from the coaching staff and is playing with confidence and command. He’s not on pins and needles the way he was to start the season — which isn’t uncommon for quarterbacks trying to establish themselves — and the stage hasn’t been too big for him.
That stage is about to get bigger and a lot brighter against a Georgia defense that typically chews up and spits out opposing quarterbacks. Only twice this season has Georgia allowed a quarterback to top 200 yards in total offense, and the Bulldogs have given up a total of 11 touchdown passes.
“The best thing about Jalen is that he’s never changed,” Alabama offensive guard Tyler Booker said. “It’s just that the spotlight is on him more now because he’s playing out of his mind. I wouldn’t want to block for anybody else.”
BEING THE QUARTERBACK at Alabama isn’t for everybody, and Milroe’s support system has been extensive. He eats breakfast every Friday morning at the Waysider Restaurant (a Bear Bryant favorite) with head athletic trainer Jeff Allen, who has been with Saban all 17 of his seasons at Alabama. Milroe has also leaned heavily on defensive analyst Charlie Strong, a former head coach at Louisville, South Florida and Texas. Milroe calls Strong “Uncle Charlie.”
But nobody has been more important to Milroe than his family. His parents have never missed a scrimmage or a game, even those he didn’t play in. They will also be there next month when Milroe graduates from Alabama in business management with a concentration in entrepreneurship. He couldn’t promise his parents when he left Katy, Texas, that he would become a football star at Alabama, but he did promise them that he would get his degree.
“I still remember when Alabama and Coach Saban first offered Jalen. He came running downstairs to tell us and had tears in his eyes,” said his father, Quentin Milroe, who knows about commitment and resilience, having been part of the initial push into Iraq with the US Marines during the Iraq War in 2003. “It hasn’t been easy. Nothing worthwhile ever is, but it meant something to him to wear the ‘A,’ and that wasn’t going to change in the classroom or anywhere else just because he had to earn other people’s trust.
“Jalen has taught me and his mother [Lola] so much as parents, the way he’s handled this and the way he’s grown so much as a man, and not just as a football player, in Coach Saban’s program. You don’t learn from success. You learn from failure, and some people don’t really understand that.”
As has been his custom all season, Milroe waded through the masses of fans and teammates after Saturday’s game to find his parents and give them hugs. He gave his dad an extra big bear hug just before boarding the team bus outside the visiting locker room.
“As the phrase goes, ‘Pressure can bust pipes, or pressure can make diamonds,'” Quentin Milroe said. “You see which way Jalen has gone, but I don’t think he’s done.”
Arnold knew as much back in September when Milroe led a team meeting after the South Florida game.
“I remember his exact words: ‘It doesn’t matter what position we’re in. It doesn’t matter who’s out there playing. We have to go out there and support each other,'” Arnold recalled. “We’re all we’ve got and we’re all we need, and that’s something we live by.”
With his skeptics much less plentiful these days, Milroe is living his best life, as is an Alabama team that was pretty much left for dead not long ago.
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David Schoenfield
Welcome to the original … the amazing … the astonishing … ESPN still-too-early All-Star selections — full of wonderful surprises and fun debates for all ages.
A lot can change in the month before the 2025 All-Star announcements, but we’re deep enough into the season that we can make some educated guesses on what the rosters will look like — or should look like — for this year’s Midsummer Classic in Atlanta on July 15.
The usual rules apply: 32 players per team, broken down into 20 position players and 12 pitchers (at least three relievers), with one representative from each MLB club. Players will be considered for the position they’re listed at on the official All-Star ballot.
Let’s dive into baseball’s most power-packed league.
National League
Top starter debates
First base: Freddie Freeman vs. Pete Alonso
It looks as if Freeman — whom I’ve referred to as the new David Ortiz — will keep hitting until he retires or until his legs eventually give out. Freeman’s numbers were down a bit last season as he dealt with injuries and the health scare to his son, but he’s raking once again and leads the NL in batting average (.354), is tied for first in doubles (20, with Alonso and Brendan Donovan), ranks second in OPS (1.024) and third in OPS+ (189). At 35 years old, he’s as good as ever — maybe better.
Alonso had a couple of soft All-Star selections the past two years, making it last season despite a sub-.800 OPS in the first half and in 2023, despite hitting just .211 (albeit with 26 home runs). This season is shaping up as his best all-around campaign at the plate, even if he’ll fall short of the 53 home runs he hit as a rookie in 2019. He has cut down his strikeout rate, is hitting around .300 and leads the NL with 61 RBIs thanks to a .356 average with runners in scoring position.
This is a coin flip, especially because Freeman spent time on the injured list early this season. Both have also been incredible in high-leverage situations, with Freeman hitting .211/.448/.368 and Alonso even better at .346/.486/.615. That does it for me. Alonso gets the nod.
Third outfielder: James Wood vs. Kyle Tucker vs. Fernando Tatis Jr.
The first outfield selection is easy: Pete Crow-Armstrong, who is making a strong case for NL MVP thanks to his spectacular defense, baserunning and surprising power at the plate (he leads the NL in Baseball-Reference and FanGraphs WAR) and could have an incredible 10-WAR season. The last NL player to do that: Barry Bonds in 2004. I don’t know whether Crow-Armstrong can keep hitting this well, considering his chase rate (third worst in the majors), but pitchers haven’t exploited that aggressiveness yet.
Corbin Carroll gets the second nod. No arguments there. The next three are right there with Carroll — all worthy starters. Tucker is having another superb all-around season, hitting for power, getting on base and stealing bases to earn a fourth straight All-Star selection. Tatis has slowed down after a hot April (1.011 OPS) but adds Gold Glove defense in right field.
My nod, however, goes to Wood. The sophomore sensation is hitting .270/.366/.533 with 16 home runs, getting the ball in the air more often than last season (although with much more growth potential in that area) and displaying elite numbers all over his Baseball Savant page. Physically, the 22-year-old resembles Aaron Judge — and it’s perhaps a little premature to point this out, but Judge hit .308/.419/.486 at age 22 … in High-A.
Second base: Ketel Marte vs. Brendan Donovan vs. Brice Turang vs. Nico Hoerner
Can we shift a couple of these players to the AL? These four are bunched closely in WAR, although they got there in different ways. Marte, last year’s starter, is having another monster offensive season, but he missed a month because of a hamstring strain. Donovan is hitting over .300 with a bunch of doubles and adds flexibility by filling in at left field and shortstop. Turang and Hoerner are defensive wizards without much power but add enough offensive value by getting on base and stealing bases.
My vote goes to Marte. He’s the best player of the group, and only the injury holds him back in the debate. He’s hitting .294/.418/.603 with 12 home runs in 39 games and has more walks than strikeouts, ranking in the 90th-plus percentile in walk rate and lowest strikeout rate. What a fantastic player — often overlooked. Donovan makes it as the backup, while Turang and Hoerner draw the short straw and are left off my hypothetical team.
Starters
Here’s my NL starting lineup:
C: Will Smith, Los Angeles Dodgers
1B: Pete Alonso, New York Mets
2B: Ketel Marte, Arizona Diamondbacks
3B: Manny Machado, San Diego Padres
SS: Francisco Lindor, New York Mets
OF: Pete Crow-Armstrong, Chicago Cubs
OF: Corbin Carroll, Arizona Diamondbacks
OF: James Wood, Washington Nationals
DH: Shohei Ohtani, Los Angeles Dodgers
SP: Paul Skenes, Pittsburgh Pirates
Smith is an easy call at catcher. He’s one of 11 Dodgers catchers to make an All-Star team in franchise history. Can any team match that many All-Stars at one position?
Machado and Lindor are the clear leaders at their positions, and Ohtani is matching his offensive prowess from 2024, minus a few stolen bases. Skenes is only 4-6 and his strikeout rate has dipped more than 6 percentage points from last season, but he has a 1.88 ERA and is in line to start for the second time in his two seasons in the majors.
Reserves
C: Hunter Goodman, Colorado Rockies
1B: Freddie Freeman, Los Angeles Dodgers
2B: Brendan Donovan, St. Louis Cardinals
3B: Matt Chapman, San Francisco Giants
SS: Mookie Betts, Los Angeles Dodgers
SS: Elly De La Cruz, Cincinnati Reds
OF: Kyle Tucker, Chicago Cubs
OF: Fernando Tatis Jr., San Diego Padres
OF Juan Soto, New York Mets
OF: Kyle Stowers, Miami Marlins
DH: Kyle Schwarber, Philadelphia Phillies
Believe it or not, the lowly Rockies have two reasonable All-Star candidates in Goodman and reliever Jake Bird. Bird has been good for 35 innings, but let’s go with Goodman as the backup catcher, given the lack of a strong candidate because players such as William Contreras and J.T. Realmuto are having down seasons and others such as Carson Kelly and Drake Baldwin are excelling but in part-time roles.
Betts and De La Cruz get the nod at shortstop over Trea Turner, Geraldo Perdomo, Masyn Winn and CJ Abrams in a deep group of candidates. Betts isn’t having his best season, but he’s one of the game’s marquee players and the others haven’t outplayed him enough to kick him off this roster. The backup DH slot is down to Schwarber, Marcell Ozuna and Seiya Suzuki — with all three putting up nice numbers, but Schwarber’s are a little nicer.
And, yes, we managed to squeeze Soto onto the team, especially as he heats up with another three-hit game Sunday (and three walks), raising his OPS to .820. Stowers represents the Marlins, pushing out a third second baseman or Jackson Merrill, who might have made it if he hadn’t missed a month on the IL.
Pitchers
SP: Zack Wheeler, Philadelphia Phillies
SP: MacKenzie Gore, Washington Nationals
SP: Logan Webb, San Francisco Giants
SP: Robbie Ray, San Francisco Giants
SP: Kodai Senga, New York Mets
SP: Chris Sale, Atlanta Braves
SP: Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Los Angeles Dodgers
SP: Freddy Peralta, Milwaukee Brewers
RP: Robert Suarez, San Diego Padres
RP: Edwin Diaz, New York Mets
RP: Randy Rodriguez, San Francisco Giants
Peralta makes it as our Brewers rep but is a worthy selection with a 2.69 ERA. He makes it over Reds teammates Hunter Greene and Andrew Abbott.
The game is at Truist Park in Atlanta, so it would be nice to get more Braves on the team — but Sale is the only one I squeezed onto the roster. Ozuna, Austin Riley and Spencer Schwellenbach still have time to play their way onto the team, but the last time the Braves had just one All-Star rep was 2017, when Ender Inciarte was the only selection. It would be a far cry from two seasons ago, when the Braves had eight All-Stars.
American League
Top starter debates
Shortstop: Bobby Witt Jr. vs. Jeremy Peña vs. Jacob Wilson
Here are their current stats:
Witt: .291/.349/.492, 8 HR, 135 OPS+, 3.4 bWAR, 3.5 fWAR
Peña: .316/.373/.480, 9 HR, 139 OPS+, 3.9 bWAR, 3.2 fWAR
Wilson: .372/.408/.528, 8 HR, 163 OPS+, 2.8 bWAR, 3.3 fWAR
Peña has been terrific in helping keep afloat Houston’s offense, which lost Tucker and Alex Bregman in the offseason and has been without a productive Yordan Alvarez. Peña has dropped his strikeout rate for a third straight season, and Baseball-Reference, which gives him the highest WAR among the three, loves his defense.
Wilson debuted last season with the A’s but still has rookie status, which puts him on a potential track for some historic rookie numbers. The last rookie to hit .350? Ichiro Suzuki in 2001. The only rookie since 1900 to hit .370? George Watkins in the juiced ball season of 1930 when he hit .373 (and even then, he had just 424 plate appearances, so wouldn’t qualify under current standards). Highest average for a rookie shortstop? Johnny Pesky at .331 in 1942. With eight home runs, Wilson is even hitting for more power than expected. His defense, however, isn’t on par with Witt or Peña.
Witt’s home run numbers are down from last season, but he leads the majors with 22 doubles. With the weather heating up, some of those doubles should turn into home runs. His defense remains spectacular, and he leads the AL in stolen bases. He’s a true star, and though there’s time for Peña or Wilson to pass him, Witt should be starting his first All-Star Game in 2025 — the first of many.
Starting pitcher: Tarik Skubal vs. Kris Bubic
Skubal is making a strong push to defend his 2024 AL Cy Young Award, while Bubic has put up a surprisingly dominant first half for the Royals. The numbers:
Skubal: 6-2, 2.16 ERA, 83.1 IP, 61 H, 7 BB, 105 SO, 3.1 bWAR, 3.4 fWAR
Bubic: 5.3, 1.43 ERA, 75.1 IP, 53 H, 22 BB, 79 SO, 3.5 bWAR, 2.5 fWAR
Bubic — who pitched in 27 games for the Royals last season, all in relief — is a 27-year-old lefty, a former first-round pick out of Stanford who had Tommy John surgery in 2023. His fastball isn’t overpowering at 92-93 mph, but he has added more spin than before his surgery to improve its whiff rate and his changeup is one of the best in the game (batters are hitting .100 against it). Though maintaining a 1.43 ERA isn’t likely, he has been really good and not just lucky.
Sticking with my “He’s done it before” analysis, however, Skubal is the pick — and it’s hard to argue that he’s not the best starter in the majors. That strikeout-to-walk ratio is incredible, plus he seems to be heating up, allowing just one run over his past three starts.
First base: Vladimir Guerrero Jr. vs. Paul Goldschmidt vs. Jonathan Aranda vs. Spencer Torkelson
Meh. Guerrero has made four straight All-Star appearances, including three starts, but he has benefited from subpar competition. First base in the AL has been consistently lacking in stars for a long time.
Anyway, the numbers … and, no, I didn’t have Goldschmidt on my Bingo card either:
Guerrero: .273/.380/.417, 8 HR, 29 RBIs, 1.7 bWAR, 1.4 fWAR
Goldschmidt: .312/.369/.464, 7 HR, 29 RBIs, 1.7 bWAR, 1.6 fWAR
Aranda: .320/.406/.490, 7 HR, 34 RBIs, 2.3 bWAR, 1.7 fWAR
Torkelson: .237/.342/.500 15 HR, 45 RBIs, 1.4 bWAR, 1.5 fWAR
Aranda has the best slash line, although he started only 50 of the Rays’ first 64 games because he wasn’t playing against lefties earlier in the season. He has no track record of hitting like this, but his Statcast metrics are impressive, including a 94th percentile hard-hit rate. Goldschmidt was hitting over .340 just a week ago, so he has been in a slump, but coming off the worst season of his career, he has been a pleasant surprise for the Yankees. Torkelson has the best power numbers of the group but is the worst defender and has slowed down after a hot start.
I’ll stick with Guerrero as the starter. Nobody else has done quite enough, although any of the four could separate from the pack with a hot June. I’ll make Aranda the backup, a nod to his nice start.
Starters
My AL starting lineup:
C: Cal Raleigh, Seattle Mariners
1B: Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Toronto Blue Jays
2B: Gleyber Torres, Detroit Tigers
3B: Jose Ramirez, Cleveland Guardians
SS: Bobby Witt Jr., Kansas City Royals
OF: Aaron Judge, New York Yankees
OF: Steven Kwan, Cleveland Guardians
OF: Byron Buxton, Minnesota Twins
DH: Rafael Devers, Boston Red Sox
SP: Tarik Skubal, Detroit Tigers
Raleigh is the landslide choice at catcher, and let’s hope the fans vote him in as the starter. He leads the majors in home runs and is on pace for one of the greatest offensive seasons for a catcher. Torres gets the nod in a very weak group at second base, probably the weakest position in either league. Alex Bregman was battling Ramirez for starting honors at third base until Bregman’s injury.
The AL outfield is also pretty weak, with Judge the one easy choice and Kwan a distant second choice. The third starter is up for grabs. Julio Rodriguez is the selection going by WAR, but his offensive numbers are still way down from his first two seasons in the majors. Devers gets the nod at DH because, despite the slow start and controversy over playing first base, he’s putting up the best OPS of his career.
Reserves
C: Logan O’Hoppe, Los Angeles Angels
1B: Jonathan Aranda, Tampa Bay Rays
2B: Brandon Lowe, Tampa Bay Rays
3B: Isaac Paredes, Houston Astros
3B: Maikel Garcia, Kansas City Royals
SS: Jeremy Peña, Houston Astros
SS: Jacob Wilson, Athletics
OF: Julio Rodriguez, Seattle Mariners
OF: Riley Greene, Detroit Tigers
OF: Cody Bellinger, New York Yankees
DH: Ryan O’Hearn, Baltimore Orioles
O’Hoppe is our Angels rep, and Lowe joins teammate Aranda on the All-Star roster. Paredes has quietly had a nice season for the Astros, although Junior Caminero is coming on strong for the Rays, and Bregman will merit consideration if he can make it back soon from his hamstring injury. Greene has had a weird season for the Tigers with a ton of strikeouts, but he has been a mainstay in a better-than-expected Detroit lineup.
Bellinger is one of many other outfield candidates. Any of the three Red Sox outfielders — Wilyer Abreu, Jarren Duran, Ceddanne Rafaela — could make it (Rafaela on the strength of his defense), and the Athletics’ Lawrence Butler is heating up after a slow start. O’Hearn makes it as the only Orioles rep, and Alvarez’s injury opens a DH slot. Garcia was my final choice, quietly having a nice season for the Royals, hitting over .300 while also starting games at second base and in the outfield.
Pitchers
SP: Kris Bubic, Kansas City Royals
SP: Garrett Crochet, Boston Red Sox
SP: Max Fried, New York Yankees
SP: Hunter Brown, Houston Astros
SP: Jacob deGrom, Texas Rangers
SP: Carlos Rodon, New York Yankees
SP: Framber Valdez, Houston Astros
SP: Shane Smith, Chicago White Sox
RP: Josh Hader, Houston Astros
RP: Andres Munoz, Seattle Mariners
RP: Jhoan Duran, Minnesota Twins
Look at all those lefties! Besides Skubal, five of the eight other AL starters are left-handed. Brown and Fried have sub-2.00 ERAs and could merit consideration for starting as well — this is a very deep group of AL starters. Nathan Eovaldi is left off only because he’s on the injured list, but he’s not expected to be out long and was as good as anyone with a 1.56 ERA. It’s great to see deGrom back, and even though he’s not as dominant as in his peak Mets days, he still has a 2.12 ERA. Valdez gets the nod over Tyler Mahle and Joe Ryan, and Smith makes it as the White Sox rep.
For the relievers, Hader didn’t make the All-Star Game last year, but he’s dominating again, going 17-for-17 in save chances. Munoz had a 0.00 ERA until May 30. Duran is 4-1 with 10 saves and a 1.19 ERA, part of a Twins bullpen that has been the best in the majors. Though they didn’t make the cut, Tigers relievers Tommy Kahnle and Will Vest have been great in late-game duties for Detroit.
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Eli Lederman
Four-star offensive tackle Micah “Champ” Smith, No. 46 in the 2026 ESPN 300, has committed to UCLA, he told ESPN on Saturday, landing as the Bruins’ highest-ranked pledge under coach DeShaun Foster.
Smith, a 6-foot-3, 320-pound lineman from Vero Beach, Florida, is the nation’s seventh-ranked offensive tackle prospect in the current cycle. He chose UCLA over finalists Alabama, Illinois, Ohio State, South Carolina and Tennessee following spring visits with each program.
Smith told ESPN that his relationship with Bruins offensive line coach Andy Kwon, who joined the program this offseason, and the development track he was presented on his May official visit helped drive his pledge to UCLA. Upon his commitment, Smith has formally closed his recruitment and will no longer take visits to other schools this summer.
“My relationship with [Kwon] was a huge factor,” he told ESPN. “That’s the person that’s going to develop you. The culture of the program, that connection with the O-line coach and the opportunity to play when I get there were all big for me.”
The Bruins’ first ESPN 300 pledge in 2026, Smith represents a monumental addition to the program’s second recruiting class under Foster, the 45-year-old coach who took charge of UCLA in February 2024.
If Smith signs with the Bruins later this year, he’ll join UCLA as its highest-ranked signee since quarterback Dante Moore (No. 2 overall) in 2023 and the program’s highest-rated offensive line addition since former second-team All-American Xavier Su’a-Filo arrived as the nation’s No. 34 overall prospect in the 2009 class.
Smith cemented himself as the starting right tackle at Florida’s Vero Beach High School in 2023. He played both ways as a junior last fall, operating primarily at right tackle and recording 22 tackles (6.5 for loss) and 2.5 sacks on the defensive line. In January, Smith was among the first class of high school juniors invited to the 2025 Under Armour All-America Game.
Smith lands as the Bruins’ ninth overall pledge and first offensive line addition in the 2026 class.
“I just felt it when I went there — it felt like home to me,” Smith said of his official visit to UCLA. “I was never certain of when I was going to commit. But when I felt right about it, I knew I was going to be ready to make that the time to do it. It felt right.”
Following Smith’s decision, six of the nation’s top 10 offensive tackles recruits are now off the board, led by Miami pledge Jackson Cantwell (No. 3 overall) and fellow five-star Keenyi Pepe (No. 17), who committed to USC on May 1. Five-star offensive tackle Immanuel Iheanacho (No. 12) narrowed his finalists to Auburn, LSU, Oregon and Penn State on Friday and will visit each program this month ahead of his Aug. 5 commitment date.
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Adam Rittenberg
Michigan wrapped up a two-day hearing Saturday before the NCAA’s committee on infractions, which is examining potential punishments for impermissible scouting and sign-stealing, orchestrated by former football staff member Connor Stalions.
A Michigan spokesman told ESPN that the school would not be commenting until there is a final resolution to the case, which likely wouldn’t come until later this summer or fall. Infractions decisions usually take three months, although that could vary depending on the complexity of the case, according to the spokesman.
The school faces 11 violations, six of them Level I, the most serious tier from the NCAA. Most of the violations concern the scouting and sign-stealing operation overseen by Stalions, who was seen entering NCAA headquarters for the infraction committee hearings, according to Sports Illustrated. Stalions resigned from his position as football analyst in November 2023, several days after news of the investigation went public. Michigan administrators and attorneys also attended the hearings.
The NCAA already has punished former Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh with a four-year show-cause penalty and a one-year suspension for violations in a separate investigation into illegal recruiting during the COVID-19 period. The Big Ten took the unusual step of suspending Harbaugh for Michigan’s final three regular-season games in 2023 for violating its sportsmanship policy because of the sign-stealing scandal. Michigan went on to win the national championship that season.
Harbaugh, now coaching the Los Angeles Chargers, did not attend this week’s hearing but could face additional penalties. Other former Michigan assistant coaches could face penalties, but the focus will be on punishment for the current program and its coaches, including head coach Sherrone Moore.
Michigan is expected to suspend Moore in Weeks 3 and 4 of the 2025 season, part of self-imposed penalties, after he deleted a thread of 52 text messages with Stalions. The NCAA has since obtained those messages, which Moore later said he looked forward to being released. Still, he could face additional penalties from the infractions committee and be considered a repeat offender; he served a one-game suspension in 2023 for his role in the COVID-19 recruiting violations probe.
Michigan also could be labeled a repeat offender and receive additional penalties, including recruiting restrictions or a postseason ban.
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