ESPN Experts Pick NL to Win 2026 MLB All-Star Game
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- ESPN experts Jesse Rogers, Dave Schoenfield and Jorge Castillo all picked the National League to win the 2026 MLB All-Star Game at Citizens Bank Park (8 p.m. ET on Fox), with Rogers calling a 7-3 final and Schoenfield predicting an 8-6 slugfest.
- National League enters the break as 2025's dominant league, winning interleague play 237-196 (.547 winning percentage) per Schoenfield, while American League stars Aaron Judge, Nick Kurtz and Byron Buxton are sidelined by injuries.
- Bryce Harper is Castillo's MVP pick, with the analyst citing his 2018 hometown Home Run Derby win, his World Baseball Classic homer, and the energy of playing in front of the Philadelphia crowd — potentially making it two straight Phillies MVPs after Kyle Schwarber won last year.
- Mike Trout will lead off for the AL against Phillies starter Cristopher Sanchez in his first All-Star appearance since 2019, per Schoenfield, who noted the game is close to Trout's New Jersey hometown and that his teammates still revere his stature.
- Otto Lopez leads all of baseball with a .334 batting average and ranks fifth with a 4.3 fWAR, per Castillo — a remarkable rise for the Marlins shortstop who was designated for assignment by the Toronto Blue Jays in February 2024 and now stars on MLB's lowest payroll.
- Jordan Walker won the Home Run Derby on Monday night (aired on Netflix) by beating hometown favorite Kyle Schwarber, and Rogers predicts the Cardinals right fielder will add All-Star Game MVP to cement his stardom on Fox's broadcast.
- AL is seeking its 11th victory in 13 years after the NL's walk-off win in the 2025 Midsummer Classic, though the article notes All-Star newcomers like Kevin McGonigle and Travis Bazzana will join veterans Trout and Justin Verlander.
Why it matters: ESPN's unanimous NL prediction reflects a genuine 2025 power shift — the NL's 237-196 interleague dominance and a rash of AL injuries to Judge, Kurtz and Buxton tilt the field, while the host-city narrative around Harper and the Trout comeback at his New Jersey-area birthplace give Fox a marketable storyline beyond the final score.
