2025 NPB All-Star Game Fan Voting Results
Fan votes set the stage for two epic All-Star Games in Osaka and Yokohama
Nippon Professional Baseball announced the final results of the fan voting for this year’s All-Star games. Yes, games plural. In Japan, unlike the MLB All-Star game, one game is held at a stadium from each league. The first game on July 23rd is at the Kyocera Dome in Osaka, home of the Orix Buffaloes. The second game on July 24th is at Yokohama Stadium, home of the DeNA BayStars.
The starters are determined by fan vote and cannot decline participation unless they are willing to miss the first ten days of the season after the All-Star break. The rest of the rosters are determined by player vote and manager selection. The numbers to the right of the player's name are the number of times they were selected by fan vote and the number of times they were selected overall.
Central League
The only team without a starter in the CL is the Tokyo Yakult Swallows. Yakult’s star player and the next NPBer headed to MLB, Munetaka Murakami, has been injured most of the season.
SP Shoki Murakami (2 fan votes/2 overall) - Hanshin Tigers
RP Taisei (2/2）- Yomiuri Giants
Yes, he only goes by his first name.
CL Shinya Matsuyama (1/2）- Chunichi Dragons
C Takuya Kai (1/4）- Yomiuri
1B Yusuke Ohyama (2/3）- Hanshin
2B Shugo Maki (3/4）- Yokohama DeNA BayStars
3B Teruaki Sato (4/4）- Hanshin
SS Masaya Yano (1/1）- Hiroshima Toyo Carp
OF Shota Morishita (1/1）- Hanshin
OF Koji Chikamoto (6/6）- Hanshin
OF Yuki Okabayashi (1/1）- Chunichi
Pacific League
In the PL, every starter hails from just two teams: Orix and Nippon-Ham. Orix is hosting the second game; Nippon-Ham has the best record overall and is led by former major leaguer Tsuyoshi Shinjo aka Big Boss.
SP Hiroya Miyagi (2/2）- Orix Buffaloes
RP Hiroshi Kaino (1/1）- Saitama Seibu Lions
CL Seigi Tanaka (2/3）- Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters
C Kenya Wakatsuki (1/2）- Orix
1B Yuma Tongu (2/2）- Orix
2B Ryo Ohta (1/2）- Orix
3B Kotaro Kiyomiya (1/2）- Nippon-Ham
SS Kotaro Kurebayashi (1/3）- Orix
OF Chusei Mannami (2/3）- Nippon-Ham
OF Ryoma Nishikawa (1/2）- Orix
OF Seiya Watanabe (1/1）- Seibu
DH Franmil Reyes (1/1）- Nippon-Ham
The players voted for by their peers will be announced on July 3rd. All players, including those selected by the managers, will be announced on July 7th. The final player, selected by fan vote and known as Plus One, will be announced on July 16th.
I’ll do a full rundown of each player and their season stats after they are all announced.
