Did Philadelphia just get a spoiler on the MLB All-Star selections?
On Friday, banners boasting some of baseball’s biggest stars were spotted by The Inquirer around town. The banners, first noted by user @gerawaycar on X, appear to be in place for the MLB All-Star Game, which is July 14 at Citizens Bank Park. Many banners are clustered near Market Street, leading up to City Hall.
The only issue? The MLB has not announced the game’s rosters yet.
The league is scheduled to name the game’s starters and reserves on Saturday (7:30 p.m., Fox29). If the banners do correspond with the league’s selections, Philadelphians got a sneak peak. The Inquirer has reached out to the city of Philadelphia for comment.
The banners also could just be promotional material. In 2019, Phillies star Bryce Harper was featured prominently on multiple banners Cleveland, which was hosting that year, despite not being selected to participate.
In 2021, when the game was in Colorado, a sign was spotted featuring Harper alongside Chicago White Sox catcher Yermin Mercedes and Colorado Rockies outfielder Charlie Blackmon.
Not necessarily true! Here’s a sign in Colorado during the 2021 All-Star Game featuring Yermin Mercedes, Bryce Harper and Charlie Blackmon. All three were not All-Stars 😂 pic.twitter.com/dgOVHgIjd4
— Talkin’ Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) July 3, 2026
Players that are featured on Philadelphia’s banners include the Washington Nationals’ James Wood, the New York Yankees’ Cam Schlittler, the Atlanta Braves’ Chris Sale, the Athletics’ Shea Langeliers, Pittsburgh Pirates’ Paul Skenes, and the Minnesota Twins’ Byron Buxton.
Other banners also have been spotted on social media. Other players spotted include the Phillies’ Cristopher Sánchez and Kyle Schwarber, the Milwaukee Brewers’ Jacob Misiorowski, the Atlanta Braves’ Matt Olson, the Los Angeles Angels’ Mike Trout, the Mets’ Juan Soto, the Chicago Cubs’ Pete Crow-Armstrong, the Los Angeles Dodgers’ Shohei Ohtani, the St. Louis Cardinals’ Jordan Walker, the Cleveland Guardians’ Cade Smith, the Toronto Blue Jays’ Louis Varland, the Houston Astros’ Yordan Alvarez, the San Diego Padres’ Mason Miller, the Arizona Diamondbacks’ Corbin Carroll, the Kansas City Royals’ Bobby Witt Jr., and the Athletics’ Nick Kurtz.
Read more Phillies closer Jhoan Duran named NL reliever of the month