The Congressional Baseball Game is Likely Republican
June 9, 2025 · 12:55 PM EDT
Greg Steube may not be not the most famous member of the House of Representatives; he hasn’t faced a serious challenge in Florida’s deep-red 17th District since 2018, and he doesn’t serve in Republican leadership or chair any committees. But he still has one important claim to fame in Washington: He’s the reigning most valuable player of the Congressional Baseball Game.
First played in 1909, the Congressional Baseball Game is an annual charity baseball game between Democratic and Republican members of Congress. But that laid-back description undersells how seriously its players — and, indeed, all of Washington — take it. Members wake up at the crack of dawn to practice for weeks leading up to the big day. The game is played in a major-league stadium (Nationals Park) and is nationally televised on FS1. Last year’s contest raised $2.2 million for charity and drew 24,000 fans — more than the actual Washington Nationals did at their game in Detroit the same day.
Winning the Congressional Baseball Game is a point of pride — and lately, it’s Republicans whose chests have been swelling. The GOP has won the game four years in a row by a combined score of 70-29, thanks in large part to Steube’s two-way dominance as both the GOP’s starting pitcher and one of its best hitters. But every two years brings an infusion of new blood — in the form of newly elected members of Congress — and renewed optimism from the underdog that this is their year. Democratic manager Linda Sánchez of California says her team is better prepared than it was last year and puts Democrats’ chances of winning at 50-50.
The data, though, doesn’t necessarily agree. According to the stats, Republicans are the favorites to once again hoist the trophy at the conclusion of the 2025 Congressional Baseball Game, scheduled for this Wednesday at 7:05pm.
The Republican Players
There are 38 members (36 representatives, two senators) on the Republican roster, eight of whom are rookies and 30 of whom are returning players. But if it ain’t broken, don’t fix it: Manager Roger Williams of Texas is expected to rely on the same core that has carried his team to victory in the last four contests. While the lineups are still being finalized, we’re expecting the GOP to line up something like this:
House Majority Leader Steve Scalise and his .375 career batting average will almost certainly bat first. The Louisiana Republican has led off for the GOP in every Congressional Baseball Game since 2018 — the year after he was critically injured by a politically motivated mass shooting at a Republican baseball practice. Due to his injuries, Scalise can’t run or play the field, so another Republican player traditionally runs for him and replaces him in subsequent at-bats. Still, Scalise’s at-bat always gets a rousing cheer out of the crowd (and not infrequently results in a GOP baserunner).
Then comes the Republicans’ Murderers’ Row: five consecutive hitters with a career OPS (on-base percentage plus slugging percentage, a metric that blends ability to get on base with the ability to hit for power) over 1.000. Missouri Sen. Eric Schmitt, who coached a young David Freese (the 2011 World Series MVP for the St. Louis Cardinals) while he was in law school, and Morgan Luttrell of Texas, a former Navy SEAL, are the most powerful of this quintet. Although they’ve played only two games each, they have combined for three doubles and two triples in their careers. They hit the ball hard and far nearly every time up to bat.
But it’s Steube who etched himself in congressional baseball lore with an over-the-fence home run in 2021. Since 2009, there have only been five home runs in the Congressional Baseball Game, and the other four were all inside-the-park jobs. Steube’s 1.386 OPS is only half of his résumé, though. He has also been the GOP’s starting pitcher in every game since 2019. His 7.00 earned run average looks high, but it’s actually better than average in the very high-scoring context of the Congressional Baseball Game.
Steube can typically be relied on to pitch about five innings and keep damage to a minimum before handing the ball off to closer August Pfluger of Texas. Pfluger played Division I baseball at the Air Force Academy, and his uncle played in the Boston Red Sox minor-league system. In the Congressional Baseball Game, he sports a 1.75 ERA in eight innings on the mound and a 1.161 OPS at the plate.
The bottom half of the GOP lineup is not quite as fearsome, especially with star outfielder Blake Moore of Utah (a 1.303 career OPS) on the injured list. Republicans do have some solid bench players, namely William Timmons of South Carolina and Chuck Fleischmann of Tennessee, who have stolen 14 and seven bases, respectively, in their careers. However, they may not see much action this year. The Congressional Baseball Game has historically been very lax about substitution rules, allowing designated runners to enter and exit the game willy-nilly. But that’s going to be curtailed this year; in fact, stealing bases will not be allowed at all, other than in the event of a wild pitch or passed ball.
The Democratic Players
Democrats have 29 players on their roster (27 representatives, two senators), seven of whom are rookies. At an impromptu press conference following a Democratic practice last week, Sánchez named Johnny Olszewski of Maryland and Derek Tran and Dave Min of California as particularly impressive newcomers. But we’re expecting the Democrats’ starting lineup, at least, to look pretty similar to last year’s — something like this:
Democrats’ best hitters are actually every bit as good as Republicans’; the problem is, there are a lot fewer of them. A pair of Navy veterans — Chris Deluzio of western Pennsylvania and Jimmy Panetta (whose father Leon also played in the Congressional Baseball Game when he served in Congress from California) — are at the top of the class. Deluzio has rapped five hits in seven career at-bats, while Panetta is a career .500 hitter with two triples and a home run.
Morgan McGarvey of Kentucky and California Sen. Alex Padilla could be just as good, but they haven’t had much of a chance to show off what they can do. McGarvey showed promise in his congressional baseball debut in 2023, going 1-for-2, but he broke his foot patrolling the outfield on the second batter of the 2024 game. This year, Democrats are penciling him in at catcher. Meanwhile, Padilla — who was on the MIT baseball team in college — has played in just one Congressional Baseball Game so far in his career, but he has yet to make an out.
Raul Ruiz and Pete Aguilar of California, meanwhile, are the two grizzled veterans of the Democratic squad. Although their skills may be a notch below the others, they’re virtually guaranteed to crack the Democratic lineup. Neither one has very much power, as evidenced by their sub-.400 slugging percentages, but they each get on base about half the time. Ruiz is very likely to lead off for the Democrats, as he has done every year since 2015; Aguilar will probably bat further down in the lineup.
The key to a Democratic victory, though, will be run prevention — and finding good pitching has been a struggle for Democrats ever since their former ace, former Louisiana Rep. Cedric Richmond (who went 8-0 with a 2.64 ERA), left Congress in 2021 to join the Biden administration. Democrats have yet to announce their starting pitcher, but the front-runner for the job appears to be Deluzio, in spite of the fact that he’s given up 17 earned runs in just 4⅓ innings over the last two games. Deluzio’s main problem is his inability to throw strikes: He has walked 35 percent of the batters he’s faced in his career.
If they’re serious about winning, Democrats might be wise to give the ball to one of their other three pitchers instead. Padilla, who pitched in high school, was decent when he took the mound in relief last year, giving up just two earned runs in two innings. Aguilar, their most experienced hurler, has four games under his belt, but his 10.92 ERA doesn’t inspire much confidence. A wild card could be freshman John Mannion of New York, who has also been working out as a pitcher.
Looking further ahead, Democrats might want to spend some time and money boosting their farm system. Democratic state Rep. J.D. Scholten recently announced a challenge to GOP Sen. Joni Ernst in Iowa in 2026. Scholten is a professional baseball player who spent 2023 pitching for the Twins Oosterhout in the Dutch professional baseball league and 2024 pitching for the Sioux City Explorers in the independent minor leagues. If he’s able to overcome the odds and unseat Ernst (Inside Elections currently rates the race as Solid Republican), Scholten and his mid-80s fastball would be a formidable addition to the Democratic roster.
The Bottom Line
Anything can happen in a single baseball game: Even the best players can hit a rough patch, or someone unheralded could break out. Democrats aren’t so totally outmatched by Republicans that a GOP victory is assured. “They’re working out hard; we’re working out hard. We’re not taking anything for granted,” Williams said at a scrimmage last week.
But Republicans have a deeper lineup than Democrats do, and Democrats haven’t proven they have a pitcher who can reliably get outs. So the 2025 Congressional Baseball Game looks like the GOP’s to lose.