Major League Baseball offered another voting update with respect to the 2024 All-Star Game starters on Monday. New York Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge and Philadelphia Phillies first baseman Bryce Harper continue to lead their respective leagues in votes, each with more than 2 million apiece. Fellow Yankees outfielder Juan Soto is the only other player beyond the 2-million vote threshold. (Here's where you can vote on the All-Star Game starters.)
On a team level, two clubs in particular have inspired rabid support: both the Baltimore Orioles and Philadelphia Phillies have six players primed to advance to Phase 2 of voting. That doesn't mean either club will have six starters, mind you, just that they could have six players in contention for a starting role beginning next week.
That's because there are two phases to voting these days. Phase 1 concludes at noon ET on June 27. The top two vote-getters at each position (and the top six outfielders) will advance to Phase 2. The voting then resets, with the winner of Phase 2 being named as this year's All-Star Game starters. Do note that the top overall vote-getters in both leagues -- Judge and Harper as it stands -- get to skip over Phase 2 into starting roles.
Here now are the top two vote-getters at each position, and their vote totals.
American League
| Position | Leader | Runner-up |
|---|---|---|
Catcher | Adley Rutschman, Orioles (1,638,425) | Salvador Perez, Royals (1,033,099) |
First base | Ryan Mountcastle, Orioles (1,400,373) | Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Blue Jays (1,338,688) |
Second base | Jose Altuve, Astros (1,233,299) | Marcus Semien, Rangers (963,423) |
Shortstop | Gunnar Henderson, Orioles (1,551,124) | Bobby Witt Jr., Royals (987,689) |
Third base | José Ramírez, Guardians (1,426,755) | Jordan Westburg, Orioles (846,352) |
Outfield | Aaron Judge, Yankees (2,375,199) | Steven Kwan, Guardians (973,401) |
Outfield | Juan Soto, Yankees (2,136,383) | Anthony Santander, Orioles (808,100) |
Outfield | Kyle Tucker, Astros (1,002,803) | Colton Cowser, Orioles (649,710) |
DH | Yordan Alvarez, Astros (963,519) | Giancarlo Stanton, Yankees (717,023) |
The top two vote-getters at each position advance to Phase 2. As such, the race between second and third place is more important than first and second place. That makes the race at DH worth watching, since Stanton is just under 11,000 votes ahead of Cleveland Guardians utility player David Fry for second place. Fry has been one of the biggest individual-level surprises of the season.
Elsewhere, it's a three-player battle at third base. Ramírez and Westburg have the edge now, but Red Sox star Rafael Devers is just over 200,000 back with a few days of Phase 1 voting to go.
Onto the National League:
National League
| Position | Leader | Runner-up |
|---|---|---|
Catcher | William Contreras, Brewers (1,473,348) | J.T Realmuto, Phillies (1,081,907) |
First base | Bryce Harper, Phillies (2,037,523) | Freddie Freeman, Dodgers (1,327,918) |
Second base | Ketel Marte, Diamondbacks (1,183,331) | Luis Arraez, Padres (1,327,918) |
Shortstop | Mookie Betts, Dodgers (1,680,658) | Trea Turner, Phillies (1,070,672) |
Third base | Alec Bohm, Phillies (1,960,231) | Manny Machado, Padres (545,259) |
Outfield | Jurickson Profar, Padres (1,646,276) | Fernando Tatis Jr., Padres (940,851) |
Outfield | Christian Yelich, Brewers (1,506,639) | Brandon Marsh, Phillies (1,003,261) |
Outfield | Teoscar Hernández, Dodgers (1,413,877) | Nick Castellanos, Phillies (857,186) |
DH | Shohei Ohtani, Dodgers (1,773,404) | Marcell Ozuna, Braves (940,851) |
The three most notable races to watch here are at catcher, second base, and DH. Each involves a Phillies star.
Behind the plate, Realmuto has a slight lead (less than 130,000 votes) over Dodgers catcher Will Smith. Over at second base, Bryson Stott is trying to run down Arraez, who himself is only 50,000 votes away from the leading Marte. And then, at DH, Kyle Schwarber is around 60,000 votes short of Ozuna. We'll see if the Philadelphia faithful will end up making the difference in those races between now and June 27.
The 2024 MLB All-Star Game will be played on Tuesday, July 16, at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas. Phase 2 of fan voting will run from June 30 to July 3, with the starters being announced on July 3. The full rosters will then be released on Sunday, July 7.
