Los Angeles Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani and Toronto Blue Jays second baseman Ernie Clement finished Phase 1 of Major League Baseball’s All-Star fan voting atop their respective leagues, making them automatic starters for the Midsummer Classic.

Ohtani will start at designated ‌hitter for the National League team. With 3,341,257 total ⁠votes in the first phase, ⁠he led the major leagues in voting for the first time.

Clement was the surprise votes leader out ⁠of the American League at 3,232,932. He’ll be the AL’s starting second baseman for the game July 14 in Philadelphia.

MLB released the results of Phase 1 of voting on ‌Thursday. Now, the top ⁠two vote-getters per position in each league advance to Phase ​2 to determine the rest of the All-Star Game starters, with the exception of the NL’s DHs and the AL’s second basemen. For outfielders, six finalists advance per league to be whittled down to three starters

Phase 2 takes place between June 29 and July 2 before the All-Star starters and reserves are revealed the night of July 4 on Fox.

Ohtani, 31, will be an All-Star for the sixth straight year. The four-time MVP also pitched in the 2021 and 2024 All-Star Games. Ohtani is batting .295 ⁠with a .963 OPS in ​73 ​games this season, recording 17 homers and ‌46 RBIs thus far. On the mound, he’s 8-2 with a 1.58 ERA that ‌would mark a career low by far.

Clement, 30, is a first-time All-Star. He is ​batting .292 with seven home runs, an AL-leading 20 doubles and 28 RBIs through 77 games. He broke out last postseason, when he batted .411 over 18 playoff ⁠games as Toronto made a run to the World Series before losing to Ohtani’s Dodgers.

The Blue Jays have a finalist at every position, ⁠including two of the six outfielders, Daulton Varsho and Jesus Sanchez.

Below are the finalists at other positions. Vote totals do not carry over from Phase 1 to Phase 2.

American League –Catcher: Shea Langeliers, Athletics; Alejandro Kirk, Blue Jays –First base: Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Blue Jays; Ben Rice, Yankees –Third base: Kazuma Okamoto, Blue Jays; Junior Caminero, Rays –Shortstop: Bobby Witt Jr., Royals; Andres Gimenez, Blue Jays –Designated hitter: Yordan Alvarez, Astros; George Springer, Blue Jays –Outfielder: Aaron Judge, Yankees; Mike Trout, Angels; Byron Buxton, Twins; Cody Bellinger, Yankees; Daulton Varsho, Blue Jays; ⁠Jesus Sanchez, Blue ​Jays

National League –Catcher: Drake Baldwin, Braves; Will Smith, Dodgers –First base: Freddie Freeman, Dodgers; Matt Olson, Braves –Second base: Ozzie Albies, Braves; Bryson Stott, Phillies –Third base: ‌Max Muncy, Dodgers; Alec Bohm, Phillies –Shortstop: CJ Abrams, ​Nationals; Mookie ​Betts, Dodgers –Outfielder: Andy Pages, Dodgers; Brandon Marsh, Phillies; Ronald Acuna Jr., Braves; Teoscar Hernandez, Dodgers; Juan Soto, Mets; Michael Harris ‌II, Braves

Original Source: This article was originally published on Asahi Sports. Click the link to view the full article.

Leave a Reply