Finalists announced for 2026 MLB All-Star Ballot

Image Credit: MLB

PHILADELPHIA, PA — Finalists for the 2026 KONAMI eBaseball^TM MLB All-Star Ballot were announced this evening on MLB Network. Two stars of the 2025 World Series, four-time unanimous Most Valuable Player Shohei Ohtani of the Los Angeles Dodgers and 2025 Postseason star Ernie Clement of the Toronto Blue Jays, will bypass the second phase of voting after leading their respective leagues in voting during Phase 1 to earn automatic starting assignments at the 2026 All-Star Game presented by Mastercard.

The second phase of voting, which begins on Monday, June 29^th at 12:00 p.m. (ET), features the top two vote-getters at each position (and the top six outfielders) in each League based on vote totals from Phase 1, which ran from June 3^rd-25^th.

Phase 2 voting, which is available exclusively online via mobile devices at MLB.com/vote, all 30 Club web sites, the MLB App and the MLB Ballpark App will give fans the opportunity to vote among the finalists at each position during a window that concludes at 12:00 p.m. (ET) on Thursday, July 2^nd. During this second phase of voting, in which fans can vote once per day on MLB platforms, vote totals will reset (i.e., vote totals from Phase 1 do not carry over) and the winner at each position (including three outfielders per league) will be named a starting position player for the 2026 Midsummer Classic.

Ohtani led all Major Leaguers with 3,341,257 total votes to pace the Majors in voting for the first time in his career. The two-way superstar, who led the American League in voting in 2023 and led the National League in voting in 2025, became the third Dodgers player to lead all Major Leaguers since All-Star balloting was returned to the fans in 1970, joining Davey Lopes (1980) and Cody Bellinger (2019).

Ohtani, who will make his sixth trip to the Midsummer Classic and his sixth consecutive fan-elected start at designated hitter (2021-23 in the AL; 2024-26 in the NL), had already been the first player ever to win as many as four straight fan elections at the position. The Dodgers have now claimed the starting designated hitter spot in the NL lineup in four straight seasons as Ohtani’s three consecutive starts follow the fan-elected start by J.D. Martinez in 2023.

Clement paced the AL and ranked second in the Majors behind Ohtani with 3,232,932 total votes to claim his first All-Star Game selection. The New York native became the first Blue Jays player to lead the AL in voting since his teammate Vladimir Guerrero Jr. led all of Baseball in voting for the 2021 Midsummer Classic.

Additionally, the 30-year-old Clement is now Toronto’s first fan-elected second baseman since Marcus Semien in 2021.

Click here for full vote tallies from Phase 1 of balloting.

American League Finalists
(With Phase 1 Vote Totals)

Catcher

• Shea Langeliers, Athletics (2,077,756)
• Alejandro Kirk, Toronto Blue Jays (1,488,788)

First Base

• Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Toronto Blue Jays (2,459,950)
• Ben Rice, New York Yankees (1,280,614)

Second Base

• Ernie Clement, Toronto Blue Jays: 3,232,932 
• Ezequiel Durán, Texas Rangers: 821,317

Third Base

• Kazuma Okamoto, Toronto Blue Jays (2,125,888)
• Junior Caminero, Tampa Bay Rays (2,103,882)

Shortstop

• Bobby Witt Jr., Kansas City Royals (2,513,492)
• Andrés Giménez, Toronto Blue Jays (1,554,020)

Designated Hitter

• Yordan Alvarez, Houston Astros (2,911,655)

Outfield

• Aaron Judge, New York Yankees (2,567,404)
• Mike Trout, Los Angeles Angels (2,511,587)
• Byron Buxton, Minnesota Twins (1,789,018)
• Cody Bellinger, New York Yankees (1,614,585)
• Daulton Varsho, Toronto Blue Jays (1,336,544) & Jesús Sánchez, Toronto Blue Jays (1,260,762)

National League Finalists
(With Phase 1 Vote Totals)

Catcher

• Drake Baldwin, Atlanta Braves (2,518,574)
• Will Smith, Los Angeles Dodgers (1,871,805)

First Base

• Freddie Freeman, Los Angeles Dodgers (2,666,008)
• Matt Olson, Atlanta Braves (2,015,757)

Second Base

• Ozzie Albies, Atlanta Braves (1,498,141)
• Bryson Stott, Philadelphia Phillies (1,388,744)

Third Base

• Max Muncy, Los Angeles Dodgers (2,890,181)
• Alec Bohm, Philadelphia Phillies (1,423,564)

Shortstop

• CJ Abrams, Washington Nationals (1,858,531)
• Mookie Betts, Los Angeles Dodgers (1,762,343)

Outfield

• Andy Pages, Los Angeles Dodgers (2,158,664)
• Brandon Marsh, Philadelphia Phillies (2,015,932)
• Ronald Acuña Jr., Atlanta Braves (1,723,945)
• Teoscar Hernández, Los Angeles Dodgers (1,569,932)
• Juan Soto, New York Mets (1,538,562)
• Michael Harris II, Atlanta Braves (1,479,135)

Overall, 13 Major League Clubs have advanced players from Phase 1, with the Blue Jays advancing a Major League-best eight players and the Dodgers advancing a NL-high seven players.

Including Ohtani and Clement, 13 of the 34 players (38.2%) moving on from Phase 1 are internationally born, spanning seven different countries and territories outside of the 50 United States.

MLB All-Star Week includes the MLB All-Star Game presented by Mastercard (July 14^th); Gatorade All-Star Workout Day featuring the T-Mobile Home Run Derby (July 13^th); All-Star Sunday featuring the All-Star Futures Game and MLBx: All-Star 3-on-3 (July 12^th); the MLB Draft presented by Nippon Express (July 11^th-12^th); the HBCU Swingman Classic (July 10^th); and Capital One All-Star Village (July 11^th-14^th). The 96^th Midsummer Classic will be televised nationally by FOX Sports; in Canada by Rogers Sportsnet and TVA Sports; and worldwide by partners in more than 200 countries. FOX Deportes will provide Spanish language coverage in the United States. ESPN Radio will provide exclusive national radio coverage of the All-Star Game, while Univision will provide Spanish language coverage on radio. MLB Network and MLB.com will also provide comprehensive All-Star Week coverage.

For more information about MLB All-Star Week, including ticket information and updates, please visit allstargame.com and follow @MLB on social media.

Information Courtesy of Major League Baseball

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