Judge, Ohtani elected to start in All-Star Game as top vote-getters

NEW YORK (AP) — The Los Angeles Dodgers’ Shohei Ohtani and the New York Yankees’ Aaron Judge were the first players picked for the July 15 All-Star Game at Atlanta’s Truist Park, elected as starters by fans on Thursday.

Judge led the major leagues with 4,012,983 votes in the first round of fan balloting and the outfielder was picked for his seventh American League start in eight All-Star Games, though he missed the 2023 game because of a sprained right big toe. He also was the leading vote-getter during the first phase in 2022 and last year.

Ohtani topped the NL and was second in the big leagues with 3,967,668 votes, becoming the first designated hitter to start in five straight All-Star Games.

The pair were selected under rules that began in 2022 and give starting spots to the top vote-getter in each league in the first phase of online voting, which began June 4 and ended Thursday. Two finalists at every other position advanced to the second phase, which runs from noon EDT on Monday to noon EDT on July 2. Votes from the first phase do not carry over.

An individual can vote once per 24-hour period.

Remaining starters will be announced on July 2. Pitchers and reserves will be revealed on July 6.

Seven players from the World Series champion Dodgers advanced to the second phase along with three each from the Chicago Cubs, Detroit Tigers and New York Mets, and two apiece from the Cleveland Guardians, New York Yankees and Toronto Blue Jays.

AL finalists:

Catcher: Alejandro Kirk, Cal Raleigh

First base: Paul Goldschmidt, Vladimir Guerrero Jr.

Second Base: Jackson Holliday, Gleyber Torres

Third Base: Alex Bregman, José Ramírez

Shortstop: Jacob Wilson, Bobby Witt Jr.

Designated Hitter: Ryan O’Hearn, Ben Rice

Outfield: Javier Báez, Riley Greene, Steven Kwan, Mike Trout

NL finalists

Catcher: Carson Kelly, Will Smith

First Base: Pete Alonso, Freddie Freeman

Second Base: Tommy Edman, Ketel Marte