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

NEW YORK — 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 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 was also the leading vote-getter during the first phase in 2022 and last year.

Ohtani topped the National League 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.

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The pair was 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 ET on Monday to noon ET 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 July 2. Pitchers and reserves will be revealed 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, 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; Third Base: Manny Machado, Max Muncy; Shortstop: Mookie Betts, Francisco Lindor; Outfield: Ronald Acuña Jr., Pete Crow-Armstrong, Teoscar Hernández, Andy Pages, Juan Soto, Kyle Tucker