Aaron Judge of the New York Yankees and Bryce Harper of the Philadelphia Phillies were selected on Thursday to start in the All-Star Game on July 16 at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas.
Judge received the highest number of votes across Major League Baseball with 3,425,309 votes in the initial round of fan balloting. This marks his sixth start for the American League in seven All-Star Games, having missed last year due to a sprained right big toe. He also led all players in fan votes during the first phase of voting in 2022.
He now joins an elite group of players who have topped the league in All-Star votes multiple times since fan balloting resumed in 1970, including Ken Griffey Jr. (five times), Rod Carew (four), Ichiro Suzuki (three), and Hank Aaron, José Bautista, Johnny Bench, Albert Pujols, Cal Ripken Jr., Alex Rodriguez, and Ozzie Smith (twice each).
Harper topped the NL and was second in the big leagues with 3,277,920 votes. He was chosen for his eighth All-Star Game, seventh as a starter. His previous All-Star appearances came as an outfielder and designated hitter.
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 5 and ended Thursday. Two finalists at every other position advanced to the second phase, which runs from noon EDT on Sunday to noon EDT on June 30. Votes from the first phase do not carry over.
An individual can vote once per 24-hour period.
Remaining starters will be announced on June 30. Pitchers and reserves will be revealed on July 7.
Six players each from the Baltimore Orioles and Philadelphia Phillies advanced to the second phase.
In the final days of the initial voting, Philadelphia’s Kyle Schwarber overtook Atlanta’s Marcell Ozuna for the second spot among NL designated hitters behind Los Angeles Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani.
Baltimore’s Ryan O’Hearn moved ahead of Yankees slugger Giancarlo Stanton for second among designated hitters in the AL behind Houston’s Yordan Alvarez. O’Hearn had been fourth, also trailing Cleveland’s David Fry.
