Who will start the 2026 MLB All-Star Game presented by Mastercard? The decision is now in the hands of the fans, with Phase 2 of balloting now open for the 96th Midsummer Classic, which will be played July 14 at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia.
The results from Phase 1 of voting were announced Thursday on MLB Network, with the top two vote-getters in each league at every position, and the top six outfielders, advancing to Phase 2.
Phase 2 began at noon ET on Monday and concludes at noon ET on Thursday, July 2. Once per 24-hour period, fans can vote for the All-Star Game starters they want to see by filling out a 2026 KONAMI eBaseball MLB All-Star Ballot at MLB.com/vote, on all 30 MLB club sites and on the MLB app and MLB Ballpark app.
Of the millions of votes cast in Phase 1, the Blue Jays’ Ernie Clement and the Dodgers’ Shohei Ohtani were the top vote-getters in their respective leagues, earning automatic starting spots.
Top overall vote-getters
American League: Ernie Clement, 2B, Blue Jays -- 3,232,932 votes
National League: Shohei Ohtani, DH, Dodgers -- 3,341,257 votes
It’s certainly a bit of a surprise to see Clement here as the AL’s top vote-getter, but the Blue Jays infielder has become a fan favorite and has a nation behind him. He has focused on second base this season after splitting time between second and third during a standout 2025 (4.3 Baseball-Reference WAR), and he’s hitting .292 with a .750 OPS and 20 doubles, tied for the most in the AL. Clement is coming off a standout October in which he went 30-for-73 (.411) to set the record for most hits in a single postseason.
Ohtani was the NL’s top vote-getter for the second straight season as he continues to excel as a two-way star for the Dodgers. He has a .295/.414/.549 slash line and 17 home runs, having been red hot since an uncharacteristically slow start at the plate. Although Phase 1 results will guarantee him a start at designated hitter, Ohtani would also be a strong All-Star candidate based on his pitching numbers alone. He took a sub-1.00 ERA into June and has a 1.58 ERA with 86 strikeouts in 79 2/3 innings on the hill.
Other top vote-getters in Phase 1 were Astros designated hitter Yordan Alvarez (2,911,655 votes), Dodgers third baseman Max Muncy (2,890,181), Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge (2,567,404), Dodgers first baseman Freddie Freeman (2,666,008), Braves catcher Drake Baldwin (2,518,574), Angels outfielder Mike Trout (2,511,587) and Royals shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. (2,513,492).
The top two Phase 1 finishers at each position (except AL second baseman and NL designated hitter, with Clement and Ohtani locked into starting spots) and the top six outfielders advanced to Phase 2.
Phase 2 winners will be announced on July 4 on FOX, along with pitchers and reserves.
Here are the players who advanced to Phase 2 at each position. Vote totals from Phase 1 do not carry over to the next phase, so all players will start anew.
All stats are through Sunday's games.
American League
Catcher: Shea Langeliers (Athletics), Alejandro Kirk (Blue Jays)
Langeliers’ hot streak toward the end of 2025 came too late for him to earn his first career All-Star nod, but it looks like this will be the year, whether he earns a starting spot or not. Langeliers is batting .268 with an .834 OPS, and he leads AL catchers with 19 home runs. He and first baseman Nick Kurtz have been formidable bats at the top of a dangerous A’s lineup.
Langeliers had a Phase 1 advantage of nearly 600,000 votes over Kirk, who returned to the Blue Jays on June 12 after missing more than two months with a fractured and dislocated left thumb. Kirk is hitting just .183 with two home runs and a .547 OPS in 17 games, but the two-time All-Star earned nearly 1.5 million votes from Toronto fans nonetheless.
First base: Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (Blue Jays), Ben Rice (Yankees)
Even in a down year, Guerrero has been buoyed by Blue Jays supporters, garnering almost 2.5 million votes in Phase 1 and finishing with nearly twice Rice’s total. His OPS is a career-low .697 and he has hit only four home runs after slugging 23 in 2025, but Guerrero has a good chance to start the All-Star Game at first base for the fifth time in the past six seasons.
Rice has taken his game to an elite level after emerging during a breakout 2025. He ranks eighth in the Majors in OPS at .928 and tied for fifth in home runs with 22, emerging as one of the top bats in the Yankees’ lineup and the club’s go-to option with Aaron Judge on the injured list. But it won’t be easy for Rice to beat out Guerrero in Phase 2 to ensure what would be his first trip to the All-Star Game.
Third base: Kazuma Okamoto (Blue Jays), Junior Caminero (Rays)
Okamoto has adjusted well to MLB after starring for the Yomiuri Giants of Nippon Professional Baseball from 2015-25. Part of a big offseason for Toronto that included signing starter Dylan Cease, reliever Tyler Rogers and 2025 KBO MVP Cody Ponce, Okamoto has lived up to expectations, posting a .785 OPS. His 19 homers are by far the most on his team, as no other Blue Jay has more than eight.
While Caminero started last season’s All-Star Game at third base amid a 45-homer, 110-RBI season, that was as a replacement for the injured José Ramírez. This year, as Caminero has upped his game, he has a shot to snag another start via the fan vote. In 2026, Caminero has increased his on-base percentage by more than 70 points while batting a career-high .292 and drawing 47 walks, six more free passes than he took in all of 2025.
Shortstop: Bobby Witt Jr. (Royals), Andrés Giménez (Blue Jays)
Witt leads the AL with 4.3 bWAR thanks to an excellent all-around season. With 10 home runs and an AL-best 28 steals, the Royals shortstop is on pace for his fifth straight 20-20 campaign to begin his career. He’s also tied for MLB’s best defender by Outs Above Average at +15. It’s little wonder Witt was the runaway top choice by voters in Phase 1.
With Giménez’s second-place finish among AL shortstops, the Blue Jays secured at least one finalist at every position. The slick-fielding Giménez has been strong defensively this season (+9 OAA, behind only Witt among shortstops) while batting .242 with seven home runs and 34 RBIs. The three-time Gold Glover made his only other All-Star appearance in 2022 with the Guardians.
Outfield: Aaron Judge (Yankees), Mike Trout (Angels), Byron Buxton (Twins), Cody Bellinger (Yankees), Daulton Varsho (Blue Jays), Jesús Sánchez (Blue Jays)
The AL’s top two vote-getters among outfielders are both on the injured list, with Judge sidelined by a stress fracture in his ribs and Trout by a right hamstring strain. Of the two, Trout could return in time to start the Midsummer Classic for the seventh time (first since 2019), while Judge is unlikely to be back until after the All-Star break. The Yankees captain -- who was batting .248 with 17 homers and a .907 OPS before landing on the IL -- has also made six All-Star starts in his career. He was the AL’s leading Phase 1 vote-getter in 2025, earning an automatic starting spot.
Both in the midst of excellent seasons, Buxton and Bellinger garnered more than 1.6 million votes apiece. Buxton has been in the midst of a power resurgence: He’s tied with Yordan Alvarez for the AL lead in home runs with 25 after slugging 35 dingers during an All-Star 2025. His .898 OPS is the second best of his career, behind only 2021 (1.005 OPS), when he played in only 61 games. Bellinger, meanwhile, has proven his worth after re-signing with the Yankees, slashing .262/.361/.446 with 11 homers, 10 steals and above-average defense in left field.
Teammates in the Toronto’s outfield, Daulton Varsho and Jesús Sánchez are both seeking All-Star recognition for the first time. Varsho was recently activated after a stint on the IL with left wrist inflammation, hitting a key homer in his first game back. The 2024 Gold Glover has slugged .552 (two doubles, two homers) in his seven games since returning. Sánchez, whom Toronto acquired in a February trade with Houston, has recorded 21 extra-base hits and posted a .753 OPS this year while posting a .277 expected batting average that has him in the 83rd percentile of all Major League hitters. Sánchez edged Mariners outfielder Julio Rodríguez by just 28,631 votes to finish among the AL’s six finalists at the position.
Designated hitter: Yordan Alvarez (Astros), George Springer (Blue Jays)
Alvarez earned more All-Star votes than any AL player except for Clement, coming up about 300,000 votes shy of the Blue Jays' second baseman. It’s befitting of the Astros slugger’s incredible season: Alvarez has a chance at an AL Triple Crown with a .311/.426/.613 slash line, is tied for the AL lead in home runs with 25 and is fifth in the AL with 56 RBIs.
Springer has heated up in June with a .735 OPS, helping make up for a slow start to the season. On the year, he’s hitting .220 with eight homers, six steals and a .678 OPS. Springer was not named an All-Star in 2025 despite a standout year (.309 average, 32 HR, .959 OPS) in which he finished seventh in AL MVP Award voting. The most recent of his four career All-Star appearances was in 2022, his second year with the Blue Jays.
National League
Catcher: Drake Baldwin (Braves), Will Smith (Dodgers)
Baldwin was named the 2025 NL Rookie of the Year, and he’s been even better in 2026. The Braves backstop is batting .255 with 14 homers, 39 RBIs and an .800 OPS. He was activated from the injured list on June 16 after missing four weeks with an oblique strain and is on track to start his first All-Star Game.
Currently on the IL with a neck strain, Smith hasn’t played since June 5, but he still received nearly 1.9 million votes to have a shot at his second consecutive All-Star start behind the plate. Smith has just six homers and a career-low .720 OPS, but he could be the first NL backstop to start consecutive All-Star Games since Willson Contreras in 2018 and 2019 if he can beat out Baldwin.
First base: Freddie Freeman (Dodgers), Matt Olson (Braves)
Freeman has started five of the past seven All-Star Games at first base for the NL, and after finishing ahead of Olson by more than 600,000 votes in Phase 1, he’s got a good shot to earn his sixth start. The veteran has been as consistent as ever, posting a .289/.379/.492 slash line in his 17th MLB season to go along with 13 home runs and 45 RBIs in a dangerous Dodgers lineup.
Acquired as Freeman’s replacement when he left Atlanta for L.A., Olson has been among MLB’s top first basemen year in and year out. His 2026 has been no exception: Olson has 20 home runs, 52 RBIs and an .874 OPS, his best OPS since his 54-homer 2023 campaign. He made the All-Star team that season, as well as in 2021 and 2025.
Second base: Ozzie Albies (Braves), Bryson Stott (Phillies)
Like Olson, Albies is also enjoying his best offensive year since 2023, having improved his OPS by nearly 90 points from last season (from .671 to .758). He has hit 12 home runs, including a multihomer game featuring a big walk-off dinger against the Brewers last week, while grading out as a plus defender by Outs Above Average (+2) for the first time since 2022.
Stott has also been an above-average defender at the keystone (+2 OAA), pairing his glovework with decent power (7 HR) and good speed (16 steals without being caught). He has picked things up in June with a .276 average and a .777 OPS, and he beat out Brewers star Brice Turang by more than 300,000 votes for the second finalist spot.
Third base: Max Muncy (Dodgers), Alec Bohm (Phillies)
Muncy received 2,890,181 votes in Phase 1, more than any NL player but Ohtani. He has certainly proven worthy of joining his Dodgers teammate in the Midsummer Classic, hitting 16 home runs and posting an .863 OPS -- his fourth straight season with an OPS above .800. He’s in a good position to make his second All-Star start, with the other coming at DH in 2021.
Like his teammate Stott, Bohm has improved after a slow start, and it could be enough to get him into the All-Star Game in front of his home crowd. He ended Phase 1 almost 1.5 million votes behind Muncy, so a starting spot might not be in the cards, but Bohm -- an All-Star for the Phillies in 2024 -- has a good chance to make the roster in light of the struggles of stars like Austin Riley, Alex Bregman and Matt Chapman.
Shortstop: CJ Abrams (Nationals), Mookie Betts (Dodgers)
The Phase 1 battle between Abrams and Betts was tight, with a margin of about 96,000 votes deciding things. Still, they were the clear top two among NL shortstops. With a .275/.358/.507 slash line, 17 homers and 13 steals, Abrams has helped lead a Nationals offense that has scored the most runs in MLB.
Betts played in eight straight All-Star Games, starting five of them, before that streak was snapped last season. Betts hit his 300th career home run on June 24 and has overcome a slow start to the season by excelling in June (.808 OPS) to give himself a chance at representing the NL in the Midsummer Classic -- and even to start, if he can beat out Abrams in Phase 2.
Outfield: Andy Pages (Dodgers), Brandon Marsh (Phillies), Ronald Acuña Jr. (Braves), Teoscar Hernández (Dodgers), Juan Soto (Mets), Michael Harris II (Braves)
With the best record in MLB, the Dodgers have been well represented among All-Star finalists, and the outfield is no exception. Pages finished Phase 1 of voting atop all NL outfielders, and for good reason: His 4.0 bWAR entering Monday already exceeds his total from all of 2025 (3.7). Batting .267 with a .799 OPS and elite defense in center field, Pages has a strong chance to make his first All-Star team. The same is the case for Marsh, whose sixth Major League season has been his best so far. He’s fourth in the NL with a .321 average and owns a career-high .863 OPS, emerging as another big bat in the Phillies’ potent lineup.
Despite being one of the top three NL outfield finishers in Phase 1, which would put him on track to start, Acuña is unlikely to play in the Midsummer Classic due to a Grade 1 left hamstring strain that has sidelined him since June 9 and might keep him out through the All-Star break. If the five-time All-Star and 2023 NL MVP doesn’t appear, it could be to the benefit of his teammate. Harris, the 2022 NL Rookie of the Year, has had quite the bounce-back campaign after being among MLB’s worst qualifying hitters last season. He’s batting .297 with 14 homers, 43 RBIs and an .825 OPS.
Hernández was still on the injured list with a left hamstring strain when Phase 2 began Monday, but he was expected to be activated later that day. An All-Star with the Blue Jays in 2021 and with the Dodgers in ’24, he had seven home runs and a .785 OPS before landing on the IL. Hernández finished Phase 1 just over 30,000 votes ahead of Soto, who has been even better in 2026 than he was in his first season with the Mets but has missed 19 games. The New York superstar is hitting .300 with 17 homers and an NL-best .972 OPS.