The Blue Jays faithful have made it abundantly clear how much they love Ernie Clement. A jam-packed Rogers Centre on his hockey jersey giveaway day proved as much. But if you want even more proof, look no further than the latest All-Star Ballot voting update.
The Toronto second baseman now leads all American League players in Monday’s update, joining Shohei Ohtani as the only players with more than 2 million votes to their names. Clement currently sits with 2,054,130 total, nearly 80,000 ahead of superstar Astros slugger Yordan Alvarez (1,974,459), who held the AL lead in June 15’s first ballot update.
Clement leapfrogged Alvarez, Mike Trout and Aaron Judge after being fourth in the initial update. Now, if this result holds when Phase 1 of voting concludes at noon ET Thursday, Clement will automatically earn a spot in the AL’s starting lineup for the 2026 MLB All-Star Game presented by Mastercard at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia on July 14.
And even if Clement falls behind Alvarez (or someone else) for the top spot by Thursday, he holds a healthy lead over the field at second base, giving him the inside track at a spot in Phase 2 of the ballot, when voting will determine the starters at each position. Clement sits more than 1.5 million votes ahead of the second-place Ezequiel Duran of the Rangers in the race at second base.
Clement, 30, has become more than just a feel-good story for the Blue Jays after being released by the Athletics in Spring 2023. He set a postseason record with 30 hits as the Blue Jays marched to the World Series last year, appeared on a star-studded Team USA at the 2026 World Baseball Classic and is now hitting .292 with a strong .751 OPS in 2026.