Los Angeles Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani and Toronto Blue Jays second baseman Ernie Clement finished Phase 1 of Major League Baseball’s All-Star fan voting atop their respective leagues, making them automatic starters for the Midsummer Classic.

All-Star Game Details

Ohtani will start at designated hitter for the National League team. With 3,341,257 total votes in the first phase, he led the major leagues in voting for the first time. Clement was the surprise votes leader out of the American League at 3,232,932. He’ll be the AL’s starting second baseman for the game July 14 in Philadelphia.

MLB released the results of Phase 1 of voting on Thursday. Now, the top two vote-getters per position in each league advance to Phase 2 to determine the rest of the All-Star Game starters, with the exception of the NL’s DHs and the AL’s second basemen. For outfielders, six finalists advance per league to be whittled down to three starters.

Phase 2 takes place between June 29 and July 2 before the All-Star starters and reserves are revealed the night of July 4 on Fox.

Ohtani, 31, will be an All-Star for the sixth straight year. The four-time MVP also pitched in the 2021 and 2024 All-Star Games. Ohtani is batting .295 with a .963 OPS in 73 games this season, recording 17 homers and 46 RBIs thus far. On the mound, he’s 8-2 with a 1.58 ERA that would mark a career low by far.

Clement, 30, is a first-time All-Star. He is batting .292 with seven home runs, an AL-leading 20 doubles and 28 RBIs through 77 games. He broke out last postseason, when he batted .411 over 18 playoff games as Toronto made a run to the World Series before losing to Ohtani’s Dodgers.

Original reporting: Appleton, WI News Feed (HLL/CB) — read the source article.