Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Bo Bichette, Matt Chapman, Whit Merrifield and Kevin Kiermaier have been voted as MLB All-Star Game finalists after the results of the first round of voting were revealed Thursday afternoon.
Guerrero Jr. led all American League first basemen in voting with over 1,630,000 votes, while Bichette was the top-American League shortstop, receiving over 2,100,000 votes — the second-most of any player in the junior circuit.
Merrifield and Chapman came second at second and third base, respectively. They both trailed Texas Rangers infielders, Marcus Semien and Josh Jung.
Kiermaier finished fifth among AL outfielders with over 960,000 votes.
Two-way star Shohei Ohtani of the Los Angeles Angels and Atlanta Braves outfielder Ronald Acuña Jr. were elected to start in the game at Seattle's Safeco Field.
Ohtani led the AL with 2,646,307 votes and make his third straight All-Star start at designated hitter. He also was the American League’s starting pitcher in 2021.
Acuña led all players with 3,082,600 ballots and was elected to start for the fourth time. Acuña topped the NL for the third straight year, while Ohtani received the second-most votes of any player.
The pair were chosen under rules that began last year and give starting spots to the top vote-getter in each league in the first phase of online voting, which began May 31 and ended Thursday. Others advanced to the second phase, which runs from noon E.T. on Monday to noon E.T. on June 29. 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 29. Pitchers and reserves will be revealed on July 2.
AL finalists:
Catcher: Jonah Heim, Adley Rutschman
First Base: Yandy Díaz, Vladimir Guerrero Jr.
Second Base: Whit Merrifield, Marcus Semien
Third Base: Matt Chapman, Josh Jung
Shortstop: Bo Bichette, Corey Seager
Outfield: Yordan Alvarez, Randy Arozarena, Adolis García, Aaron Judge, Kevin Kiermaier, Mike Trout
NL finalists:
Catcher: Sean Murphy, Will Smith
First Base: Freddie Freeman, Matt Olson
Second Base: Ozzie Albies, Luis Arraez
Third Base: Nolan Arenado, Austin Riley
Shortstop: Orlando Arcia, Francisco Lindor
Designated Hitter: Bryce Harper, J.D. Martinez
Outfield: Mookie Betts, Corbin Carroll, Lourdes Gurriel Jr., Michael Harris II
- With files from Sportsnet.
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