Shohei Ohtani was one of four Dodgers players to lead fan voting for this year’s All-Star Game at their positions for the National League team, according to the first balloting update announced by Major League Baseball on Monday morning.
With more than 1.1 million votes to this point, Ohtani represented the top vote-getter in the early race for the Midsummer Classic, an unsurprising development with the four-time MVP dominating both at the plate (with an NL-best .975 OPS) and on the mound (with an MLB-best ERA of 1.06, among pitchers with at least 60 innings).
Advertisement
Advertisement
Though fan voting –– which is how starters for the All-Star Game are decided –– will remain open for several weeks, Ohtani is already almost assuredly on track to earn his sixth career All-Star nod.
And based on Monday’s vote totals, he won’t be the only Dodger headed to Philadelphia either.
First baseman Freddie Freeman (looking for his 10th selection), third baseman Max Muncy (looking for his third) and outfielder Andy Pages (in search of his first) were also the top vote-getters at their positions at this stage.
Catcher Will Smith, shortstop Mookie Betts and outfielder Teoscar Hernández were also in position to advance to the second stage of voting, in which fans will pick starters among smaller groups of finalists at each position.
The Dodgers have been well-represented at the All-Star Game in recent years, earning at least five player selections in each of the last six editions of the event.
They could also add more this year on the pitching side –– which is not determined by fan voting –– as both Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Justin Wrobleski rank top-10 in the NL in ERA.
The first phase of All-Star voting will end June 26.
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: nypost.com
