Phase 1 of the voting for the 2023 Scotts MLB All-Star Ballot concluded today at noon ET. Now the wait is on to find out which players will move on to Phase 2 in their quest to reach the 2023 All-Star Game presented by Mastercard, set for July 11 at Seattle’s T-Mobile Park.
Here is everything you need to know:
When will Phase 1 results be announced?
Tonight at 6 p.m. ET. MLB Network will air live coverage.
Will anyone clinch a spot in the All-Star Game?
Yes. The leading vote-getter in both the American League and the National League will punch their tickets to Seattle by virtue of an automatic starting berth. At last update on Tuesday, Angels DH Shohei Ohtani led Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge by roughly 300,000 votes for the overall AL lead, while Braves outfielder Ronald Acuña Jr. led Dodgers first baseman Freddie Freeman by well over 500,000 votes on the NL side.
How many players advance to Phase 2?
The top two finishers at each position (and the top six outfielders) move on to the second phase of voting. However, if Acuña or Judge clinch a spot as their league’s leading vote-getter, only the next four outfielders from that league would advance.
When will Phase 2 begin and end?
Voting for the second phase will take place next week, running from noon ET on Monday (June 26) until noon on Thursday (June 29).
The 2023 Scotts MLB All-Star Ballot will continue to be available exclusively online and via mobile devices at MLB.com/vote, all 30 club websites, the MLB App and the MLB Ballpark App. Fans may vote once per day during Phase 2, with the daily voting limit resetting each day at midnight.
Winners will be announced on Thursday, June 29, live on ESPN, at 7 p.m.
Do vote totals from Phase 1 carry over?
No. Vote totals will reset. For example, take the AL shortstop race. At last update, the Blue Jays’ Bo Bichette led the Rangers’ Corey Seager by more than 700,000 votes for the top spot. However, assuming those two players advance to Phase 2, Seager would get a clean slate for their head-to-head matchup and have a chance to come out on top.
What are the races to watch?
At some positions, a pair of favorites separated themselves early in Phase 1 voting. However, other hotly contested races went right down to the wire, with multiple players chasing the final berth in Phase 2.
The closest battle, as of Tuesday’s update? AL catcher, where barely more than 2,000 votes separated second-place Salvador Perez of the Royals from third-place Jonah Heim of the Rangers.
Other positions to watch closely leading up to tonight’s announcement include AL second baseman (Whit Merrifield, Jose Altuve), AL outfielder (George Springer, Adolis García, Masataka Yoshida), NL first baseman (Matt Olson, Pete Alonso), NL shortstop (Francisco Lindor, Xander Bogaerts) and NL outfielder (Juan Soto, Fernando Tatis Jr., Michael Harris II).