Major League Baseball (MLB) superstar Shohei Ohtani of the Los Angeles Dodgers is on the verge of claiming the top vote-getter honor in the All-Star fan balloting for the first time in his career.
In the second interim tally of the first round of All-Star voting released by the MLB Commissioner's Office, Ohtani received 2,310,735 votes in the National League (NL) designated hitter category, the most of any player across all positions in both leagues.
Ohtani debuted in the big leagues in 2018 and has been selected to the All-Star Game for five consecutive years since 2021. Having won the Most Valuable Player (MVP) award four times in both the American League (AL, 2021 and 2023) and the NL (2024 and 2025), Ohtani is now on the brink of establishing a new milestone as the overall top vote-getter this year.
During the years Ohtani was selected to the All-Star Game, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (2021, Toronto Blue Jays), Aaron Judge (2022, 2024 and 2025, New York Yankees), and Ronald Acuna Jr. (2023, Atlanta Braves) received the most votes in the All-Star fan balloting.
In the AL, second baseman Ernie Clement of Toronto received 2,054,130 votes, ranking second overall behind Ohtani and becoming the AL's top vote-getter.
The first round of MLB All-Star fan voting closes at 1 a.m. on June 26 Korea time, with the top vote-getters in each league immediately securing a starting spot in the All-Star Game. In the second round of fan voting, the first- and second-place finishers from the first round at each remaining position face off again to determine the final winners.
Among Korean players, Kim Hye-seong (Dodgers, 659,500 votes) and Kim Ha-seong (Atlanta, 253,376 votes) maintained fourth place in the NL second baseman category and sixth place in the shortstop category, respectively, following the first round.
Kim Hye-seong is currently playing in Triple-A in the minor leagues due to his team having a surplus of roster spots, while Kim Ha-seong has been playing intermittently because of a batting slump, leaving their All-Star Game appearances uncertain.
Lee Jung-hoo (San Francisco Giants), who ranks second in NL batting and could reach the showcase stage through the recommended player list, climbed one spot to 19th in the outfielder vote rankings (317,862 votes).
