Dodgers' Ohtani, Betts & Teoscar finalists to start All-Star Game

06/27/2024 07:03 PM

Second round of fan voting runs Sunday through Wednesday, with Ohtani, Betts, and Hernández having a chance to start. Freddie Freeman (first base) and Will Smith (catcher) lost a chance to start at their positions via fan voting.

The first round of fan voting for the MLB All-Star Game is complete, and three Dodgers have a chance to be voted to start the midsummer classic on Tuesday, July 16 at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas.

Shohei Ohtani is a finalist at designated hitter in the National League, an injured Mookie Betts is a finalist at shortstop, as well as Teoscar Hernández in the outfield.

Freddie Freeman was second among NL first basemen with 1,985,227 votes, which would normally make him a finalist at the position. Except that the leader at first base, Bryce Harper of the Phillies garnered 3,277,920 votes, the most of all players in the National League, giving him an automatic spot in the starting lineup.

Ohtani is vying with Atlanta's Marcell Ozuna at NL designated hitter. These don't carry over, but the first round saw a large gap between Ohtani (2,777,173 votes) and Ozuna (1,508,216). Ohtani had the third-most votes among all NL players, behind Harper and Phillies third baseman Alec Bohm.

Betts is out six to eight weeks with his broken left hand, so he won't be playing in the All-Star Game. But he still could get the honor of being named to start the game. His 2,425,030 votes led all NL shortstops in the first ballot round. Trea Turner, now of the Phillies who as a Dodger was voted as an All-Star starting shortstop in 2022, is the other shortstop finalist after getting 1,878,159 votes.

Hernández was third among NL outfielders with 2,134,971 votes in the first round. Fellow outfield finalists are Jurickson Profar (2,559,897) and Fernando Tatis Jr. (2,054,316) of the Padres, Christian Yelich of the Brewers (2,307,430), plus Brandon Marsh (1,677,297) and Nick Castellanos (1,487,234) of the Phillies.

Smith was third among NL catchers with 1,409,523 votes, trailing finalists William Contreras of the Brewers (2,314,000) and J.T. Realmuto of the Phillies (1,837,442).

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts before Wednesday's game against the White Sox stumped for Smith and Hernández, as shown on SportsNet LA.

"It's a no-brainer. I think Will's an easy one. as far as talent. He's one of the top two or three catchers in the game, let alone the National League," Roberts said. "With Teo, you just look at the numbers and what he's done on the production side, the performance side.

"The All-Star Game is interesting, because a lot of it is based on popularity, and certain fanbases are more active voting. My encouragement for the Dodgers fans is to get off your hands and start voting for your players. Because you look at the fanbases that are voting for players who aren't having nearly the seasons that our guys are having, and they're leading the fan voting. That's what's disappointing for me as a manager, because the players are not going to promote themselves. So it's about the fans supporting their players."

Vote totals from the first round are reset now that the finalists are set.

The final phase of fan voting runs for only 72 hours, from 9 a.m. PT on Sunday to 9 a.m. on Wednesday. All-Star starting lineups will be announced on Wednesday at 4 p.m. PT on ESPN.