Ronald Acuña Jr elected to start in MLB All-Star Game

article

Ozzie Albies #1 and Ronald Acuna Jr. #13 of the Atlanta Braves celebrate their 5-1 win over the Philadelphia Phillies in a 10 inning game at Citizens Bank Park on June 22, 2023 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Rich Schultz/Getty Images)

ATLANTA - Two-way star Shohei Ohtani of the Los Angeles Angels and Atlanta Braves outfielder Ronald Acuña Jr. were elected Thursday to start in the July 11 All-Star 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 EDT on Monday to noon EDT 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