Global superstar, who is always No. 2, gets the most votes in his third career, winning by 45,315 votes against Ohtani

Jun 27, 2025

Global superstar, who is always No. 2, gets the most votes in his third career, winning by 45,315 votes against Ohtani
LA Dodgers Shohei Ohtani was always No. 2 in All-Star fan voting against healthy Aaron Judge. AP Yonhap News



Global superstar, who is always No. 2, gets the most votes in his third career, winning by 45,315 votes against Ohtani
New York Yankees Aaron Judge became the third person in his career to win the most votes in the first All-Star fan vote. AP Yonhap News


From at least 2022, Major League Baseball can be defined as an era of 'Double-head coach'. It is two pillars of trend and box office success.

Aaron Judge of the New York Yankees and Shohei Ohtani of the Los Angeles Dodgers won the most votes in each league in the first All-Star fan vote and were confirmed as starters without going through a runoff vote.




MLB announced the final tally of the first fan vote on the 27th (Korea time) for four weeks from the 5th. Judge won 4,012,983 votes to become the main character of the total vote, while Ohtani was the NL's most voted with 3,967,668.

Judge, who is ahead of Ohtani by 45,315 votes, continued to earn the most votes in both leagues for the third time in his career after 2022 and 2024. It is the first time in 17 years that he has won the most votes in two consecutive years, following Alex Rodriguez in 2007-2008.

Ohtani was honored with the most votes in his league for the second time in his life after 2023 when he was with the Los Angeles Angels.




However, Ohtani has never topped the All-Star vote yet, even though he began his pitching and hitting career in 2021. It's ironic. Toronto Blue Jays first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr. won the most votes in 2021, Judge in 2022, Atlanta Braves outfielder Ronald Acuña Jr. in 2023, and Judge last year. In other words, Ohtani lost all three popular votes against Judge 'Healthy'.

In response, MLB.com said, `Surprisingly, global superstar Ohtani has never topped the All-Star fan vote'`However, Ohtani became the second player in All-Star Game history to start five times as a designated hitter after Hall of Famer Dave Otis.

Global superstar, who is always No. 2, gets the most votes in his third career, winning by 45,315 votes against Ohtani
Otani hits a right-center solo home run against Colorado. ImagesYonhap News
Global superstar, who is always No. 2, gets the most votes in his third career, winning by 45,315 votes against Ohtani
Aaron Judge ranks first in both leagues in batting average, hits, on-base percentage, slugging percentage, OPS, and WAR. AP Yonhap News
He sought the most votes for the first time this season, but Judge's stronghold was still high and solid. As of today, Judge is the overall leader in batting average (0.361), hits (108), on-base percentage (0.461), slugging percentage (0.719), OPS (1.180), bWAR (5.8), and fWAR (6.1).

Ohtani has a batting average of 0.291 (92 hits in 316 at-bats), 28 homers, 52 RBIs, 80 runs, and an OPS of 1.025, ranking first overall in scoring and first in home runs, slugging percentage, and OPS in the NL. At least in the batting category, Ohtani is behind Judge. In addition, Ohtani does not play defense.

However, Ohtani recently resumed pitching and started a double whammy. Although he is not yet in five innings as a starter, he has risen to the top of the NL in fWAR (4.1), beating Chicago Cubs outfielder Pete Crowe-Armstrong (4.0). Ohtani will take the mound for the third time after returning as a pitcher in an away game against the Kansas City Royals on the 29th.

Then, why did Ohtani never get the most votes. It is very difficult to explain why, but it can be found in the peculiarity of being a designated hitter with a lot of hitters.

Global superstar, who is always No. 2, gets the most votes in his third career, winning by 45,315 votes against Ohtani
Shohei Otani took the mound for the first time since moving to the Dodgers on the 17th (Korea time). UPI Yonhap News
Global superstar, who is always No. 2, gets the most votes in his third career, winning by 45,315 votes against Ohtani
LA Dodgers Shohei Ohtani is circling the base after hitting his 27th solo shot of the season in the top of the seventh inning against the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field on the 27th (Korea time). AFP Yonhap News
Ohtani competed with Boston Red Sox JD Martinez and Houston Astros Yordan Alvarez in 2021 for the designated hitter. In 2022, he finished behind Alvarez, who was enjoying a career high at the time, in the first round of voting and narrowly won the final round by 52% to 48%. In 2023, he won the most AL votes in the first fan vote, but the most votes in both leagues was the NL's Acuña Jr., who brought the issue of 40 home runs and 70 steals.

Last year, when he moved to the Dodgers, Philadelphia Phillies first baseman Bryce Harper won the most votes in the NL, so he had to compete with Philadelphia Kyle Schwarber in the second fan vote for the designated hitter.

On the other hand, Judge accelerated his vote with the most home runs in an AL season in 2022, a triple crown pace in 2024, and an overwhelming OPS and WAR with a batting average of .400 by mid-May this season. In particular, from the fans' point of view, it may have been more advantageous than Ohtani that it is difficult to remove the jersey from the outfielder who has to choose three players.

Meanwhile, in the first fan vote, Dodgers catcher Will Smith (3.428,856) and first baseman Freddie Freeman (3.392,751), Seattle Mariners catcher Carl Raleigh (304,059,594), Crow-Armstrong (302,01,265), Cleveland Guardians third baseman Jose Ramirez (2.777,085), and Arizona Diamondbacks second baseman Ketel Marte (2.534,002) were ranked third to eighth.

Judge and Ohtani, who received the most votes in each league in the first round of voting, were automatically qualified to start, and the remaining position starters will be determined through the second round of voting, which will be conducted for the first and second place with the most votes. It's kind of a runoff. However, there is no second round of voting for the NL designated hitter, and in the AL outfield, four people compete in the second round of voting for two seats. The voting period will run for 48 hours from 1 a.m. on July 1 to 1 a.m. on July 3.

The pitchers and backup fielders of both leagues will then be determined by voting for Major League players and evaluating MLB records.

This year's All-Star Game will be held on July 16 at Truist Park, Atlanta's home stadium.





This article was translated by Naver AI translator.