MLB: Shohei Ohtani and Ronald Acuña elected to the all-star game

Shohei Ohtani of the Los Angeles Angels and Ronald Acuña of the Atlanta Braves were elected Thursday to play in the All-Star Game July 11 at Safeco Field in Seattle.

Ohtani leads the American League with 2,646,307 votes and will be in his third straight All-Star Game as the designated hitter. He was also the 2021 American League starting pitcher.

Acuña led all players with 3,082,600 ballots and was elected to start the game for a fourth time. Acuña topped the National League for the third consecutive year, while Ohtani received the second most votes of any player.

Both players were chosen under rules that were put in place last year that award a starting spot to the player with the most votes in each league in the first phase of online voting, which has started. on May 31 and ended on Thursday. The rest move on to the second phase, which runs from Monday at noon until June 29 at noon. The results of the first phase votes are not reported.

The other holders will be announced on June 29. Pitchers and reserves will be revealed on July 2.

American finalists:

Receiver: Jonah Heim, Adley Rutschman

First goal: 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

National finalists:

Catcher: Sean Murphy, Will Smith

First baseman: Freddie Freeman, Matt Olson

Second goal: Ozzie Albies, Luis Arraez

Third Base: Nolan Arenado, Austin Riley

Shortstop: Orlando Arcia, Francisco Lindor

Designated hitter: Bryce Harper, JD Martinez

Outfield: Mookie Betts, Corbin Carroll, Lourdes Gurriel Jr, Michael Harris II