Major League Baseball updated its 2026 All-Star Ballot standings on Monday, giving fans another look at the Phase 1 races that will shape the starting position-player pool for the All-Star Game.
The MLB.com update put the league-wide voting race back around familiar power names, with Los Angeles Dodgers designated hitter Shohei Ohtani, New York Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge and Seattle Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh among the headline players in the latest standings.
Phase 1 Leaders Move Toward Automatic Spots
The ballot process is more than a popularity chart. MLB uses Phase 1 fan voting to determine the top overall vote-getter in each league, and those two players earn automatic starting spots. The remaining position races then move into a Phase 2 runoff, with the top two players at each infield position and designated hitter advancing, along with the top six outfielders in each league.
That structure is why the June 22 update matters before the final roster announcement. A lead at this stage can either become a direct starting assignment, in the case of the top league vote-getters, or it can secure a place in the next round of fan voting.
Ohtani's presence near the front of the National League ballot is hardly a plot twist, but the process still matters because designated hitter is one of the cleaner voting lanes. Judge remains one of the American League's most recognizable ballot forces, while Raleigh gives the catcher race a different shape after a power-heavy run that has made him one of the most visible players at his position.
Voting Update Gives Clubs A Checkpoint
The ballot standings also give teams a marketing checkpoint. Clubs can push fans toward a player sitting close to the Phase 2 cutoff, and players already in front can treat the next few days as a hold-the-line period rather than a fresh campaign.
MLB.com's update is useful because it separates current voting momentum from the eventual All-Star roster. Fan voting controls the starting position players, but pitchers and reserves are selected later through player voting and league selections. That prevents the standings from being mistaken for the complete roster, which is the easiest way to overread a ballot table.
The news value is in the timing and the process. Phase 1 is closing in, the leading names are visible, and the next update will decide which races are settled outright and which ones require a Phase 2 vote.
For now, the ballot gives MLB an official midstream snapshot: Ohtani, Judge, Raleigh and the rest of the position leaders have moved from campaign material into the part of the voting calendar where every public standings update carries weight.