Judge clinches AL All-Star nod as voting leader in Phase 1

TORONTO -- Aaron Judge is on another historic tear, one that has earned the Yankees' captain a starting place in All-Star Game as the American League’s leading vote-getter in Phase 1 on the 2024 MLB All-Star Ballot presented by BuildSubmarines.com..

Major League Baseball announced on Thursday that Judge was selected to the Midsummer Classic, which will be played on July 16 at Globe Life Field in Arlington.

Judge led all Major Leaguers with 3,425,309 votes and paced the Majors in voting for a second time after also doing so in 2022, when he went on to win the AL’s Most Valuable Player Award.

Phillies first baseman Bryce Harper also will bypass the second phase of voting, having earned an automatic starting assignment in the National League.

This is the sixth All-Star selection and sixth fan-elected starting assignment for Judge, 32, who has been selected to three straight All-Star Games and five of the past six.

Judge became the Majors’ first player to reach 30 home runs on Wednesday against the Mets at Citi Field, marking the third time in his career that he has hit 30 homers prior to an All-Star break (also 30 in 2017 and 33 in 2022).

Slashing .309/.433/.712 through 80 games, Judge entered play Thursday leading the Majors in homers, RBIs (77), slugging, OPS (1.145), extra-base hits (54), total bases (203), go-ahead RBIs (20) and game-winning RBIs (14).

He ranks second in walks (60), on-base percentage, times on base (152) and position player WAR (5.7 per FanGraphs). Judge is the fourth Yankee ever with at least six fan All-Star elections, joining Derek Jeter (nine), Dave Winfield (seven) and Alex Rodriguez (six).

Juan Soto remains a leading candidate to join Judge in the AL’s starting outfield in Phase 2 voting, which is available at MLB.com/vote until 12 p.m. ET on July 3. The winners will be announced at 7 p.m. ET that evening on ESPN during the All-Star Starters Reveal.

Soto received 3,000,121 votes in Phase 1, finishing second among AL players behind Judge. If Soto is elected, it would mark the second time in three years that the Yankees have two starting outfielders. Judge and Giancarlo Stanton were selected in 2022.

During this second phase of voting, in which fans can vote once per day on MLB platforms, vote totals will reset (i.e., vote totals from Phase 1 do not carry over) and the winner at each position will be named a starting position player for the 2024 Midsummer Classic.