Mountcastle surges to top of AL 1B All-Star voting

*Read our story* on the balloting format, which includes two phases of fan voting to determine the All-Star starters.

BALTIMORE -- Ryan Mountcastle leapfrogged Vladimir Guerrero Jr. on the 2024 MLB All-Star Ballot presented by BuildSubmarines.com, giving the Orioles three leading vote-getters and six players in position to advance to the next round in the latest update released Monday.

Mountcastle overtook Guerrero at first base over the past week by amassing 1,400,373 total votes, and owns a 61,685-vote lead entering the final week of voting. He joins Adley Rutschman (catcher) and Gunnar Henderson (shortstop) as the leading vote-getters at their positions, with Rutschman and Henderson both retaining leads of more than 500,000 votes over Kansas City’s Salvador Perez and Bobby Witt Jr., respectively.

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Orioles outfielders Anthony Santander (808,100 votes) and Colton Cowser (649,710 votes) rank fifth and sixth among American League outfielders – but at that position, the top six vote-getters advance to Phase 2 of the voting. At every other position, the top two leading vote-getters advance to Phase 2.

Jordan Westburg ranks second among AL third basemen, trailing José Ramírez by 580,403 votes. The other Orioles in the top four at their respective positions are second baseman Jorge Mateo (third, 646,527 votes) and designated hitter Ryan O’Hearn (fourth, 687,374 votes).

The leading vote-getter in each league during Phase 1 will receive an automatic spot in their team’s starting lineup. Beyond those two players, the top two vote-getters at every position, and the top six outfielders, will advance to Phase 2 of the voting, which begins Sunday. The 2024 MLB All-Star Game presented by Mastercard will be held at Globe Life Field in Arlington on July 16.

“It’s awesome,” Orioles manager Brandon Hyde said. “I’m excited for all those guys. It’s very cool that fans not just in Baltimore but around the league are voting everywhere for our players, seeing how talented they are. It’s a great accomplishment to see them recognized the way they are.”

Seeking his first All-Star selection, the 27-year-old Mountcastle has been one of Baltimore’s primary run-producers for much of his five-year big league career. He was hitting .277/.321/.472 with 11 home runs and a 129 OPS+ entering play Monday.

“That would be awesome,” Mountcastle said. “It’s definitely a dream of mine to be an All-Star, and starter or not, definitely that would be really cool and hopefully I make it.”

The Orioles had four All-Stars in 2023: Rutschman, outfielder Austin Hays, and relievers Félix Bautista and Yennier Cano. If elected again, this would be Rutschman’s second career All-Star nod. It would be the first for Henderson, Santander, the rookie Cowser, Westburg, O’Hearn, or Mateo.

“It’s a testament to the guys,” Henderson said. “They’ve put in all the work and it's been really cool to see it pay off. It’s really cool.”