Shohei Ohtani has been the most popular baseball player in the world for years. Now he officially leads MLB in All-Star votes for the first time.
Ohtani was elected as the National League’s starting designated hitter after leading all of baseball with 3,341,257 votes in Phase 1 of the All-Star voting process. That is the first time in his career he has topped the entire sport in fan voting, which is genuinely surprising given how dominant his popularity has been since he arrived in the United States.
Second place went to his teammate Max Muncy at 2,890,181. That is a Dodgers 1-2 punch at the top of the ballot, which speaks to both Ohtani’s individual pull and the massive fan base that team has built up in Los Angeles.
The 2026 All-Star Game takes place July 14 at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia. Ohtani will start as the NL’s designated hitter. If he pitches this year, and there is real speculation he might, that would make for one of the most memorable All-Star Game appearances in the modern era.
The pitching question matters. Ohtani started making regular pitching appearances in June after building up through spring and early summer. He is not on any strict innings limit, but the Dodgers are being cautious given his injury history. Whether Dodgers manager Dave Roberts, who is managing the NL team, decides to run Ohtani out for even a single inning of the All-Star Game will be one of the game’s biggest storylines.
The batting numbers alone would have earned Ohtani this vote share. He is hitting .311 with 32 home runs and 78 RBIs through the first half. His OPS is over 1.000. He is stealing bases at a career-high rate. He is playing the best all-around season of his career, which is saying something for a three-time MVP.
Voting patterns are interesting to break down. Ohtani got votes from all 30 fan bases, not just Dodgers fans. That is the mark of a truly global superstar. The Blue Jays fan base pushed Ernie Clement to the top of the AL ballot. But Ohtani got more votes than any other player from any single fan base.
The larger story is what this means for the Dodgers as a franchise. Los Angeles has six All-Stars this year, second only to the Phillies with seven. Ohtani, Muncy, Freddie Freeman, Mookie Betts, Blake Treinen, and Yoshinobu Yamamoto all made the cut. That is a team with real depth of talent, not just a top-heavy roster carried by superstars.
The Dodgers are 55-34 heading into the break. They lead the NL West by six games. They are the favorites to represent the National League in the World Series. The All-Star roster reflects that dominance, and Ohtani being the face of it is exactly what MLB wants right now.
Baseball needs superstars. The sport has been in a slow decline for decades in terms of national relevance compared to the NFL and NBA. Ohtani is the one player who can move the needle in an outsized way. Him leading the sport in All-Star votes for the first time is a signal that fans are voting for a player who represents what baseball can still be at its most exciting.
The Dodgers get their star treatment in Philadelphia. Ohtani gets his individual moment. And baseball gets the marquee it needs heading into the second half of the season.
A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.
