Los Angeles Dodgers two-way star Shohei Ohtani won the most votes among the National League's designated hitters in Phase 1 of the MLB All-Star ballot announced Thursday.
Ohtani received 2,777,173 votes, the third highest in the NL and sixth in the entire majors, to advance to Phase 2 of the voting that will take place from Sunday through Wednesday.
The top two Phase 1 finishers at each position will go head to head, with Phase 1 vote totals not carried over. Ohtani will vie with the Philadelphia Phillies' Kyle Schwarber, who had around 1,270,000 fewer votes than Ohtani in Phase 1.
Ohtani, bidding to make the All-Star game for the fourth straight year, tops the NL with 25 homers and a .322 batting average as he nurses an elbow injury that is keeping him off the mound this season.
The New York Yankees' Aaron Judge (3,425,309) and the Phillies' Bryce Harper (3,277,920) were the leading vote-getters in their respective leagues, securing their automatic starting spots for the July 16 game at Globe Life Field in Arlington.
