Ryan O’Hearn has opened up a commanding lead in voting for American League designated hitter for next month’s All-Star Game in Atlanta.
O’Hearn has received 937,205 votes to stay well ahead of the Yankees’ Ben Rice (409,336). This would be O’Hearn’s first All-Star selection.
Nelson Cruz in 2014 is the only Orioles designated hitter to be elected by fans.
O’Hearn is slashing .305/.387/.480 with nine doubles, 10 home runs and 29 RBIs in 65 games. His 1.9 fWAR ranks second on the team behind Gunnar Henderson’s 2.0.
Jackson Holliday stays in second place among AL second basemen with 806,133 votes, barely ahead of the Astros’ José Altuve at 795,123. The Tigers’ Gleyber Torres is first with 1,133,888.
Adley Rutschman is seventh among catchers with 301,390 votes, but he’s on the injured list with a left oblique strain and expected to miss the rest of the first half.
Ryan Mountcastle is seventh among first baseman with 168,768 votes, but he’s on the IL with a Grade 2 hamstring strain that’s likely to cost him a couple of months.
Henderson’s 295,354 votes place him ninth among shortstops. Third baseman Ramón Urías is ninth with 214,733 votes.
The lone Orioles outfielder is Ramón Laureano, who’s replaced Cedric Mullins in the 20th spot with 241,397. The Yankees’ Aaron Judge (2,699,483), and the Tigers’ Riley Green (1,370,098) and Javier Báez (901,969) are top three, followed by the Angels’ Mike Trout (889,474).
The voting period for Phase 1 concludes at noon Thursday.
The top two vote-getters at each position, and the top six outfielders, will be revealed on MLB Network at 6 p.m., and they will advance to the second phase of voting to determine who makes the All-Star teams and starts for each league.