Orioles Young Stars Lead All-Star Game Voting At Two Positions

The Baltimore Orioles are tracking to have significant representation at next year’s All-Star Game next month.

Jun 16, 2024; Baltimore, Maryland, USA; Baltimore Orioles catcher Adley Rutschman (35) hits a home run against the Philadelphia Phillies during the third inning at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. / Gregory Fisher-USA TODAY Sports

The Baltimore Orioles had two players leading their respective positions in American League All-Star Game voting on Monday, with two others in the top two at their positions.

Being in that position is important in the first phase of voting, which ends on June 27 at noon eastern. The top two at each position move into the second phase of voting, which starts on June 30 and determines the starting lineup for each league.

Results from the first phase of voting don’t carry over to the second phase.

Catcher Adley Rutschman and shortstop Gunnar Henderson had the lead at their positions in the first release of fan voting.

The third-year catcher has already been an All-Star, as he was selected to last year’s team in Seattle. Entering Monday he was batting .289/.333/.473/.806 with 14 home runs and 53 RBI. He is more than 200,000 votes ahead of Kansas City’s Salvador Perez with 792,857 votes. Last year’s starter, Texas’ Jonah Heim, is in fifth place.

Henderson is a leading candidate for AL Most Valuable Player in his second full season in the Majors. He is batting .274/.370/.588/.957 with 22 home runs and 49 RBI in his first 70 games. He was not an All-Star last year, but he was the AL Rookie of the Year and a Silver Slugger.

Henderson has 740,436 votes while Kansas City’s Bobby Witt Jr. is in second place nearly 200,000 votes behind.

The Orioles have a couple of players who are in second place at their positions. First baseman Ryan Mountcastle has 693,594 votes, which puts him less than 100,000 votes behind the front-runner, Toronto’s Vladimir Guerrero Jr. Cleveland’s Josh Naylor is third with 404,389 votes.

Third baseman Jordan Westburg has 366,670 votes, but he is well behind Cleveland’s José Ramírez with 742,910 votes. Westburg needs to hold off Boston’s Rafael Devers (342,046) to advance to the second round of voting.

Other Orioles in contention include second baseman Jorge Mateo (fourth, 276,440), designated hitter Ryan O’Hearn (fourth, 290,091) and outfielders Anthony Santander (fifth, 321,333) and Colton Cowser (seventh, 278,573).

The All-Star Game is July 16 at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas, the home of the Texas Rangers.