Seattle’s T-Mobile Park was the closest major league ballpark to Adley Rutschman’s hometown of Sherwood, Oregon. The Orioles’ catcher’s next visit there could be as an All-Star starter.
Major League Baseball released its first update on All-Star fan voting Monday, with Rutschman pacing all American League catchers. The top two vote recipients at every position in each league as of June 22 will advance to the second phase, with the winner there starting the July 11 Midsummer Classic at the home of the Mariners.
The top vote-getter in both the AL and National League receives an automatic starting nod, though Rutschman’s 460,496 votes are half as many as Los Angeles Angels two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani, who holds a commanding lead in designated hitter voting.
Still, Rutschman’s vote total gives him a comfortable margin ahead of Texas Rangers backstop Jonah Heim, who has received 320,028 votes. Heim and Kansas City Royals catcher Salvador Perez have the narrowest divide of any race to determine who will head to the next phase of voting, with fewer than 8,000 votes separating them.
The first overall pick in the 2019 draft, Rutschman, 25, has transformed the Orioles since he made his debut in May 2022. After propelling Baltimore to an 83-79 finish that unexpectedly left the club as the AL’s best not to make the postseason, Rutschman was voted runner-up for AL Rookie of the Year. His late arrival and slow start kept him from being an All-Star last year, but he’s positioned himself for his first honor this season by hitting .274/.390/.410 with eight home runs and an AL-best 46 walks.
He would be Baltimore’s first catcher to win the fan vote since Matt Wieters in 2009. Manny Machado won the fan vote at shortstop in 2018, the most recent Oriole to do so. Cedric Mullins was the AL’s starting center fielder in 2021, but that assignment came as an injury replacement.
Rutschman is the only Oriole positioned to make the All-Star team via fan voting, which determines the nine position players who will start the game. First baseman Ryan Mountcastle, second baseman Adam Frazier and shortstop Jorge Mateo are ranked eighth in the first balloting update. In the outfield, where the top six vote recipients advance, Baltimore outfielders Austin Hays and Mullins are 18th and 20th, respectively. Mullins was possibly on track for another appearance in some fashion before suffering a right groin strain late last month.
Any of these players could make the team as reserves, which are determined by player voting and Commissioner’s Office selections; Hays, who ranks fourth in the AL in batting average, has the strongest case. The same process is used to determine pitching staffs, with Orioles starter Tyler Wells, who leads baseball in base runners allowed per inning, and dynamic bullpen duo Yennier Cano and Félix Bautista all having chances to be selected.
The Orioles haven’t had more than one All-Star in a season since 2016. Fans can continue to cast ballots at MLB.com/vote.
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