Shohei Ohtani getting fewer NL All-Star votes than one stunning player
March 20, 2024; Seoul, SOUTH KOREA; Los Angeles Dodgers player Shohei Ohtani reacts after playing against the San Diego Padres during a MLB regular season Seoul Series game at Gocheok Sky Dome. Photo Credit: Kim Hong-Ji/Reuters via USA TODAY Sports
The Unicorn appears to be no match for The Bohm.
Major League Baseball revealed on Monday the first fan voting returns for the 2024 All-Star Game. You can see the full tally for both the National League and the American League below.
Aaron Judge and Bryce Harper lead the way in the first All-Star Ballot update
Who do you want to see in the All-Star Game? https://t.co/AOTyLAg5Kr pic.twitter.com/7RPCeHNxUB
— MLB (@MLB) June 17, 2024
Perhaps the most interesting revelation had to do with the Los Angeles Dodgers star Ohtani. The returns revealed that Ohtani has gotten 1,002,377 votes thus far. Though that is still a sizable number, it is actually fewer than the numbers of votes that have been cast for [checks notes] Alec Bohm of the Philadelphia Phillies. Many users on X pointed out that staggering fact.
Alec Bohm having more total votes than Shohei Ohtani right now is wild https://t.co/FzlHjifXpY pic.twitter.com/5LbFEGNI6B
— Addison (@YankeeWRLD) June 17, 2024
In fairness to Bohm, he is having an excellent individual season for the Phillies. Bohm is batting a team-high .302 to go along with six home runs and another team-high 57 RBIs. He also leads Major League Baseball with 26 doubles and has even slightly improved his defense at third (which was notoriously poor in years past).
But for a lesser known player like Bohm who is looking for his first career All-Star appearance to earn more votes than baseball’s single biggest star in Ohtani is something that was not on anybody’s bingo card. That might be a testament to the voting prowess of Phillies fans too as Bohm’s teammate Bryce Harper leads all NL players right now with 1,110,562 total votes.
Ohtani does still have some time to catch up as Phase 1 of fan voting remains open until June 27. The two-time MVP Ohtani also has a great opportunity on his hands as star teammate Mookie Betts just got shelved with injury.
