Aaron Judge still in starting position after latest All-Star vote update

The second phase of voting for the 2023 MLB All-Star Game began on Monday and will run until noon Eastern Time on Thursday. With most of the field winnowed away in Phase 1, Phase 2 is more of a runoff with the top two players at each non-outfield position going head-to-head to determine who will start for their league squad on July 11th in Seattle. Shohei Ohtani and Ronald Acuña Jr. already punched their tickets as the top vote-getters in each league in Phase 1.

Yankees superstar Aaron Judge earned more votes than any of his fellow American League outfielders in Phase 1, but the toe injury that has kept him out of action since the beginning of June might finally be hurting him in Phase 2. Six outfielders are competing for three starting spots, and Judge only ranks third:

1. Mike Trout (Angels), 22%
2. Randy Arozarena (Rays), 22%
3. Aaron Judge (Yankees), 19%
4. Yordan Alvarez (Astros), 16%
5. Adolis García (Rangers), 12%
6. Kevin Kiermaier (Blue Jays), 9%

For what it’s worth, Alvarez might be on Judge’s heels but he is also currently on the IL, albeit with a more standard oblique injury. Even with the time missed and just 49 games, Judge still absolutely has a case to be named to the starting outfield. He has more homers (19) than anyone in this sextet, and he’s tied with Arozarena at the top in fWAR. (Sorry to Chicago’s Luis Robert Jr., who did not make it to Phase 2.)

Judge remains highly unlikely to play in the Midsummer Classic due to his injury, but he deserves to be an All-Star for the fifth time in his career. Let’s make sure he gets there! Click this link to vote.

6/28 Update

MLB has released one last voting update before Phase 2 closes at 12pm ET on June 29th. Judge is still on track to start, as seen in the following excerpt:

1. Mike Trout (Angels), 23%
2. Randy Arozarena (Rays), 22%
3. Aaron Judge (Yankees), 19%
4. Yordan Alvarez (Astros), 15%
5. Adolis García (Rangers), 12%
6. Kevin Kiermaier (Blue Jays), 10%

Check out the full results of the most recent Phase 2 update below.