Blue Jays Fans Are Showing Up at the (Metaphorical) Ballot Box

[Leo Morgenstern]

Major League Baseball released the first All-Star voting update this afternoon, and one thing is clear: Blue Jays fans have been voting. They've been voting a lot.

A Blue Jays player ranks either first or second at every position except for outfield. Considering the team's sub-.500 record, it's safe to say this has more to do with who's been voting than the deserving-ness of the players they're voting for. (Whether or not that's a bad thing is a debate for a different day.)

Obviously, this is a World Series-related bump. The Jays and their players are more popular, particularly outside of Toronto and across the country. It's not so often an entire country is voting for all the same candidates in an election.

That said, it's also important to acknowledge the impact of a good bribe. I got a really nice sticker at the Rogers Centre last week after I showed the staff that I voted; it was Philadelphia's famous LOVE statue with a Blue Jays logo instead of the "O." I'm not sure what I'm actually going to do with the sticker, but I liked getting it, and I certainly wasn't the only person who cast my ballot for the free souvenir!

Anyway, here's where the Jays representatives stand after 12 days of voting. 

The Leaders

Vladimir Guerrero Jr.'s star power has him in first place at first base. He's angling for his sixth consecutive All-Star appearance and his fifth start.

With all due respect to Guerrero, the reason he's in the lead surely has something to do with the more deserving candidates splitting the vote (among voters who actually try to pick for the best players, instead of the biggest stars or everyone on their favourite team). First base is absolutely stacked in the AL this year, with Ben Rice, Nick Kurtz, Munetaka Murakami, and Willson Contreras all enjoying tremendous seasons at the plate. I love Vladdy, but one of those guys deserves this opportunity.

The other Blue Jay in the lead really has earned it. 

I wrote an article encouraging Blue Jays fans to vote for Ernie Clement last week. Apparently, y'all didn't need any encouragement. Clement leads at second base by 616,706 votes. That's more votes than Guerrero has even received. Clement's 904,702 votes are only 111,066 back of the AL's leading vote-getter, Yordan Alvarez. The first phase of voting is still open until June 25, but Ernie is all but guaranteed to advance to phase two.

The Runners-Up

Kazuma Okamoto, Andrés Giménez, George Springer, and Alejandro Kirk are all in second place at their respective positions. I've listed them in order of how ridiculous that is. 

Okamoto is enjoying a solid season, even if it isn't All-Star calibre. Giménez has at least been excellent on defense. Springer's votes are only justifiable as restitution for his snub last season. Kirk, who has played all of seven games in 2026, should probably do the right thing and sign over his votes to Brandon Valenzuela. 

None of these guys should be an All-Star, and I doubt any of them will be. Still, it's nice to see how passionate Blue Jays fans are right now, despite the team's slow start. Hopefully, all the support inspires guys like Giménez and Springer to play more like All-Stars going forward. 

The Outfielders

Evidently, the fans aren't as excited about Toronto's outfielders, but Daulton Varsho and Jesús Sánchez still rank eighth and ninth, respectively, at a position with three times the competition. Unfortunately for Myles Straw, he was the only Blue Jay on the ballot not to be named at all in the first voting update. For all you Straw-heads out there, you still have 10 days to change that!

If you'd like to learn more about the All-Star selection process and how to vote, you can read all about it on MLB.com.

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