MLB
2024 MLB All-Star Game: How are the starters selected?
With the starting lineups now set for the 2024 MLB All-Star game, we take a look at the process by which starters and reserves are selected.
The 2024 MLB All-Star game takes place on Tuesday, July 16 at Global Life Field in Arlington, with the top stars from the American League taking on their National League counterparts.
The starting lineups for 94th All-Star game were announced by Major League Baseball just under two weeks ago, with full rosters revealed a few days later.
As expected, many of the league’s big-name stars, including the New York Yankees’ Aaron Judge and the Los Angeles Dodgers’ Shohei Ohtani, have been selected to play from the off. But how were they chosen and by who?
How are the MLB All-Star game starters selected?
There are nine starters in each team, including the designated hitters, who are chosen by fans across two different phases of voting.
Phase 1
In Phase 1, fans vote for their top choice for each position (top three for outfielders) in each league. The two players that receive the most votes (one from each league) are given starting spots. Judge and Phillies star Bryce Harper were the chosen ones this year.
The other eight players on each side are selected in Phase 2, also known as the All-Star Ballot Finals.
Phase 2
For each position not yet filled in each league, the top two players who received the most votes in Phase 1 go head-to-head. Starting from scratch, fans vote once again for one or the other, with the player earning the most votes starting in the All-Star game.
It would be logical to think the losing finalists from Phase 2 would automatically go onto one of the two rosters, but that isn’t actually the case.
How are rosters for the MLB All-Star game completed?
23 more players are needed on each team to complete the 32-man squads (20 position players and 12 pitchers per side). They are determined by a combination of a player ballot and the Commissioners’s Office.
The players select 17 members of each team (eight pitchers and one backup for each position), with the Commissioner’s Office choosing the six that are left (four pitchers and two position players).
If they choose a player who has also been chosen by the fan vote as the starter, then the second-place player for this category is selected. The Commissioner’s Office also have to ensure every team in the league has at least one player named to the All-Star roster.