The names of the 2025 All-Star Ballot finalists have been dropped by the MLB Network. And the fans are upset as the phase one voting closes. At the center of it all are the World Series champions, the Los Angeles Dodgers. So, what’s gone wrong? Well, the Dodgers have eight players in total advancing from Phase 1. It’s not sitting well with many.
Emerging as the NL’s leading vote-getter, the two-way phenom Shohei Ohtani has already secured his place as the starting DH for the 95th midsummer classic. All-Star Game 2025 will mark Ohtani’s 5th consecutive selection and his second straight for the NL ever since he became a Dodger.
The Japanese made his much-awaited return to the pitching mound recently. However, he won’t pitch in the All-Star game this time.
It all comes down to this!
Here are the 2025 All-Star Game Ballot Finalists pic.twitter.com/qAwBnMVOFY
— MLB Network (@MLBNetwork) June 26, 2025
Other All-Star finalists from the Dodgers include Freddie Freeman, Mookie Betts, Tommy Edman, Andy Pages, Max Muncy, Teoscar Hernández, and Will Smith. Well, for the record, Smith has put up impressive numbers throughout this season. He sits with a .330 batting average, 9 home runs, and a .965 OPS.
However, one Dodger whose presence has been questioned the most is Andy Pages. He is in seventh place in the outfield voting. But the fact that he made the final cut, trailing Corbin Carroll, has sparked some serious outrage.
Some of the fans are of the view that the Dodgers’ ballot domination has left out multiple big names from other MLB teams. Now, if you think about it, Ohtani was already locked in as a starter, but seven other Didgers being the All-Star finalists has ignited the calls of the voting process being flawed.
Phase 2 of voting will start on June 30th and will go on till July 2nd. But the MLB fans are outraged already.
Why did Dodgers’ fan-voting spark outrage?
“A Dodger in every position with many better players out there all over the league. Pointless exercise,” wrote a fan. In recent history, no team has dominated in the All-Star presence the way the Dodgers have. And it has gone extreme this time, with Shohei Ohtani already locked in as a starter and his seven other teammates being the all-star finalists through phase one. The imbalance cannot be ignored here. “Lol, might as well just let the entire Dodgers team play,” wrote another fan, echoing the same sentiments.
Meanwhile, Elly De La Cruz, one of the most electrifying young players not on the list, infuriated fans. “Mookie Betts over De La Cruz is actually pretty laughable,” a netizen chimed in. Cruz has been part of MVP discussions lately, and, well, Betts is undoubtedly a quality player, but he has spent his 2025 season mostly off the field with injuries. How fair is it that Betts got through, but De La Cruz didn’t? Well, as per fans, merit-based selection is missing.
“8 Dodgers? End the fan vote. Can we just go strictly off stats to determine who gets in and end the popularity contest?” read another comment. The term ‘popularity contest’ is the new name given to the All-Star Game. Well, it is entirely voting-based, but still, the absence of Brandon Nimmo and Elly De La Cruz is being severely questioned.
Carroll, the 2023 rookie of the year and current MVP candidate, isn’t on the list either. “A big, giant, huge thank you to all the FAKE Dodger fans that started liking the team in 2024 for making this voting system completely obsolete. Corbin Carroll and James Wood are in MVP TALKS, yet will not be all-stars because of Andy Pages,” wrote one X user who seemed very upset with the voting results.
Since their 2024 World Series win, the Dodgers have arguably been the fan favorite in the whole league. However, the fact that Andy Pages trailed Corbin Carroll by almost 60,000 votes left fans fuming. Per some of the fans, the heavy Dodgers presence is just a reflection of their popularity & insane fan support instead of their performance.
Well, it’s all debatable. But let’s see what Phase 2 has to offer.
The post MLB Fans Slam All-Star Voting as Popularity Farce After Dodgers Ballot Domination Leaves Out Big Names appeared first on EssentiallySports.
