Jaz Chisholm Jr. was fifth among AL second basemen in MLB's first All-Star voting update, landing 230,846 votes as Phase 1 of All-Star voting got underway. The cutoff that matters is simple: only the top two at each position move on to Phase 2, and Chisholm Jr. was still outside that line.
That is why his name is in the conversation today. Phase 1 is open through June 25th, and he still has time to climb, but he needs a move that is more than cosmetic if he is going to get into the top two and keep his ballot alive.
At the moment, Ezequiel Duran was second at second base with 287,996 votes, which leaves Chisholm Jr. about 57,000 votes behind the place he needs. That gap is not trivial, but it is not locked in either, especially for a player who had looked much more like himself over the last several weeks after a terrible start. He is close enough to matter, and still far enough back that the next update will tell the real story.
The rest of the board shows how crowded the ballot already is. Ben Rice was second to Vladimir Guerrero Jr. at first base, and Rice trailed Guerrero Jr. by about 96,000 votes. Aaron Judge led all AL outfielders despite a right rib stress fracture, though he still trailed Yordan Alvarez for the most votes in the American League. Alvarez had 1,015,768 votes, Judge had 977,460, and Mike Trout sat at 926,601. Cody Bellinger was third in the outfield voting, Giancarlo Stanton was fourth in the DH rankings, José Caballero was ninth at shortstop, Ryan McMahon was tenth at third base, and Austin Wells was tenth at catcher.
For Chisholm Jr., the math is still the story. He is not out of it, but he cannot afford to stay fifth while the vote count keeps moving around him. If his recent form keeps turning into attention, he can still make the jump before June 25th. If it does not, Phase 2 will start without him.
