A’s rookie standout advances to phase two of All-Star voting. Will he start?
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- A's rookie Jacob Wilson leads AL shortstops in All-Star votes with 1.8 million
- Wilson faces Bobby Witt Jr. in reset phase two voting for AL shortstop starter
- Brent Rooker finishes 25,000 votes shy of final DH spot despite leading in HRs
A’s rookie sensation Jacob Wilson advanced to the second phase of Major League Baseball’s All-Star voting after leading all American League shortstops with just over 1.8 million fan votes, MLB announced Thursday.
In phase two, vote totals will reset between the two AL shortstop finalists — last season’s MVP runner-up Bobby Witt Jr. of the Kansas City Royals, and Wilson — despite the A’s rookie’s roughly 500,000-vote lead over Witt through the first phase.
If Wilson earns the starting role in phase two, he would become the first Athletic to be a fan-selected starter since Josh Donaldson in 2014 and the team’s first starting shortstop since Bert Campaneris in 1974.
Wilson is currently second in the majors with 105 hits and a .345 batting average, only trailing New York Yankees MVP favorite Aaron Judge (.361 entering Thursday). Wilson has the 20th highest OPS in MLB at .871 — the second-highest mark for an AL shortstop, trailing the Houston Astros’ Jeremy Pena by .003 points.
After Judge earned a guaranteed starting spot by receiving the most total votes in the AL with over 4 million, the remaining starting offensive positions are up for grabs in the second phase of voting, which begins 9 a.m. Monday and ends 9 a.m. Wednesday.
Each infield position and designated hitter have two finalists vying for the starting role, while the outfield will have four contenders for the two spots next to Judge.
Once the starters are decided by the fan vote, a player’s ballot will decide a backup at each offensive position followed by two offensive selections from the Commissioner’s Office, which are often used to make sure each team has at least one representative.
The player’s ballot and Commissioner’s Office choose all of the pitchers.
Wilson vs Witt
The A’s shortstop led the pack after both the June 16 and June 23 voting updates, but his lead increased as voting progressed. Wilson only led Witt by 50,000 votes by the first update and led the Royals slugger by less than 300,000 on June 23.
“For Jacob to be in that category right now where he’s at, it’s a pretty great accomplishment,” A’s manager Mark Kotsay told MLB.com after he was announced as the AL shortstop vote leader on June 16. “For a player on the A’s to have that type of national attention, it says a lot about his year.”
Wilson, the AL Rookie of the Year frontrunner per a June 17 MLB.com poll, leads qualified rookies in most major offensive stats including hits, batting average, OPS, runs (41), RBI (40) and OBP (.387).
While Wilson has largely solidified himself as a contact bat, he is also third among qualified rookies in multiple power stats including home runs (9), doubles (15) and slugging percentage (.484).
In a direct comparison with Witt, the A’s shortstop takes the cake when looking at batting average, home runs, RBI and OPS — the four stats displayed on the virtual All-Star ballot — despite producing roughly 1.5 lower wins above replacement (WAR), per Baseball Reference. Wilson leads the A’s in WAR by roughly a point at 2.2.
Wilson leads Witt in average by more than .060 and OPS by roughly .050, while having one more RBI and one fewer home run than the Royals shortstop.
This season Witt has also contributed 21 stolen bases, an MLB-leading 27 doubles and stellar defense. He earned both a Gold Glove and Silver Slugger last season.
Rooker edged out for second DH spot
After only earning the seventh-most votes among AL designated hitters by the time of the first update, Brent Rooker clawed his way into a three-way battle for one of the top two slots, only being 13,000 votes shy as of June 23. Baltimore Orioles DH Ryan O’Hearn led AL designated hitters in voting by more than a million votes.
Despite amassing roughly 650,000 votes, Rooker was beat out by roughly 25,000 votes by Yankees slugger Ben Rice. Rooker leads all qualified DHs in home runs with 16 and has slashed .275/.352/.448 in 82 games this year.
After a breakout 5.6-WAR campaign last season, the now 30-year-old power hitter earned his first Silver Slugger award and was 10th in MVP voting in 2024, but is still awaiting his first All-Star bid.
What about Soderstrom?
Outfielder Tyler Soderstrom was never able to surge above 14th in either of the first two voting updates, but the 23-year-old made his All-Star potential known in his first full MLB season.
Soderstrom has a .782 OPS, 14 home runs and 45 RBIs in 81 games for the A’s this season.
