It’s hard to argue that Vladimir Guerrero Jr. isn’t currently mired in the worst season of his MLB career. Toronto Blue Jays fans voted him into the 2026 MLB All-Star Game anyway.
Minutes after being named the American League’s starting first baseman, Guerrero told reporters he intends to skip the game to recuperate from a lower back issue he has had for nearly a month per Sportsnet’s Shi Davidi.
He reportedly said he was grateful for the fans who had voted for him and said it was “one of the hardest parts of not going. It’s very difficult for me. But I really have to take care of myself and I’ve got to put my team first for the second half.”
The starting spot at first base came down to Guerrero and New York Yankees slugger Ben Rice in the second phase of All-Star fan voting. It’s hard to find a meaningful stat in which Rice has not had the superior season and you would normally think the support a Yankees player should get would have cinched the race for him, but Blue Jays fans have proven to be the strongest voting bloc in this year’s vote.
Every single position race in Phase 2 had a Blue Jay among the contenders, though every player except Guerrero wound up losing his race. The only other Toronto starter will be second baseman Ernie Clement, who won an automatic spot as the leading AL vote-getter in the first phase of voting.
Pitchers Dylan Cease and Louis Varland made it four Toronto All-Stars total, tied for the most in the American League.
Rice earned a reserve spot on the AL team as well and now has a chance to be the starting first baseman after all, though Athletics star Nick Kurtz has a pretty strong case as well.
Ultimately, Guerrero earned his unused All-Star spot not through his performance in the first half, but through a potential Hall of Fame career spent entirely in Toronto that saw him do some ungodly stuff in last year’s playoffs. It’s not how many believe the All-Star Game should work, but ultimately an All-Star Game is about giving fans what they want, and quite a few of them apparently wanted Guerrero due to some combination of Blue Jays fandom, name recognition, trolling and the desire to stick it to the Yankees.
The All-Star Game will take place at Citizens Bank Park on Tuesday, July 14 (8 p.m. ET on Fox).
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