Bryce Harper is heading to Texas as the Philadelphia Phillies first baseman was officially announced as an All-Star starter for the National League. This will be Harper’s eighth overall All-Star nod since his debut in 2012, and second as a member of the Phillies (he was voted in to the game in 2022 but missed the game due to injury).
Bryce Harper earns All-Star start, six other Phillies could join him
Harper was named along with Aaron Judge as the first two All-Stars as the leading vote getters in their respective leagues. Harper received over 3.2 million votes while Judge led both leagues with over 3.4 million votes.
Harper will become the first Phillies player to start at first base in the All-Star Game, barring injury, since John Kruk in 1993. He has gotten off to a great start in 2024, with 20 home runs and 58 RBI through 76 games to go along with a .307 average.
In his last 15 games, Harper has been on a torrid pace, with 25 hits in 61 at bats, which is good enough for a .410 average and a .455 on base percentage. In addition to his hot start offensively, Harper has also found success as a first baseman with his .997 fielding percentage ranking third in the entire league in his first full season at the position.
In addition to Harper, six other Phillies position players could potentially make the All-Star team as well. J.T. Realmuto, Trea Turner, Alec Bohm, Kyle Schwarber, Nick Castellanos and Brandon Marsh all advanced to the second round of voting. In the second round, fans will vote for the All-Star Game starters by choosing between the top two finalists at each position.
Bohm is currently in line to start at third base as he leads all players at his position in voting. His 3.1 million votes was second in the NL behind Harper and over 175,000 tallies ahead of Juan Soto who had the fourth most in the majors while Adley Rutschman rounded out the top five with 2.7 million.
Turner, Realmuto, Schwarber, Castellanos and Marsh meanwhile will all need some help in order to make the game as starters as they are trailing the top vote getters.
Phillies could send a handful of pitchers to All-Star Game
In addition to the position players in contention, the Phillies could send a few pitchers as well with Ranger Suárez, Zach Wheeler, Aaron Nola, Cristopher Sánchez, Matt Strahm and Jeff Hoffman all having excellent seasons on the mound. Of these pitchers, Suárez and Strahm have the easiest paths to the game as they both rank among the top players at their position. With only so many pitching spots available throughout the National League some of these players will get snubbed but they all figure to garner support amongst coaches and managers.
Phase 2 of voting begins on Sunday at noon and will run until the same time on Wednesday.
The entire roster will be announced on Sunday, June 7 on ESPN. The game will take place nine days later on July 16 at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas. First pitch for the 94th All-Star Game is scheduled for 8:00 p.m. ET.