Rangers All-Star hopefuls receive dismal news as first ballot results are released

The 2026 MLB All-Star Game is slated for July 14 at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia. The Texas Rangers have several hopefuls who have put together first halves that are worthy of a nod, but if the early voting is any indication, their participation may have to come in the way of reserve selections instead of starters

Josh Jung, Ezequiel Duran, Jacob deGrom, and Jacob Latz all have strong cases to be named as starters, but after the first votes have been tallied, it is clear that it will be an uphill battle if they are going to achieve that particular honor.

The Rangers' All-Star hopefuls are trailing after the first round of ballot-counting

As of June 15, Ezequiel Duran, who has been a tremendous comeback story so far in 2026, trails the Toronto Blue Jays second baseman Ernie Clement by more than 600,000 votes. The good news is that he is in second place and still looks like he could be named as a reserve for the Midsummer Classic. Though it should be noted that Travis Bazzana of the Cleveland Guardians, Jose Altuve of the Houston Astros, and Jazz Chisholm Jr. of the New York Yankees are all nipping at his heels.

Josh Jung, who has been among the league leaders in batting average all season, finds himself in fourth place in the voting at third base. He trails the Rays' Junior Caminero, the Blue Jays' Kazuma Okamoto, and the White Sox's Miguel Vargas.

Jung's case may be getting dinged because of his relatively pedestrian power numbers. He has just eight homers compared to Vargas' 16 and Caminero and Okamoto's 15 apiece. Jung's slug of .457 is well below Caminero's .492 and Vargas' .491.

Cases can be made for Caminero and Vargas, but it is clear that the Toronto Blue Jays fans have hit the ballot boxes the hardest, and guys like Okamoto are riding on the coattails of heavy voter turnout. Okamoto has a .235 batting average and has struck out a jaw-dropping 93 times in just 255 at-bats.

A second piece of good news is that the fan voting only accounts for the starters. The pitchers and reserves for both squads -- totaling 23 players for each side -- will be determined via “Player Ballot” choices and selections made by the Commissioner’s Office.

So Rangers hopefuls like deGrom and Latz's merits will be weighed by a group of their peers and a group of officials in the Commissioner's Office.

Also worth noting: Joc Pederson has rebounded wonderfully from an abysmal 2025 and is currently fifth in the voting at the DH spot.

You are allowed to cast five ballots online, so if you want to see your Rangers represented in Philly in mid-July, hit the ballot box hard and vote for your favorite players.

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