New MLB All-Star vote begins with ‘primary’

Major League Baseball’s new format to elect starters for the All-Star Game has been put into place starting with the “primary” vote Tuesday, it was announced.

Voting began Tuesday at 2 p.m. ET with a “primary” phase that includes a representative from each team at every position, including designated hitter in the American League. Primary voting will end at 4 p.m. ET on June 21, and the players with the three highest vote totals at each position will be announced that night on MLB Network.

The secondary phase, called “The Starters Election,” will begin at noon ET five days later and last for 28 hours. The results, which will be reset from the primary, will choose catchers, four infield positions and three outfielders for each league and be announced on ESPN at 7 p.m. ET on June 27.

The remainder of the 23 players for the American League and 24 for the National League, including all pitchers, will be selected by player vote as well as by AL manager Alex Cora of the Boston Red Sox and NL manager Dave Roberts of the Los Angeles Dodgers.

The full rosters will be announced June 30 at 5:30 p.m. ET on ESPN.

MLB is partnering with Google in the online-only voting system. Searching “MLB Vote” on Google will take fans to the ballot, which also can be cast via MLB.com and multiple MLB mobile apps.

The All-Star Game is scheduled to be played at Progressive Field in Cleveland on July 9.