HOUSTON – Detroit Tigers shortstop Kevin McGonigle and catcher Dillon Dingler need help from the fans.
Those two position players are trailing early in the race to guarantee their spots with the American League in the 2026 MLB All-Star Game, which is set for July 14 at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia. McGonigle ranks third among AL shortstops; Dingler ranks fourth among AL catchers.
Of the two, Dingler has the best chance to advance to the second round of fan voting.
The first voting update was released Monday, June 15, by Major League Baseball. Fans can vote for position players (but not pitchers) on MLB.com.
There are two phases of fan voting for the 2025 All-Star Game.
In Phase 1, the position player with the most overall votes automatically earns a starting spot. Additionally, the top two vote-getters at each position, plus the top six outfielders, advance to the second round of voting. In Phase 2, all vote totals reset, and fans select the remaining starters from the smaller pool of players who advanced to the second round.
Phase 1 ends June 25.
Phase 2 of fan voting ends July 2.
Pitchers (such as left-hander Tarik Skubal) and reserves are selected through a combination of player voting and choices made by the commissioner’s office.
The full All-Star rosters will be announced July 4.
In 2026, the Tigers have just one position player on track to advance to the second round of fan voting: Riley Greene, who ranks fifth among AL outfielders.
Both McGonigle and Dingler need a boost from the fans before the end of the first round.
In the Phase 1 update, Dingler (261,084 votes) ranked below the Athletics’ Shea Langeliers (715,625), the Toronto Blue Jays’ Alejandro Kirk (298,401) and the Baltimore Orioles’ Adley Rutschman (261,607), while McGonigle (266,239) ranked below the Kansas City Royals’ Bobby Witt Jr. (890,575) and the Blue Jays’ Andrés Giménez (354,651).
Dingler is trailing by 37,317 votes to become one of the top two AL catchers; McGonigle is trailing by 93,044 votes to become one of the top two AL shortstops.
Meanwhile, Greene is among the top six AL outfielders.
Here’s the list, in order:
The five other Tigers position players on the first ballot update for Phase 1 of fan voting were Spencer Torkelson (10th among AL first basemen with 85,880 votes), Gleyber Torres (sixth among AL second basemen, 173,068), Zach McKinstry (eighth among AL third basemen, 93,817), Colt Keith (ninth among AL designated hitters, 84,042) and Javier Báez (19th among AL outfielders, 115,440).
Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him @EvanPetzold.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Kevin McGonigle, Dillon Dingler need help after All-Star voting update
Reporting by Evan Petzold, Detroit Free Press / Detroit Free Press
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By Evan Petzold, Detroit Free Press | USA TODAY Network
