Orioles catcher Adley Rutschman advances to next phase in MLB’s All-Star voting, with chance to start for AL

The first phase of All-Star fan voting ended Thursday, and Orioles catcher Adley Rutschman is one step closer to potentially starting the Midsummer Classic for the American League.

Rutschman led all AL catchers with almost 1.3 million votes, ahead of his fellow finalist, Texas’ Jonah Heim, by more than 300,000 votes. The two backstops now move on to the second phase of voting, during which fans will determine who will start July 11 at Seattle’s T-Mobile Park.

Although Rutschman led Heim by a significant margin, the vote totals from the first phase don’t carry over to the second. Voting will restart at noon Monday and end at noon Thursday, with fans allowed to vote once per 24-hour period.