BOSTON — The democratic process has a way of surprising us. Major League Baseball’s All-Star fan vote is no exception, even for those who directly benefit.Despite being on pace for the worst offensive season of his career, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. led all American League first basemen in the first 2026 All-Star voting update, released on Monday. Though he’s appeared in each of the last five Midsummer Classics, even the Toronto Blue Jays first baseman didn’t see this coming.“I was surprised that I’m in first,” Guerrero told The Athletic. “There’s a lot of first basemen doing a better job than me. But I don’t control the fans, I don’t control the vote.”In Phase 1 of voting, which narrows down the finalists to start at every offensive position, Guerrero led New York Yankees slugger Ben Rice by 93,184 votes. Rice, entering Tuesday, had 16 more homers, 20 more RBIs and a .261 higher OPS than Guerrero. But for the All-Star game in Philadelphia this year, starters aren’t decided by statistics. They’re determined by fans. That, clearly, is where Toronto’s first baseman has the advantage.Perhaps it’s not that surprising that Guerrero, who returned to the Jays’ lineup on Tuesday after missing two games with a sore back, leads his position despite early-season struggles. Fans have selected him as the American League’s starter at first base in four of the last five seasons. Clearly, Guerrero has the sort of magnetism many politicians only dream of. He relies on dramatic slides at home plate more than well-practiced stump speeches.For Jays manager John Schneider, Guerrero’s place at the top of first base voting speaks to his talent, likability and popularity. Playing and performing in the World Series last year gave Guerrero, an already well-known player, the platform to reach even more fans. It probably also helps that the Jays are the only team in Canada, a country with a higher population than New York City, Chicago and Los Angeles combined. That’s quite the voter base.“If numbers aren’t on the scoreboard, who are you paying to come watch?” Schneider said. “He’s one of those guys. So I think that plays into it.”Fans don’t seem to be entirely ignoring Guerrero’s scuffling first half. He entered Tuesday’s game with a .737 OPS, three homers and 27 RBI, all on pace for career lows in a full season. His 603,014 votes are the fewest among any position leader in the American League, so far. Ernie Clement, the other Jay currently leading his position group, has just over 900,000 votes. Plus, there is still time for Toronto’s first baseman to lose his spot.The top two at every offensive position (six for outfield) move on to a secondary round of voting. The winner of that head-to-head becomes an All-Star Game starter. Last year, Paul Goldschmidt initially led Guerrero before the Jays’ first baseman overtook him and prevailed in the second round of voting.If the 27-year-old is toppled in the vote this year, by Rice or Nick Kurtz or any other first baseman, it’s likely Guerrero’s streak of All-Star appearances ends this summer. He doesn’t have much of a case to be added to the bench by the player vote or commissioner’s discretion. But if democracy dictates that Guerrero starts for the American League this year, he won’t deny the will of the people.“If they vote for me, I gotta go,” Guerrero said. “If I’m voted first, I’m going.”Back-to-back homers carry Blue Jays in BostonDavis Schneider took the home run jacket off quickly, as Andrés Giménez followed his fifth-inning homer on Tuesday with his own just three pitches later. The back-to-back dingers, Toronto’s first of the season, built the Jays a lead they didn’t relinquish in a 6-1 win over the Red Sox.Back at the ballpark he broke out in as a rookie in 2023, Schneider added an RBI double to expand Toronto’s lead further in the sixth. The 27-year-old, in his fourth season, was optioned to Triple A on May 15. He became too passive at the plate to start the year, the utility man said, and needed to re-find his swing in Buffalo. For the second year in a row, Schneider returned from the minors with a hot bat.“I think it’s helped me reset with my swing,” Davis Schneider said. “And mentally wise too, and playing every day helps a lot, just to figure out what I’m doing with my swing.”For a team that needs more thump, entering Tuesday’s game with the eighth-fewest homers in MLB, Schneider can provide it. He’s never going to spray singles around the field, but if the utility man can control the zone and clip the occasional homer, he has a place on Toronto’s bench. Before his Triple-A demotion, the power was absent from Schneider’s game. In the last week, it’s seemingly returned.“He’s really important to us,” Schneider said, “and to how we’re built, and how we kind of deploy the rest of the team.”Jun 17, 2026Connections: Sports EditionSpot the pattern. Connect the termsFind the hidden link between sports terms