Dodgers fans have opportunity to make ridiculous MLB history and become most hated franchise

Phase 2 of All-Star voting is underway, and Shohei Ohtani — the National League's biggest votes-getter — is already through to guarantee the Dodgers a representative in the starting lineup (for a Dave Roberts-led NL team). Ohtani got 3,967,668 votes to lead the NL, but two other Dodgers weren't far behind.

Freddie Freeman and Will Smith both got over 3 million votes, the only other NL players to do so other than the Cubs' Pete Crow-Armstrong. They led the first base and catcher categories heading out of the first round, but Tommy Edman, Max Muncy, Mookie Betts, Teoscar Hernández, and Andy Pages all made it through to the second round of voting at second, third, shortstop, and in the outfield, respectively.

Last year, the Dodgers sent six representatives to the All-Star Game — Ohtani, Betts, Freeman, Smith, Hernández, and Tyler Glasnow — but only Ohtani and Hernández started. This year, the Dodgers are in a prime position to match or break a record that hasn't been matched since the 1976 Reds: send five players to the All-Star Game via vote.

Freeman and Smith are basically locks, but the other five need an extra push from Dodgers fans. Voting closes at 9 AM PST on Wednesday, July 2.

Dodgers have an opportunity to match or break a record for most starters sent to the All-Star Game

Edman is trailing Ketel Marte in second base voting, Betts is trailing Francisco Lindor for shortstop, Muncy is behind Manny Machado, and Hernández and Pages are fourth and sixth in outfield voting, with Ronald Acuña Jr., Crow-Armstrong, and Kyle Tucker currently in the top three spots. Juan Soto sits behind in fifth.

All of these direct competitors have had admirable seasons in their own rights. Marte is having a .300/.400/.500 season, Lindor has never been an All-Star as a Met because he's always failed to get hot before the break, Acuña has absolutely taken off just 34 games into his abridged season after coming back from an ACL tear, and so on.

But would it be nice if Dodgers fans helped completely shut out the Padres from starting roles? Muncy has had an unbelievable run after an early season slump. Pages has stiff competition in the outfield, but the Dodgers would be lost without him this season.

In terms of pitching, we should probably expect to see Yoshinobu Yamamoto get a nod from the players and Commissioner's Office. That one's out of our hands, but the others are firmly within fans' control. Get voting.