▲ Doosan Bears' cleanup hitter Yang Eui-ji bats during the top of the third inning in a game against the KIA Tigers at Gwangju-Kia Champions Field on June 14.
Doosan Bears catcher Yang Eui-ji has maintained his lead in the second interim tally of the KBO League All-Star fan voting.
According to the second interim results of the "Best 12" fan voting for the 2026 Shinhan SOL KBO All-Star Game, released by the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) today (June 15), Yang, who is nominated in the Dream All-Star catcher category, received a total of 1,734,348 votes from the first and second rounds combined as of 2 p.m. on June 14, securing the most votes overall.
His vote share accounts for approximately 53 percent of the total 3,280,156 votes cast.
Son Ah-seop (Doosan, 1,594,281 votes) in the Dream All-Star designated hitter category ranks second overall, trailing Yang by about 140,000 votes.
Doosan players continued their strong showing in the Dream All-Star pool, which consists of players from the Doosan Bears, SSG Landers, Samsung Lions, KT Wiz, and Lotte Giants.
Along with Yang and Son, seven other Doosan players—starting pitcher Gwak Been, middle reliever Kim Jung-woo, closer Lee Young-ha, second baseman Park Jun-soon, shortstop Park Chan-ho, and outfielders Jung Soo-bin and Kim Min-seok—are on the verge of being selected as All-Stars, bringing the total to nine Doosan players.
From the Samsung Lions, first baseman Lewin Diaz and outfielder Koo Ja-wook are in contention, while SSG's Choi Jeong holds an undisputed lead in the third baseman category.
In the Nanum All-Star category, which features players from the LG Twins, Hanwha Eagles, NC Dinos, KIA Tigers, and Kiwoom Heroes, LG players dominated.
Five LG players—starting pitcher Song Seung-gi, first baseman Austin Dean, second baseman Shin Min-jae, shortstop Oh Ji-hwan, and outfielder Park Hae-min—maintained their lead in their respective positions.
For KIA, middle reliever Jung Hae-young, closer Sung Young-tak, third baseman Kim Do-young, and outfielder Park Jae-hyun are closing in on All-Star spots, while Hanwha hopes to secure three selections: catcher Heo In-seo, outfielder Moon Hyun-bin, and designated hitter Kang Baek-ho.
However, the race remains tight for the third Nanum All-Star outfielder spot, with third-place Moon Hyun-bin (1,095,446 votes) and fourth-place Kim Ho-ryeong of KIA (1,060,326 votes) separated by a narrow margin, leaving the final outcome uncertain.
The KBO secretariat noted that driven by high fan interest, the total number of votes cast for the All-Star Game has increased by 27 percent compared to the second interim tally of last year.
▲ Second interim results of the KBO League All-Star fan voting
Fan voting to select the All-Star Best 12 will continue until 2 p.m. on June 23.
The final Best 12 roster, which combines fan votes (70 percent) and player votes (30 percent), will be announced on June 24.
The All-Star Game will be held at Seoul's Jamsil Baseball Stadium, which is set to close after this season.
The Futures (minor league) All-Star Game and the Home Run Derby will take place first on July 10 next month, followed by the main All-Star Game on July 11.
(Photo courtesy of the KBO, Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.