Jays' Belt jokes he should be ahead of Ohtani in ASG voting: 'It's rigged'

Toronto Blue Jays slugger Brandon Belt is having some fun with ranking behind Shohei Ohtani in All-Star Game fan voting.

"Yeah, that's how you know it's rigged. I should be No. 1," Belt jokingly said when asked about his placement behind Ohtani, according to MLB.com's Paige Leckie. "And everybody knows I'm a better hitter than he is. Better DH. Better leader. But here we are."

Major League Baseball published its second voting update on Tuesday, revealing that Belt was second in fan support among American League designated hitters, only behind the Los Angeles Angels two-way phenom.

When asked if he would also be a better pitcher than the Angels superstar, Belt doubled down.

"No question," he added. "I got a high school video for days. That'll prove it."

Belt, known for his wry sense of humor, currently has 497,887 fan votes cast in favor of him to start the Midsummer Classic as the AL's DH. The 35-year-old has previously made one All-Star roster back in 2016 while playing for the San Francisco Giants. This year, he's posting a .263/.378/.434 slash line with four dingers and 27 walks over 48 games.

Ohtani, a former MVP and two-time All-Star, has received 1,885,144 fan votes - more than 3.5 times Belt's tally. He's hitting .300/.384/.632 with an MLB-leading 24 homers and 58 RBIs while stealing 10 bases in 72 games played. He also boasts a 3.29 ERA over 82 innings, making 14 starts for the second-place Halos.