Vladimir Guerrero Jr. earns the nod as all-star starter for the fourth time

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It’s five and counting for Vladimir Guerrero Jr., the face of the Blue Jays’ franchise, whose $500-million contract extension kicks in next season.

By the time his days in Toronto are completed, Vlad Jr. is almost certain to eclipse his father’s all-star appearance total. His hall of fame dad was named nine times to baseball’s mid-summer classic.

Following the completion of Wednesday’s voting, Vlad Jr. was named to his fifth career all-star game, which this year will be staged July 15 at Truist Park in Atlanta.

Guerrero will start for the American League team at first base after he outpolled New York Yankees star Paul Goldschmidt. Guerrero earned 75% of the vote, marking the fourth time in his career to earn the starting nod.

Vlad Jr. went on record last week when the Jays were in Boston that he won’t take part in the home run derby.

Teammate Alejandro Kirk also was one of two players on the ballot to determine the starting American League catcher. Although Kirk is in the midst of a successful season, his chances were next to none given the season Seattle’s Cal Raleigh has posted in leading all of baseball with 33 home runs.

In the first stage of voting, which determined the first two all-star starters, Yankees superstar Aaron Judge was the leading vote-getter in the AL, while L.A. Dodgers megastar Shohei Ohtani led the way in the National League.