MLB: American League All-Star voting results released
MLB released the first voting results for the American League for this year’s All-Star Game.
The 2016 MLB All-Star Game will take place July 12 in San Diego. Fans will get to see the players they voted for compete to win home-field advantage for their league in the World Series.
The first results of voting for the American League were released Tuesday, and a lot of familiar faces are doing well so far.
The leaders at each position are as follows:
Catcher: Salvador Perez, Kansas City Royals
First Base: Eric Hosmer, Kansas City Royals
Second Base: Jose Altuve, Houston Astros
Third Base: Manny Machado, Baltimore Orioles
Shortstop: Xander Bogaerts, Boston Red Sox
Outfield: Mike Trout, Los Angeles Angels; Lorenzo Cain, Kansas City Royals; Mark Trumbo, Baltimore Orioles
Designated Hitter: David Ortiz, Boston Red Sox
More from Call to the Pen
- Philadelphia Phillies, ready for a stretch run, bomb St. Louis Cardinals
- Philadelphia Phillies: The 4 players on the franchise’s Mount Rushmore
- Boston Red Sox fans should be upset over Mookie Betts’ comment
- Analyzing the Boston Red Sox trade for Dave Henderson and Spike Owen
- 2023 MLB postseason likely to have a strange look without Yankees, Red Sox, Cardinals
Perez holds the largest lead at any position as he is nearly 800,000 votes ahead of the next closest player, which is Brian McCann of the New York Yankees.
Next was Ortiz, who is up nearly 500,000 votes over Kendrys Morales of the Royals.
Trumbo is not a name often seen at the top of these types of lists, but he currently leads the AL in home runs with 15. That mark alone may be why he sits ahead of Jackie Bradley Jr., Jose Bautista and Alex Gordon, who came in fourth through sixth respectively.
The release of the ballot will be sure to prompt arguments about players making the list because of their name alone, but these results do not see too much of that.
Cain is the only one who may not be worthy of his spot, as Bradley Jr. deserves to be a starter based on his performance so far this season, but there is still another month of voting, so the results could look different at the end of June.
Next: Dustin Ackley to have season-ending surgery
Also, it is arguably better to be selected as a reserve, which allows a player to be in at the end of the game. Having a player like Bradley Jr. or Miguel Cabrera step up to the plate in the ninth inning is nothing to complain about.