Nationals’ Anthony Rendon deserves your NL All-Star vote
By Matt Veasey
The MLB All-Star Game “Final Vote” process is now open, and the Washington Nationals third baseman is deserving of your vote.
The Washington Nationals have led the National League East Division for all but three days this season. To the victors traditionally go the spoils, and one of those spoils is that a number of Nationals players have been selected for the NL All-Star team.
In fan voting, three Washington stars have already been selected. Outfielder Bryce Harper will start in the NL outfield. The 24-year-old superstar finished with over 3.6 million votes, more than any other player in Major League Baseball.
Second baseman Daniel Murphy will be appearing in his second consecutive All-Star Game. It will be the third career All-Star honors for last year’s NL MVP runner-up.
First baseman Ryan Zimmerman is enjoying the best season of his 13-year big league career. He was voted to his second All-Star team. His only previous honor came way back in the 2009.
The Nationals also had two pitchers named to the NL roster, starters Max Scherzer and Stephen Strasburg.
Even with that fine representation, there is still one more member of the Nationals lineup also deserving of the honor, third baseman Anthony Rendon.
Rendon has been named as one of five candidates for what MLB promotes as a “Final Vote” process. Fans can go online and vote for their choice until Thursday, July 6 at 4:00 pm EDT.
Related Story: MLB All-Star Game: Final Vote ballot
A DEVELOPING SUPERSTAR
Rendon turned 27 years old last month, and is enjoying the best season of his now five-year big league career.
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The sixth overall pick by the Nationals in the 2011 MLB Amateur Draft, Rendon is hitting for a .297/.398/.549 slash line through the Fourth of July. He also has 16 home runs, 51 RBI, 43 runs scored and 36 extra-base hits.
Who would be the choice of the club’s hitting coach, former big leaguer Rick Schu, to step to the plate for the team in the biggest moment? As quoted by Eddie Matz at ESPN, that would be Rendon.
"“He’s my guy. If the World Series is on the line and you need a knock and somebody to grind out an AB, he’s my guy.”"
The other four players on the NL Final Vote ballot are Justin Bour, Kris Bryant, Mark Reynolds and Justin Turner. When considering Rendon’s defensive excellence and offensive production, he is clearly the most deserving of all the candidates.
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Go to the ballot today, and cast your vote for Rendon to join his Washington Nationals teammates on the National League All-Star roster. The 2017 MLB All-Star Game will take place next Tuesday, July 11 in Miami, Florida.