MLB Releases NL All-Star Ballot, Giants Contending
The MLB has released the National League All-Star votes Tuesday, where the St. Louis Cardinals hold four of the eight starting positions. The San Francisco Giants, however, have several players within striking distance of the first place votes.
Last season, the Giants had Madison Bumgarner, Tim Hudson and Hunter Pence chosen to the NL reserves, but did not have a starter in the lineup.
Buster Posey is less than 5,000 votes behind Yadier Molina for the top catcher position - by far the closest competition for a top spot out of any position. Posey has nine home runs, 31 RBIs and is batting .285 in 54 games. Molina, however, has yet to hit a home run and only has 20 RBIs. The fans are really helping Molina out, his average is even lower than Posey's (.280) in his 53 games.
Brandon Crawford is also second to a Cardinal for the shortstop position, as he is currently 600,000 votes behind Jhonny Peralta. This competition is statistically closer compared to the catcher battle. Crawford has hit eight home runs, 38 RBIs and batting .289, Peralta has hit nine home runs, 34 RBIs and hitting .316.
The biggest surprise of the latest vote tally is Nori Aoki placing fourth (one spot behind a starting spot) out of all outfielders, trailing Gioncarlo Stanton by only 50,000 votes. Joe Panik is also in the hunt, placing third behind Dee Gordon and Kolten Wong for the starting position at second base.
Brandon Belt is fifth for first basemen, about a million votes behind Paul Goldschmidt. Others vying for a starting spot are Angel Pagan and Hunter Pence placed seventh and ninth respectively.
Here is the latest tally:
