The first results of All-Star voting have been released, and it's safe to say people in Colorado are stuffing the ballot box. There's no problem with Troy Tulowitzki leading, but who are those other two guys? Why are they the leading vote getters at their position? Those aren't the only surprises from these Week 1 results, but they're definitely the most glaring.
Now, in the interest of full disclosure, I haven't voted once yet. I haven't been to a game since mid-April, and I generally save my online votes until the game is much closer. (I have no idea how many home games each team has had since voting began, so maybe that's one way to explain the Rockies thing.)
Since the National League leaders were the ones that came out today, let's start there. As you would expect, Yadier Molina and Buster Posey are 1-2 at catcher. Yadi's got a healthy lead, as he probably should. He's the best catcher in the game. Likewise, Adrian Gonzalez leading at first base is no big surprise, even though the margin over Freddie Freeman is somewhat closer than you'd expect. And Joey Votto will probably enter the discussion when he comes off the DL. Chase Utley's not really that good anymore, but second base in the National League is incredibly weak and he's the most recognizable name, so that's not a problem.
Tulo's massive lead at shortstop is no surprise. Again, I have no problem with Troy Tulowitzki leading All-Star voting. He's popular everywhere and is a legitimate MVP candidate. Plus, who else plays shortstop in the National League? Well, Hanley Ramirez, but you get my point. At third base, though, all I know about Nolan Arenado is that he plays for the Rockies and that he broke his finger sliding into a base the other day. I'd make a "What are they smoking in Colorado?" joke here, but we all know the answer to that. Anyway, the point remains. Why is David Wright only in third place in the voting?
I have much less of a problem with Arenado than I do with the outfield, though. If you told me a Rockies outfielder was on pace to start, I would've assumed it was Carlos Gonzalez. Nope. He's in 13th. Instead, it's some guy named Charlie Blackmon who has the third-most overall votes in the National League.
But, you know what? That's not even the biggest problem. It's an absolute joke that Ryan Braun is currently third and on pace to start. This guy took PEDs, lied about it, and served a 65-game suspension for it. Yet people think he's worthy of starting the All-Star Game?! You've got to be kidding me! And I'm not even going to let people get away with the "Most Familiar Name" card. There are plenty of outfielders in the National League. I guarantee you've heard of three not named Ryan Braun.
In fact, I was almost taking it for granted that the National League outfield would be Bryce Harper, Yasiel Puig and Andrew McCutchen. McCutchen's currently in second place, and I would imagine he'll remain pretty safely in the starting lineup. Puig will probably end up starting, too, now that people have seen the fact that Blackmon and Braun are both among the leaders. Harper, though, is only 12th in voting right now. I'm not sure how he's had that dramatic a drop in one season, especially since, as far as I know, fans still love him.
Over in the American League, there are far fewer surprises. People are acting like there's still a chance Derek Jeter won't start his final All-Star Game. That's a highly laughable proposition. As expected, he's already got a massive lead at shortstop. All the third basemen are happy...because Miggy took his All-Star votes over to first base. And David Ortiz will be the AL's starting DH until he retires (even if I proudly never have and never will vote for him). The overall leading vote getter? Also no surprise. Mike Trout.
Joining Trout in the outfield is Jose Bautista, who has the second-highest vote total of anybody. I still don't get it. Does everyone in Canada simply vote for him just because he's on the Blue Jays? He isn't that good. Why is he so popular? Anyway, I was wondering who the third outfielder might be, and it's currently Jacoby Ellsbury. Trout's going to start. Bautista most likely will, as well. But that third spot's going to be up for grabs from now until the All-Star Game.
My big problem with American League All-Star voting was always going to be at second base. On principle, I can't vote for Robinson Cano. And seeing as I like Dustin Pedroia almost as much as I like Rafael Nadal, you know there's no chance I'm voting for him either. That leaves Ian Kinsler. I've been a Kinsler fan since he got screwed out of starting the All-Star Game at Yankee Stadium (and didn't even make the team!), so this is a perfectly acceptable alternative. Well, the rest of baseball fans have been helping me out. The three of them have already distanced the field, but Kinsler's currently the leader.
Rounding out the AL leaders are Matt Wieters behind the plate and Josh Donaldson at third. The Twins really would've been wise to wait a year on this whole moving Joe Mauer to first plan. Because if he was still a catcher, he'd easily be leading the voting and they'd know that they'd likely have a virtual guaranteed starter in their home All-Star Game, just like David Wright last year. But he's not no chance of beating Cabrera at first base, and Minnesota likely won't have any starters. Without Mauer, AL catcher lacks marquee names, so Wieters is fine. He's currently on the DL, though, so that might change.
As for Donaldson, he could've (and some might say should've) been Oakland's representative last year, but ended up getting squeezed out because Miguel Cabrera was still playing third and Manny Machado had a ridiculous first half in 2013. Donaldson's coming-out party to the rest of us was against the Tigers in the Division Series. He's a good ballplayer, but it's still a surprise to see him leading the voting. I kind of assumed it would end up being Evan Longoria that starts, and it still might be.
We've still got a long way to go, and these leaders likely will change. It's always interesting to see where fans' heads are at when All-Star voting starts, though. And it at least gives us something to talk about. Even if it ends up being much ado about nothing.
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