Yesterday MLB released the first update of the voting totals for next month’s All-Star game which, if you haven’t heard, will be hosted at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia. We still have a lot of baseball to get through before we arrive to the Midsummer Classic, but the first vote totals paint a pretty good picture for the hometown Phillies as far as how many representatives will take the home field.
If voting ended today, Brandon Marsh
would be a starter on the NL All-Star team. Obviously, it doesn’t, but it’s very encouraging to see Marsh’s fantastic season so far being rewarded with the recognition it deserves. He seems to be a safe bet to be at the game in some capacity. Ditto Kyle Schwarber, who in almost all likelihood will not pass Shohei Ohtani in votes for the NL designated hitter and therefore won’t start but looks likely to be the NL’s reserve DH as far and away the second most vote getter. Elsewhere, Bryce Harper is currently third in voting for first baseman with a decent gap between Matt Olson and Freddie Freeman ahead of him, but it’s not out of the question that the gap could be closed somewhat, as Harper’s numbers are either on par or superior to the other two. It’s possible he ends up as a reserve or a replacement.
After that, things get strange. Alec Bohm and Bryson Stott are both second at their positions in voting despite their poor starts to the season. Justin Crawford and Adolis Garcia are ahead of such players as Pete Crow-Armstrong and Jackson Chourio. Trea Turner, despite being one of the worst qualified hitters in the sport so far, is fourth in voting for NL shortstops. Of course, much of this is Phillies fans stuffing the ballot for the hometown team, but it’s an almost certainty that no one from this group will make the roster unless something drastic changes or Philadelphia commits to the bit.
So, now that we’ve seen the first voting update, how are we feeling about the NL vote leaders so far? How are we feeling about the Phillies possible representatives? Keep in mind that this of course does not include pitchers, of which the Phillies should have at least one nomination in Cristopher Sánchez. But still, these vote totals so far bode well for the Phillies chances of having multiple representatives for their home All-Star game.
