One of the more underrated parts of the Major League Baseball calendar, for me, is the period from late May through early July, when the All Star teams for the American and National Leagues are selected, particularly the fan voting portion of the selection process. It’s awesome in its imperfection, in that the fan voting is a zany barometer combo of performance, in-sport relevance, and popularity.
Fortunately, for Astros fans like me, our players here have scored very high in all three of those categories, although admittedly the “popularity” portion of the fan voting beauty contest has been dicey since the sign stealing scandal punishment. That said, this year is no different. The first wave of All Star voting results have been posted, and there are several Astros in the mix to play in the Midsummer Classic.
A reminder that this phase of voting ends in about a week, and the top two vote getters at each position (top six outfielders) will then got to a runoff to see who will be the starter in Seattle on July 11 at the MLB All Stare Game. As of Tuesday morning, here are the current standings for the American League All Star team:
CATCHERS
1. Adley Rutschman, Orioles – 460,496
2. Jonah Heim, Rangers – 320,028
3. Salvador Perez, Royals – 312,615
4. Alejandro Kirk, Blue Jays – 258,580
5. Martín Maldonado, Astros – 154,799
6. Cal Raleigh, Mariners – 133,344
7. Christian Bethancourt, Rays – 116,819
8. Matt Thaiss, Angels – 116,716
9. Jose Trevino, Yankees – 107,304
10. Yasmani Grandal, White Sox – 52,035FIRST BASEMEN
1. Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Blue Jays – 545,976
2. Yandy Díaz, Rays – 533,179
3. Anthony Rizzo, Yankees – 321,765
4. Nathaniel Lowe, Rangers – 192,643
5. Ty France, Mariners – 132,393
6. José Abreu, Astros – 131,517
7. Jared Walsh, Angels – 86,491
8. Ryan Mountcastle, Orioles – 80,274
9. Joey Gallo, Twins – 42,472
10. Josh Naylor, Guardians – 34,701SECOND BASEMEN
1. Marcus Semien, Rangers – 707,712
2. Jose Altuve, Astros – 363,013
3. Whit Merrifield, Royals – 286,799
4. Gleyber Torres, Yankees – 171,173
5. Brandon Drury, Angels – 146,476
6. José Caballero, Mariners – 107,633
7. Brandon Lowe, Rays – 88,140
8. Adam Frazier, Orioles – 78,839
9. Zach McKinstry, Tigers – 57,798
10. Andrés Giménez, Guardians – 38,420
THIRD BASEMEN
1. Matt Chapman, Blue Jays – 475,322
2. Josh Jung, Rangers – 470,836
3. Rafael Devers, Red Sox – 221,310
4. Alex Bregman, Astros – 187,388
5. Anthony Rendon, Angels – 147,258
6. Isaac Paredes, Rays – 130,125
7. Eugenio Suárez, Mariners – 129,947
8. DJ LeMahieu, Yankees – 129,178
9. José Ramírez, Guardians – 100,097
10. Ramón Urías, Orioles – 67,944SHORTSTOPS
1. Bo Bichette, Blue Jays – 775,221
2. Corey Seager, Rangers – 376,659
3. Wander Franco, Rays – 226,629
4. Jeremy Peña, Astros – 172,258
5. J.P. Crawford, Mariners – 123,364
6. Zach Neto, Angels – 117,483
7. Anthony Volpe, Yankees – 114,842
8. Jorge Mateo, Orioles – 63,514
9. Javier Báez, Tigers – 46,972
10. Enrique Hernández, Red Sox – 43,651DESIGNATED HITTERS
1. Shohei Ohtani, Angels – 924,182
2. Brandon Belt, Blue Jays – 205,659
3. Robbie Grossman, Rangers – 129,623
4. Corey Julks, Astros – 116,842
5. Harold Ramírez, Rays – 112,860
6. Giancarlo Stanton, Yankees – 112,608
7. Miguel Cabrera, Tigers – 73,600
8. Justin Turner, Red Sox – 72,273
9. AJ Pollock, Mariners – 58,617
10. Jake Burger, White Sox – 57,408OUTFIELDERS
1. Aaron Judge, Yankees – 844,965
2. Mike Trout, Angels – 598,918
3. Yordan Alvarez, Astros – 571,986
4. Randy Arozarena, Rays – 532,489
5. Kevin Kiermaier, Blue Jays – 322,341
6. Adolis García, Rangers – 300,968
7. George Springer, Blue Jays – 275,512
8. Masataka Yoshida, Red Sox – 268,969
9. Julio Rodríguez, Mariners – 221,092
10. Daulton Varsho, Blue Jays – 216,643
11. Ezequial Duran, Rangers – 206,475
12. Josh Lowe, Rays – 194,691
13. Leody Taveras, Rangers – 164,851
14. Kyle Tucker, Astros – 162,122
15. Jarred Kelenic, Mariners – 153,175
16. Harrison Bader, Yankees – 137,655
17. Hunter Renfroe, Angels – 114,706
18. Austin Hays, Orioles – 113,698
19. Jake Meyers, Astros – 110,566
20. Cedric Mullins, Orioles – 108,982
Okay, the first thing I see is that there are a ton of Astros that are on the radar, including first time ballot inclusions Jake Meyers and Corey Julks! More on that in a minute. My biggest surprise might be Kyle Tucker, an All Star last season, all the way down at 14th on the outfield list. Not that he deserves to be higher, I just thought he might score higher due to the Astros’ relevance and his popularity (i.e. he wasn’t on the 2017 cheating Astro team).
Other observations:
The Astros may end up with no starters in the All Star Game
As stated above, there are a ton of Astros on the radar, but very few in position to close the deal. If this were a closest to the hole contest on a par 3 golf hole, the Astros would have a slew of balls on the fringe and short rough, but only Yordan Alvarez and Jose Altuve on the green. Alvarez is in line to start right now, although Randy Arozerena of the Rays is lurking, and Alvarez is out for a while with a strained oblique. Altuve should make the runoff Against Marcus Semien, but Semien’s massive lead in this phase indicates Semien is not losing the runoff. At all the other positions, the Astros have a lot of work to do to even get into the top two.
Corey Julks getting into a run off for the starting DH spot would be awesome
While not getting voted in would be a disappointment for former All Stars like Alvarez, Altuve, Bregman, and the like, Corey Julks wasn’t even expected to make the team out of spring training, let alone be a choice at DH on the All Star ballot. From there, I’m guessing he expected even less to be in the top four of voting at this stage. Look, Shohei Ohtani is going to win the DH selection running away, and if he is the overall leading vote getter in the AL at all the positions, then there will be no runoff (the leading overall vote getter automatically makes the team), but seeing “Julks vs Ohtani” would be a fun “David vs Goliath” angle for a few days!
Man, what the hell happened to Carlos Correa?
I like keeping an eye on some of our former Astro favorites, and if you look at the results above, you will see George Springer, still beloved here in Houston, sitting at 7th among outfielders right now. One name that is nowhere to be found is shortstop Carlos Correa, who less than two years ago was finishing in the top five for AL MVP. Three months ago, he was agreeing to decade long deals for north of $300 million with the Giants, and then the Mets, before both teams scuttled the deal due to medical concerns on Correa’s surgically repaired leg. Ultimately, Carlos got a lot of money ($200 million), but for far fewer years, and he had to go back to Minnesota. To date, he has not performed well (.710 OPS), and is stuck on a .500 team in the wretched AL Central, and thus, the relevance factor plummets him out of the top ten at his position. You hate to see it.
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This article appears in Jan 1 – Dec 31, 2023.
