Hurry! All-MLB Team voting ends today, 4 CT
CHICAGO -- The Cubs’ lineup was filled with All-Stars and past award recipients in 2019. Now, four of Chicago’s players are in the running for a new accolade.
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Catcher Willson Contreras and shortstop Javier Báez (starters for the National League in each of the past two Midsummer Classics), along with first baseman Anthony Rizzo and third baseman Kris Bryant, are each in the mix for the inaugural All-MLB Team.
The selection process for the 2019 All-MLB Team runs through 4 p.m. CT today, with 50 percent of the vote coming from fans and 50 percent coming from a panel of experts. You can vote once every 24 hours between now and when voting ends. The All-MLB Team will be announced on Dec. 10 at baseball’s annual Winter Meetings in San Diego.
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There will be a first team and second team All-MLB, and voters are asked only to consider performance during the regular season when casting their ballots. Each team will include one selection at each position (including designated hitter and three outfielders, regardless of specific outfield position), five starting pitchers and two relievers.
This past season, Rizzo turned in a .293/.405/.520 slash line to go along with 27 homers and 94 RBIs in 146 games. A late-season right ankle injury potentially cost Rizzo the chance to reach at least 30 homers and 100 RBIs for the fourth time in his career. He led all qualified first basemen in on-base percentage and picked up an NL Gold Glove Award for his work at first base.
Báez hit .281/.316/.531 with 29 homers and 85 RBIs in 138 games last season, when a right thumb injury kept him sidelined for most of September. Báez's slugging percentage ranked second among qualified NL shortstops, and he started for the NL All-Star team at short after winning the fan vote at second base the previous year. Báez's 15 Defensive Runs Saved ranked third in the Majors among shortstops.
Injuries limited Contreras to 105 games in 2019, but the catcher hit .272 while ranking second among MLB catchers (min. 400 plate appearances) in on-base percentage (.355) and first in slugging percentage (.533). He hit 24 homers, knocked in 64 runs and became the first Cubs backstop to start back-to-back All-Star Games since 1936-37 (Gabby Hartnett).
Bryant -- the NL's Rookie of the Year Award winner in 2015 and MVP Award winner in '16 -- made his third career All-Star team in '19. The third baseman hit .282/.382/.521 in a solid comeback campaign that included 31 homers, 77 RBIs and 108 runs scored.