Five Royals among American League leaders in first voting update for 86th All-Star Game

The defending American League champion Kansas City Royals, who own the best record in the AL at 28-16 (.636), have five players among the AL leaders in the first voting figures for the 86^th All-Star Game, to be played on Tuesday, July 14^th at Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati, it was announced today. Thus far, online voting totals are up 100 percent in comparison to 2014. The first National League voting results will be announced tomorrow.

With five players among the voting leaders, the Royals could become just the second Major League team, and the first AL team, to have five players earn starting All-Star assignments since voting was returned to fans in 1970. In that time, only the 1976 "Big Red Machine" Cincinnati Reds (Johnny Bench, Dave Concepcion, George Foster, Joe Morgan, Pete Rose) had five players earn starting bids in the Midsummer Classic. In AL history, there have been nine teams to have four players win starting assignments, including the 1975 Oakland Athletics, 1981 New York Yankees, 1982 California Angels, 1987 Yankees, 1999 Cleveland Indians, 2001 Seattle Mariners, 2005 Boston Red Sox, 2008 Red Sox and 2011 Yankees.

Royals catcher Salvador Perez, an All-Star in each of the last two seasons, leads all AL players in balloting with 1,447,753 total votes. The Valencia, Venezuela native, who is seeking his first starting All-Star assignment, would join Darrell Porter (1979) as the only Royals catchers to earn a fan-elected start. Since fan voting was returned to fans in 1970, the only catchers to lead the AL in All-Star balloting were Carlton Fisk of the Chicago White Sox (1982), Ivan Rodriguez of the Texas Rangers (2000) and Joe Mauer of the Minnesota Twins (2010). In addition, the only Royals to pace the league in voting were Hall of Famer George Brett (1981 and 1984) and Bo Jackson (1989). Perez leads AL backstops with 47 hits on the season, and he has hit safely in 10 of his last 11 games. Overall, the 25-year-old is hitting .303 on the season with five home runs, nine doubles, 24 RBI and 13 runs scored. Perez is followed behind the plate by Oakland Athletics catcher Stephen Vogt (795,848), who is trying for his first career All-Star selection.

Perez's Kansas City teammate Lorenzo Cain leads AL outfielders and ranks second in the league overall with 1,376,217 votes. Cain, who is trying for his first career All-Star selection, would join Amos Otis (1973), Jackson (1989) and Jermaine Dye (2000) as the only Royals outfielders to land a fan-elected starting assignment. The 2014 AL Championship Series Most Valuable Player is batting .306 on the season with three home runs, eight doubles, a triple, 19 RBI, seven stolen bases and 31 runs scored. The 29-year-old, who ranks sixth in the AL in runs scored, is joined in the outfield by reigning AL Most Valuable Player Mike Trout of the Los Angeles Angels and Royals teammate Alex Gordon. 

Trout, who has tallied 1,297,085 votes, is attempting to make his fourth consecutive Midsummer Classic appearance and third straight start. The 23-year-old would join Hall of Famers Reggie Jackson (1982-84) and Rod Carew (1979-84) as well as Vladimir Guerrero (2005-07) as the only Angels to earn at least three consecutive fan-elected starts. The 2012 AL Rookie of the Year is hitting .299 on the season with 11 home runs, nine doubles, 25 RBI, eight stolen bases and 34 runs scored, which ranks third in the AL. Gordon, who is looking for his third consecutive All-Star selection and first fan-elected start, has received 991,606 votes. Gordon is hitting .271 on the season with five home runs, 10 doubles, 23 RBI and 20 runs scored. In addition, the four-time Rawlings Gold Glove Award winner leads all Major League players with 64 assists since becoming a full-time outfielder in 2011. Cain and Gordon could become the first pair of teammates to earn starts in the AL outfield since Boston's Johnny Damon and Manny Ramirez in 2005. In the AL's closest race, the outfield leaders are followed by four-time All-Star Adam Jones of the Baltimore Orioles (981,926), who has earned a starting assignment in each of the last two seasons.

Rounding out the quintet of Kansas City leaders are third baseman Mike Moustakas (1,261,769) and shortstop Alcides Escobar (1,191,268). Moustakas, who is bidding for his first All-Star selection, ranks seventh in the AL in batting average (.327), is tied for seventh in hits (53) and is tied for eighth in multi-hit games (16). The 26-year-old has added four home runs, 11 doubles, 15 RBI and 26 runs scored this season. Moustakas, the second overall selection in the 2007 MLB Draft, is trailed by 2014 AL All-Star Josh Donaldson of the Toronto Blue Jays (876,586). Escobar, in search of his first All-Star selection, appeared in all 162 contests in 2014, and he ranks second in the Majors with 510 games at shortstop since the start of the 2012 season. The 28-year-old is hitting .278 on the season with a home run, eight doubles, a triple, 15 RBI, three stolen bases and 20 runs scored. His 15 RBI out of the leadoff spot is tied for seventh in the Majors. Moustakas and Escobar could become the seventh pair of teammates to earn starts on the left side of the AL infield, and the first since Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez of the New York Yankees in 2011. The La Sabana, Venezuela native is followed at shortstop by Jose Iglesias of the Detroit Tigers (826,382), who is also attempting to make his first All-Star team.

  Nine-time All-Star Miguel Cabrera of the Tigers leads at first base, and ranks third overall in the AL with 1,347,351 votes as he attempts to make his third consecutive fan-elected start. With a fan-election this year, Cabrera would become the fourth Tigers player to earn three fan elections, joining Lou Whitaker (1984-86), Lance Parrish (1984-86) and Ivan Rodriguez (2004, 2006-07). In addition, he would join Whitaker and Parrish as the only Tigers to accomplish the feat in consecutive seasons. Cabrera, a native of Maracay, Venezuela, is batting .344 on the season with 11 home runs, nine doubles, a triple, 32 RBI, 26 runs scored and a league-best .446 on-base percentage. The two-time AL Most Valuable Player (2012-13) recorded his 1,400^th career RBI on Thursday, becoming the fifth-youngest player in Major League history to reach the mark. Earlier this month, the 32-year-old collected his 400^th career home run, becoming the first Venezuelan-born player to accomplish the feat. Cabrera is followed closely at first base by Kansas City's Eric Hosmer (1,101,738), who is bidding for his first career All-Star selection.

Joining Cabrera on the right side of the infield is Jose Altuve of the Houston Astros. Altuve has collected 1,301,754 votes as he contends for his third career Midsummer Classic selection (2012, 2014). The Maracay, Venezuela native is aiming to become just the seventh player (10^th time overall) in Astros history to earn a fan-elected start, and the first to do so since Houston moved to the AL for the 2013 season. He would join Craig Biggio (1995-98) and Jeff Kent (2004) as Houston second basemen to earn a fan election, while the other Astros fan-elected starters include first basemen Lee May (1972), Jeff Bagwell (1997) and Lance Berkman (2008), and outfielder Cesar Cedeno (1973). Altuve, 25, is batting .299 on the season with five home runs, nine doubles, 25 RBI, 23 runs scored and 14 stolen bases, which is tied for the most in the AL. He is followed at second base by 2010 NL All-Star Omar Infante of the Royals (715,345).

In his first year playing for the Mariners, three-time All-Star Nelson Cruz (2009, 2013-14) leads AL designated hitters with 1,225,255 total votes. Cruz, bidding for his second consecutive starting assignment, leads the Majors with 17 home runs, paces the AL with a .688 slugging percentage and ranks third in the league with a .341 batting average. The 34-year-old native of the Dominican Republic has also tallied six doubles, a triple, 35 RBI and 29 runs scored on the season. Cruz, who has hit safely in 33 of his last 40 games, would join Edgar Martinez (1997, 2001, 2003) as Seattle designated hitters to earn a fan election. Cruz is followed at the position by Kansas City's Kendrys Morales (918,049), who is aiming for his first career All-Star selection.

The Esurance MLB All-Star Game Ballot, the largest program of its kind in professional sports, for the first time, is being conducted exclusively online. Last year's program saw more than 300 million votes cast for elected starters. Fans around the world can cast their votes for starters 35 times exclusively at MLB.com and all 30 Club web sites - online or via their mobile devices - with the 2015 Esurance MLB All-Star Game Ballot. During the voting period, the Esurance MLB All-Star Game Ballot will be available in English and Spanish, and will offer audio CAPTCHA functionality for visually-impaired fans. Traditional Chinese, Korean and Japanese versions of the online ballot are also available. Banco BHD sponsors online All-Star balloting in the Dominican Republic, making Spanish-language ballots available to fans in the Dominican Republic via LasMayores.com, the official Spanish-language Web site of Major League Baseball.

Details regarding the unveiling of the 2015 American League and National League All-Star Teams will be available in the coming weeks. The AL All-Star Team will have nine elected starters via the fan balloting program, while the NL All-Star Team will have eight fan-elected starters. The pitchers and reserves for both squads - totaling 25 for the NL and 24 for the AL - will be determined through a combination of "Player Ballot" choices and selections made by the two All-Star managers - NL skipper Bruce Bochy of the defending World Series Champion San Francisco Giants and AL manager Ned Yost of the Kansas City Royals.

Following the announcement of the American League and National League All-Star rosters, fans will begin voting to select the final player for each League's 34-man roster via the 2015 Esurance MLB All-Star Game Final Vote. Fans will cast their votes from a list of five players from each League over the balloting period. Now in its 14^th season with more than 480 million votes cast, fans again will be able to make their Final Vote selections on MLB.com, Club sites and their mobile phones.

This year's final phase of All-Star Game voting again will have fans participating in the official voting for the Ted Williams All-Star Game Most Valuable Player Award presented by Chevrolet. During the Midsummer Classic, fans can vote exclusively at MLB.com and the 30 Club sites - online or via their mobile devices - with the 2015 All-Star Game MLB.com MVP Vote, and their collective voice will represent 20 percent of the official vote determining this year's recipient of the Arch Ward Trophy. 

The 2015 All-Star Game will be played at Great American Ball Park on Tuesday, July 14^th. The 86^th All-Star Game will be televised nationally by FOX Sports; in Canada by Rogers Sportsnet and RDS; and worldwide by partners in more than 160 countries. ESPN Radio and ESPN Radio Deportes will provide exclusive national radio coverage of the All-Star Game. MLB Network, MLB.com and Sirius XM also will provide comprehensive All-Star Week coverage. For more information, please visit allstargame.com.