2015 Esurance MLB All-Star Game Ballot Eclipses 300 Million Votes

The 2015 Esurance MLB All-Star Game Ballot, which is available exclusively online for the first time via MLB.com, Club sites and mobile devices, has eclipsed 300 million votes, Major League Baseball announced today. With more than two weeks remaining before the voting period ends on Thursday, July 2^nd at 11:59 p.m. (ET), the current total is approaching the all-time record total of 391 million votes (2012). Detroit Tigers first baseman Miguel Cabrera is closing in on Eric Hosmer of the Kansas City Royals as he vies to regain the lead in the latest voting update for the 86^th All-Star Game, to be played on Tuesday, July 14^th at Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati. The next National League voting update will be announced tomorrow afternoon.

Hosmer, bidding for his first career All-Star appearance, has received 5,777,363 to remain ahead of Cabrera, who has cut the lead to less than 500,000 votes with a total tally of 5,301,216 votes. Cabrera, who has earned fan elections in each of the last two seasons, is attempting to become the fourth Tiger 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. Overall, the 32-year-old leads the AL with a .444 on-base percentage and a .592 slugging percentage, while batting .341 on the season with 14 home runs, 12 doubles, a triple, 45 RBI and 36 runs scored. Hosmer is aiming to become the first Royals first baseman to win a fan election. The 25-year-old is batting .298 on the season with seven home runs, 13 doubles, two triples, 36 RBI and 33 runs scored.

On the opposite side of the infield at third base, Hosmer's teammate Mike Moustakas continues to lead with the third-most votes in the AL (6,505,248), however Toronto Blue Jays third baseman Josh Donaldson (4,880,315) received more than 2.5 million votes last week, second-most in the AL to Salvador Perez, to remain within striking distance. Donaldson, an All-Star in 2014, is bidding to become the first Blue Jays third baseman and fourth Blue Jays infielder to win a fan election, joining second baseman Roberto Alomar (1991-94), and first basemen John Olerud (1993) and Carlos Delgado (2003). In his first year with Toronto, the 29-year-old Donaldson is hitting .315 with 17 home runs, 15 doubles, 45 RBI and a Major League-best 52 runs scored. Moustakas, who is bidding for his first All-Star selection, ranks fifth in the AL in batting average (.318) and is tied for 10^th with 21 multi-hit games. The 26-year-old has added five home runs, 12 doubles, a triple, 20 RBI and 31 runs scored this season.

Royals catcher Salvador Perez remains the AL leading vote-getter with 7,202,292 total votes received as he looks for his first career starting assignment in the All-Star Game after making the AL squad as a reserve in each of the last two seasons. The Valencia, Venezuela native 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 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 has hit safely in six of his last seven games, batting .370 with a double, four homers and five runs scored. Overall, Perez leads AL backstops with 59 hits on the season, he is tied for second with 10 doubles and ranks fourth with 29 RBI. In addition, the 25-year-old is hitting .285 on the season with 10 home runs and 19 runs scored. Behind the plate, he has thrown out 11 baserunners attempting to steal this season, which ranks fourth in the AL. Since the start of 2013, has thrown out 57 would-be base stealers, ranking second in the Majors behind Toronto's Russell Martin (74). Perez is followed behind the plate by Oakland Athletics catcher Stephen Vogt (3,260,864), who is trying for his first career All-Star selection.

Perez is followed in the AL by his teammate Lorenzo Cain, who leads AL outfielders and ranks second in the league overall with 6,611,781 votes. The 2014 AL Championship Series Most Valuable Player, is attempting to make his first trip to the Midsummer Classic. He would join Amos Otis (1973), Jackson (1989) and Jermaine Dye (2000) as the only Royals outfielders to land a fan-elected starting assignment. The 29-year-old Cain is hitting .284 on the season with four home runs, 11 doubles, a triple, 24 RBI, 11 stolen bases and 37 runs scored. In addition, he leads the AL with a .386 batting average with two outs, and he has recorded 27 two-out hits, which is tied for first in the Majors.

Royals second baseman Omar Infante has received 4,518,765 votes while surpassing Houston Astros second baseman Jose Altuve, who remains close behind with 4,209,702 votes. Infante, a 2010 NL All-Star, is aiming for his first fan-elected start as he tries to become the second Royals second baseman to win a fan election, joining Frank White (1979). The Puerto La Cruz, Venezuela native has 11 doubles on the season, which is tied for sixth among AL second basemen. He is 11 doubles shy of 250 for his career. Altuve, who is bidding for his third career Midsummer Classic selection (2012, 2014), is trying 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). The 25-year-old Altuve is batting .290 on the season with five home runs, 11 doubles, 27 RBI, 27 runs scored and an AL-best 17 stolen bases. Earlier this week, Altuve became the first player in Astros history with at least 700 hits within his first 600 career games (702 hits in 575 games).

Also up the middle, at shortstop, is Alcides Escobar of the Royals, who has garnered 6,332,981 votes. Escobar is on track for his first career All-Star selection, and he would join Fred Patek (1978) as the only Royals shortstops to earn a fan-elected start. The 28-year-old native of La Sabana, Venezuela is hitting .255 on the season with two home runs, 10 doubles, a triple, 18 RBI, four stolen bases and 28 runs scored. His 18 RBI out of the leadoff spot are tied for sixth in the AL. Escobar, who appeared in all 162 contests in 2014, ranks second in the Majors with 525 games at shortstop since the start of the 2012 season, trailing only Alexei Ramirez of the Chicago White Sox (533). Escobar and Moustakas 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. Escobar is followed at shortstop by Jose Iglesias of the Detroit Tigers (3,491,530), who is also attempting to make his first All-Star team.

Rounding out the AL outfield leaders are Mike Trout of the Los Angeles Angels and Cain's Kansas City teammate, Alex Gordon. Trout, the reigning AL Most Valuable Player, has received 5,944,068 votes as he tries for his fourth consecutive All-Star appearance and third consecutive start after claiming the Ted Williams All-Star Game MVP at Target Field in Minnesota last summer. Trout 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 tied for the AL lead with 18 home runs on the season, and he is hitting .297 with 12 doubles, 37 RBI, eight stolen bases and 47 runs scored. The 23-year-old New Jersey native has scored 400 runs since the start of the 2012 campaign, 51 more than any other Major Leaguer (Miguel Cabrera, 349). Gordon, bidding for his third consecutive All-Star selection and first fan-elected start, has received 5,581,096 votes to rank third among outfielders. Gordon is hitting .259 on the season with eight home runs, 12 doubles, 29 RBI and 23 runs scored. His 13 go-ahead RBI this season are third in the AL, while he's also collected five game-winning RBI. The four-time Rawlings Gold Glove Award winner leads all Major League players with 65 assists since becoming a full-time outfielder in 2011. He has recorded 169 doubles since the start of the 2011 season, which is fourth-most in the Majors during that span. 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. Gordon is trailed for third among AL outfielders by his teammate and two-time All-Star Alex Rios (3,952,551). Four-time All-Star Adam Jones of the Baltimore Orioles (3,248,559), who has earned a starting assignment in each of the last two seasons, ranks fifth among AL outfielders, followed by 2014 All-Star Yoenis Cespedes of the Tigers (3,165,784).

Rounding out the AL leaders is Royals designated hitter Kendrys Morales, who has received 5,422,250 votes as he seeks his first career All-Star selection. The 31-year-old native of Cuba is attempting to become the first Royals designated hitter to earn a fan election. In his first season with Kansas City, Morales has proven to be a clutch player for his new team, ranking third in the AL with a .367 batting average with two outs and tied for second in the Majors with 21 two-out RBI. Overall, Kendrys is hitting .281 on the season with seven home runs, 18 doubles (T-4^th in AL), 41 RBI (5^th in AL) and 33 runs scored. Seattle Mariners slugger Nelson Cruz remains within striking distance of Morales in second place with 4,873,273 tallies as he tries for his fourth Midsummer Classic selection and second consecutive starting assignment. Cruz, who ranks second in the AL with a .591 slugging percentage, is tied for the AL lead with 18 home runs on the season, and is batting .323 with seven doubles, 40 RBI and 34 runs scored.

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. 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, which ends on July 2^nd at 11:59 p.m. (ET), 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 later this week. 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.