Five Royals Lead at Their Positions in Final All-Star Voting Update

Toronto Blue Jays third baseman Josh Donaldson collected over 2.7 million votes last week to not only move into the top spot at the hot corner in the American League, but surpass Salvador Perez of the Kansas City Royals as the top vote-getter in all of Major League Baseball for the 86^th All-Star Game, to be played on Tuesday, July 14^th at Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati, Major League Baseball announced today. Overall, the 2015 Esurance MLB All-Star Game Ballot has eclipsed 500 million votes, exceeding the previous record total of 391 million votes (2012). 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, will be accessible until the voting period ends on Thursday at 11:59 p.m. (ET).

Donaldson, an All-Star in 2014, has received 11,738,206 total votes as he attempts 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). Donaldson's vote total is currently the most in a single-season in history, surpassing Josh Hamilton's 2012 all-time single-season record of 11,073,744 tallies. In his first year with Toronto, the 29-year-old Donaldson is tied for the Major League lead with 58 runs scored while hitting .301 with 18 home runs, 18 doubles and 48 RBI. In addition, he leads the AL with 163 total bases, is tied for second with 28 multi-hit games and ranks third with 36 extra-base hits. Donaldson, who made a highlight reel catch in Marco Estrada's perfect game bid last week, has hit safely in 28 of his last 30 games. He is followed at third base by Mike Moustakas of the Royals, who has totaled 10,372,868 votes as he tries for his first Midsummer Classic selection.

In the National League, third baseman Todd Frazier of the host Cincinnati Reds has pulled to within 63,000 votes of leader Matt Carpenter of the St. Louis Cardinals. Carpenter has collected 6,252,327 votes to stay just ahead of Frazier and his 6,189,347 votes. Carpenter, who is vying for his third consecutive All-Star selection and his first fan-elected start, would become just the third different Cardinals third baseman to earn a starting assignment, joining Joe Torre (1971-72) and Scott Rolen (2003-05). The 29-year-old Carpenter is tied for third in the NL with 26 multi-hit games and 21 doubles, and tied for seventh with 39 walks. In addition, he has added a .279 batting average, eight home runs, a triple and 37 RBI. The Cardinals have had at least one player elected to start in each of the last six seasons (2009-14), marking the longest active streak in the NL. Frazier, an All-Star in 2014, is bidding for his first career fan election. He would join Hall of Famer Tony Perez (1970), Pete Rose (1976, 1978) and Chris Sabo (1990-91) as the only Reds third basemen to earn a fan election. Frazier ranks second in the Majors with 25 home runs, fourth with a .625 slugging percentage and is tied for fifth with 53 RBI and 54 runs scored. The 29-year-old New Jersey native is batting .290 on the season with 21 doubles, and he is the only player in the Majors with at least 20 home runs and 20 doubles.

Washington Nationals outfielder Bryce Harper continues to pace NL players, and ranks fifth in the Majors overall with 11,363,949 votes. The 22-year-old's total has set a new all-time single-season NL voting record, surpassing the previous mark of 7,621,370 set by San Francisco's Buster Posey in 2012. Harper, bidding for his third Midsummer Classic assignment (2012-13) and second fan-elected start (2013), would become the first player in Nationals-era history to claim multiple fan-elected starting assignments, and he would become the fourth player in franchise history to accomplish the feat, joining Hall of Famers Gary Carter (1981-84) and Andre Dawson (1981-83) as well as Tim Raines (1982-83). Harper, the 2012 NL Rookie of the Year, leads the Majors with a .715 slugging percentage, ranks second with a .465 on-base percentage and is tied for third with 24 home runs. In addition, he is third with 55 walks, fourth with 58 RBI and seventh with 53 runs scored. Overall, Harper is batting .339 on the season, which ranks sixth in the Majors. Harper has reached base safely in 19 of his 21 June games, hitting .368 with a .455 on-base percentage and a .697 slugging percentage.

Following Harper, a crowded race for the final two NL outfield spots continues to develop as Giancarlo Stanton (6,062,318) of the Miami Marlins and Matt Holliday (5,454,953) of the Cardinals currently hold starting assignments, but San Francisco's Nori Aoki (5,115,422) and 2013 NL Most Valuable Player Andrew McCutchen of the Pittsburgh Pirates (4,577,646) remain close behind. Stanton, who was placed on the disabled list on Saturday with a broken bone in his left hand, is bidding for his first career starting assignment. He would become just the third Marlins player, and first outfielder, to earn a fan election, joining Gary Sheffield (3B, 1993) and Hanley Ramirez (SS, 2008-10). The 25-year-old Stanton, who finished second in NL Most Valuable Player voting in 2014, leads the Majors with 27 home runs and ranks second with 67 RBI. Overall, the California native is hitting .265 with 12 doubles, a triple, 47 runs scored and a .606 slugging percentage on the season. Holliday, a six-time All-Star (2006-08, 2010-12), is aiming for his first career fan-elected starting assignment. The 35-year-old, who reached base safely in a NL-record 45 consecutive games to start the season, was placed on the disabled list on June 9^th after suffering a strained right quad. A starting assignment for Holliday would give St. Louis a starting outfielder elected in four of the last five years, following Lance Berkman (2011) and Carlos Beltran (2012-13). Holliday is batting .303 on the season with three home runs, 10 doubles, a triple, 26 RBI, 20 runs scored and a .417 on-base percentage. Aoki, in his first season with the Giants, is attempting to earn his first Midsummer Classic selection. The 33-year-old native of Japan is batting .317 on the season with two home runs, eight doubles, two triples, 19 RBI, 12 stolen bases and 33 runs scored. Aoki was also placed on the disabled list last week with a fractured fibula in his right leg. McCutchen, a four-time All-Star (2011-14), is bidding for his second consecutive fan election. He would join Willie Stargell (1971-72), Dave Parker (1977-78 and 1980-81), Barry Bonds (1992-94) and Andy Van Slyke (1992-93) as the only Pirates to earn multiple fan elections. The 28-year-old native of Fort Meade, Florida is batting .294 on the season with nine home runs, 20 doubles, two triples, 44 RBI, four stolen bases and 40 runs scored. Over his last 48 games since May 6^th, McCutchen is hitting .353 (61-for-173) with 18 doubles, seven home runs, 31 RBI and 27 runs scored.

Seattle Mariners designated hitter Nelson Cruz reclaimed the top spot at his position in a tight race with Kendrys Morales of the Royals. Cruz has garnered 8,891,784 votes, while Morales trails by approximately 200,000 with 8,686,879 votes. Cruz is tied for second in the AL with 19 home runs and ranks fourth with a .552 slugging percentage. Overall, the 34-year-old native of the Dominican Republic is batting .305 with 10 doubles, a triple and 36 runs scored as he tries for his fourth Midsummer Classic selection and second consecutive starting assignment. Cruz would join Edgar Martinez (1997, 2001, 2003) as fan-elected designated hitters in Mariners history. Morales, aiming for his first career All-Star selection, is attempting to become the first Royals designated hitter to earn a fan election. In his first season with Kansas City, the 32-year-old native of Cuba is hitting .291 with nine home runs, 19 doubles (T-5^th in AL), 48 RBI (T-6^th in AL) and 37 runs scored. Morales is currently riding a season-best 11-game hitting streak, batting .357 (15-for-42) over the stretch.

At second base, Omar Infante of the Royals (7,514,642) and Jose Altuve of the Houston Astros (7,282,934) are going down to the wire, currently separated by approximately 230,000 votes after Altuve nearly cut last week's deficit in half. 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, who is six doubles shy of 250 for his career, has 16 doubles on the season, which is fourth among AL second basemen. Infante has hit safely in 12 of his last 13 games, batting .370 (37-for-100) with 10 runs scored and six RBI in that span. 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 2015 Hall of Fame electee 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 .292 on the season with six home runs, 14 doubles, 30 RBI, 35 runs scored and an AL-best 21 stolen bases.

Miami Marlins second baseman Dee Gordon, who was an All-Star for the first time in 2014, has garnered 6,316,113 votes to remain ahead of Cardinals second baseman Kolten Wong (4,730,848). The 27-year-old Gordon, bidding for his first fan election, leads the Majors with 112 hits and a .353 batting average. In addition, the speedster ranks second in the Majors with 26 stolen bases. Gordon has also added 16 doubles, three triples, 17 RBI, a .373 on-base percentage and 39 runs scored on the season. He is aiming to become the first Marlins second baseman to win a fan election, and along with his teammate Stanton, is trying to become the third Marlins player overall to receive a starting bid from the fans, joining Sheffield and Ramirez. Wong, seeking his first Midsummer Classic appearance, is hitting .291 on the season with 18 doubles, two triples, nine home runs, 36 RBI and 41 runs scored. With a fan election, he would join Tommy Herr (1985) as the only Cardinals second basemen to earn a fan-elected start.

Royals catcher Salvador Perez ranks second in the AL in voting with 11,666,785 votes as he bids for his first career starting assignment in the Midsummer Classic 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. Perez ranks second among AL backstops with 69 hits and 12 doubles on the season, and ranks fourth with 33 RBI. In addition, the 25-year-old is hitting .271 on the season with 24 runs scored. Behind the plate, he has thrown out 12 baserunners attempting to steal this season, which ranks fourth in the AL. Since the start of 2013, has thrown out 58 would-be base stealers, ranking second in the Majors behind Toronto's Russell Martin (75). Perez is followed behind the plate by Martin (6,405,822), who is trying for his fourth Midsummer Classic selection and second career fan-elected start (2007).

Behind the plate in the NL, Giants catcher Buster Posey, who was elected the NL starting catcher in 2012, has received 7,990,423 total votes, which ranks second in the NL. With a fan election, Posey would become the seventh Giants player since 1970 to collect multiple fan elections, joining Bonds (12), Will Clark (4), Matt Williams (3), Jeff Kent (2), Hall of Famer Willie Mays (2) and Kevin Mitchell (2). The 28-year-old Posey is batting .300 on the season with 11 home runs, 13 doubles, 53 RBI and 39 runs scored. His 53 RBI are tied for fifth in the NL on the season, and his 26 RBI during the month of June are second in the Majors. Posey is followed by Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina (6,278,553), who has earned four fan elections during his career, including each of the last two seasons. Molina is aiming to become the first NL catcher to earn three consecutive starting assignments since Mike Piazza received nine straight from 1994-2002. In addition, Molina would join Hall of Famer Ozzie Smith (12) and former teammate Albert Pujols (5) as the only players in Cardinals history to receive at least five fan-elected starts. The Bayamon, Puerto Rico native ranks second among NL catchers with 73 hits and 15 doubles, and is tied for fourth with 26 RBI. In addition, he is batting .293 on the season with 21 runs scored.

Nine-time All-Star Miguel Cabrera of the Detroit Tigers widened his lead at first base as he now ranks third in the AL with 11,594,518 votes. Cabrera, a fan-elected starter 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 .454 on-base percentage, .589 slugging percentage and 51 RBI, and he ranks second in the AL with a .350 batting average. In addition, the Venezuelan native has added 15 home runs, 16 doubles, a triple and 42 runs scored on the season. The two-time AL Most Valuable Player (2012-13) recorded his 900^th career extra-base hit on Friday, becoming the fifth player in Major League history to record at least 2,200 hits, 400 home runs, 1,400 RBI and 900 extra-base hits by his age-32 season, joining Hall of Famers Hank Aaron and Jimmie Foxx as well as Albert Pujols and Alex Rodriguez. Cabrera is followed at first base by Eric Hosmer of the Royals, who has totaled 9,150,908 votes, as he tries for his first career All-Star appearance. The 25-year-old is batting .290 on the season with eight home runs, 14 doubles, two triples, 40 RBI and 40 runs scored.

Arizona Diamondbacks first baseman Paul Goldschmidt holds a comfortable lead with 7,341,683 votes received, ranking ahead of Adrian Gonzalez of the Los Angeles Dodgers (3,688,928). Goldschmidt, who was elected a starter by the fans in 2014, would become the first D-backs player to win multiple fan elections. In addition to his fan election last year, the only other D-backs to earn a fan-elected start in the Midsummer Classic are second baseman Jay Bell (1999), third baseman Matt Williams (1999) and outfielder Luis Gonzalez (2001). Goldschmidt leads the NL with a .465 on-base percentage and ranks second with a .349 batting average and .639 slugging percentage. He has also added 20 home runs, 16 doubles, a triple, 62 RBI and 13 stolen bases. Goldschmidt has hit safely in nine consecutive games and in 16 of his last 18, batting .379 (25-for-66). Gonzalez is seeking his fifth career All-Star selection and his first fan-elected start. Gonzalez is tied for first in the Majors with 23 doubles on the season, and is batting .302 with 13 home runs, 48 RBI and 40 runs scored.

Los Angeles Angels outfielder Mike Trout has received 11,461,212 total votes, which ranks fourth overall in the AL and tops among AL outfielders. The reigning AL Most Valuable Player is trying 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 ranks second in the AL with a .575 slugging percentage and is tied for second with 19 home runs on the season. Overall, he is hitting .300 with 18 doubles, 42 RBI, eight stolen bases and 55 runs scored. With his next home run, Trout will become one of six AL players with four seasons of at least 20 home runs before his age-24 season, joining Rodriguez (1996-1999), Ken Griffey Jr. (1990-93), Tony Conigliaro (1964-67) and Hall of Famers Mickey Mantle (1952-55) and Ted Williams (1939-42).

Trout is joined among the outfield leaders by Royals teammates Lorenzo Cain (10,418,343) and Alex Gordon (8,934,052). Gordon is followed closely by 2014 All-Star Yoenis Cespedes (7,532,254) of the Tigers and five-time All-Star Jose Bautista of the Blue Jays (7,401,632). Cain, 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), Bo 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 .293 on the season with six home runs, 13 doubles, three triples, 33 RBI, 15 stolen bases and 44 runs scored. Gordon, bidding for his third consecutive All-Star selection and first fan-elected start, is hitting .271 on the season with nine home runs, 12 doubles, 32 RBI and 28 runs scored. Cain and Gordon are attempting to become the first pair of teammates to earn starts in the AL outfield since Boston's Johnny Damon and Manny Ramirez in 2005. 

Rounding out the AL leaders is shortstop Alcides Escobar of the Royals, who has received 10,057,381 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 .281 on the season with two home runs, 13 doubles, two triples, 28 RBI, five stolen bases and 37 runs scored. His 28 RBI out of the leadoff spot are third in the AL. Escobar, who appeared in all 162 contests in 2014, ranks second in the Majors with 538 games at shortstop since the start of the 2012 season, trailing only Alexei Ramirez of the Chicago White Sox (546). Escobar is followed at shortstop by Jose Iglesias of the Detroit Tigers (7,395,163), who is also attempting to make his first All-Star team.

On the NL side, Jhonny Peralta of the Cardinals continues to pace shortstops with 7,151,624 total votes. Peralta, striving for his third career All-Star selection (2011, 2013), is attempting to earn his first career starting assignment and his first Midsummer Classic selection in the Senior Circuit. The Santiago, Dominican Republic native would join Hall of Famer Ozzie Smith (1983-92, 1994-95), Edgar Renteria (2003-04), David Eckstein (2005) and Rafael Furcal (2012) as Cardinals shortstops to earn a fan election. The 32-year-old Peralta is first on his team and ranks first among Major League shortstops with 84 hits on the season. In addition, he ranks first among Major League shortstops with 11 home runs. Peralta and Carpenter could become the first teammates to start on the left side for the NL since David Wright and Jose Reyes of the New York Mets accomplished the feat in 2007. San Francisco's Brandon Crawford, who is batting .275 on the season with 17 doubles and 46 RBI, ranks second behind Peralta with 4,267,238 votes.  

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.

          The starting position players for the 2015 All-Star Game, named via the 2015 Esurance MLB All-Star Game Ballot, will be unveiled on Sunday, July 5^th at 7:30 p.m. (ET) on the "Esurance All-Star Starters Selection Show" on ESPN prior to the "Sunday Night Baseball" matchup featuring the San Francisco Giants at the Washington Nationals. The following evening, on Monday, July 6^th at 7:00 p.m. (ET), the All-Star reserves, pitchers and Final Vote candidates for each league will be announced on the "Esurance All-Star Selection Show" on ESPN.  

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.

2015 AMERICAN LEAGUE ALL-STAR BALLOTING UPDATE #6
Monday, June 29^th