Reigning National League MVP McCutchen joins outfield leaders in latest balloting update for 85th All-Star Game

Pittsburgh Pirates outfielder Andrew McCutchen, the reigning National League Most Valuable Player, has joined the outfield leaders in the latest balloting update for the 85^th All-Star Game, to be played on Tuesday, July 15^th at Target Field in Minnesota. The latest N.L. results were announced earlier this evening on ESPN as part of its "Baseball Tonight" telecast. The next American League balloting results will be announced at 7:30 p.m. (ET) tomorrow night after local rightsholder broadcasts announce the positional leaders.

McCutchen, bidding for his fourth All-Star selection and first fan-elected start, has received 1,727,534 votes to rank second among N.L. outfielders. He is joined by outfield leader Yasiel Puig (1,942,701) of the Los Angeles Dodgers and Giancarlo Stanton (1,659,430) of the Miami Marlins. McCutchen, who entered play on Sunday with a 10-game hitting streak, would become the first Pittsburgh player to earn a fan election since outfielder Jason Bay in 2006, and could become just the seventh player in franchise history to garner a fan election, joining Bay, Barry Bonds (1992-93), Andy Van Slyke (1992-93), Dave Parker (1977-78, 1980-81), and Hall of Famers Roberto Clemente (1972) and Willie Stargell (1971-72). Entering Sunday, McCutchen had collected at least one RBI in seven consecutive contests and he ranked third in the N.L. with a .323 batting average. Puig, in his second big league season, is seeking his first All-Star assignment. He would give the Dodgers a fan-elected outfielder in the All-Star Game for the fourth time in the last five years, following the elections of Andre Ethier (2010) and Matt Kemp (2011-12). Entering Sunday, the Cuban native ranked third in the N.L. with a .414 on-base percentage, fourth with a .318 batting average and fifth with 24 multi-hit games. Puig has hit .360 (27-for-75) on the season with four homers, a triple, nine doubles and 14 walks with runners in scoring position. Stanton, the N.L. leader with 18 home runs and 54 RBI, is seeking his second career Midsummer Classic selection (2012) and first fan-elected starting assignment. He would become just the third player in Marlins history to earn a fan-elected start, joining Gary Sheffield (1993) and Hanley Ramirez (2008-10). In addition, he would become just the third Marlins outfielder in history to make multiple All-Star appearances, joining Jeff Conine (1994-95) and Miguel Cabrera (2004-05 as an outfielder). The starting trio is followed closely in the balloting rankings by a pair of Milwaukee Brewers - 2013 All-Star Carlos Gomez (1,628,401) and five-time All-Star Ryan Braun (1,388,578). They are trailed by Charlie Blackmon (1,352,564) of the Colorado Rockies.

Arizona Diamondbacks first baseman Paul Goldschmidt has accumulated 1,291,052 votes to move ahead of N.L. West rival and four-time All-Star Adrian Gonzalez (1,049,222) of the Dodgers. Goldschmidt, an All-Star in 2013, would become the first D-backs first baseman, and just the fourth player in franchise history, to earn a fan election. The other three to do so were second baseman Jay Bell (1999), third baseman Matt Williams (1999) and outfielder Luis Gonzalez (2001). Goldschmidt ranks first in the N.L. with 85 hits, 27 doubles and 154 total bases, second with 50 RBI and third with 50 runs scored and a .560 on-base percentage. Since his MLB debut on August 1, 2011, he is among N.L. leaders in doubles (1^st, 115), extra-base hits (1^st, 198), RBI (1^st, 283), walks (3^rd, 207), home runs (T-3^rd, 78), hits (T-5^th, 453), slugging percentage (6^th, .525) and OPS (7^th, .900). Atlanta Braves 2013 All-Star Freddie Freeman remains close behind in third place with 920,361 votes.

On the opposite side of the diamond, New York Mets third baseman David Wright (1,051,640) remains the leader ahead of two-time All-Star and 2012 starter Pablo Sandoval (973,221) of the San Francisco Giants and Nolan Arenado (895,905) of the Rockies. Wright, a seven-time All-Star and five-time fan-elected starter, would join Hall of Famer Mike Schmidt (eight fan elections) as the only N.L. third basemen to earn at least six fan-elected starting assignments. In addition, Wright would join Mike Piazza (seven) and Darryl Strawberry (6) as the only players in Mets history to receive at least six fan elections. Wright entered play on Sunday with a .265 batting average, four home runs, 14 doubles and 33 RBI.

Up the middle of the infield Troy Tulowitzki of the Rockies and Chase Utley of the Philadelphia Phillies continue to hold comfortable leads in their bids for a starting assignment. Tulowitzki, the overall N.L. leader with 2,593,387 votes, is followed by Brandon Crawford (899,641) of the Giants, while Utley (1,678,843) ranks ahead of Neil Walker (997,347) of the Pirates. Tulowitzki, a three-time All-Star, is attempting to make his second consecutive fan-elected start. He would become the first N.L. shortstop to earn consecutive fan-elected starts since Ramirez accomplished the feat from 2008-10. Tulowitzki would also become just the third player in Rockies history to earn multiple fan elections, joining Todd Helton and Larry Walker, both of whom were voted a starter on three occasions. Entering play on Sunday, Tulowitzki paced the Majors with a .355 batting average, a .447 on-base percentage and a .659 slugging percentage. In addition, he leads the N.L. with 53 runs scored, ranks second with 17 home runs and places fifth with 43 RBI. Utley, a five-time All-Star, has been elected a starter in each of his All-Star appearances from 2006-10. His five fan elections trail only Schmidt (9) for the most in Phillies history, and the only other N.L. second basemen to draw more All-Star starts are Utley's manager Ryne Sandberg (9) and fellow Hall of Famer Joe Morgan (7). Utley, who is 14 hits shy of 1,500 for his career, leads all N.L. second basemen in batting average (.308), on-base percentage (.366), slugging percentage (.490), doubles (24), extra-base hits (32) and total bases (121).

Five-time All-Star Yadier Molina of the St. Louis Cardinals continues to pace N.L. backstops with 2,003,557 votes, which ranks second overall in the league behind Tulowitzki. Molina, a three-time fan-elected starter, is seeking a second consecutive start and 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 four fan-elected starts. The Cardinals have had at least one player elected to start in each of the last five seasons (2009-13), marking the longest active streak in the N.L. Two-time All-Star Buster Posey of the Giants ranks second with 1,414,363 votes. Posey was the N.L. starter behind the plate in 2012 after setting an N.L. record with 7,621,370 votes. 

With eight different teams currently represented among the eight leaders, this would mark the first time since fan balloting began in 1970 that the N.L. could have eight different teams represented among the starting position players. The N.L. has had a record of seven different teams represented on seven occasions, including 1971, 1984, 1995, 1996, 1998, 1999 and 2010.

MLB's All-Star Balloting Program is the largest of its kind in professional sports. The last two years represent the two highest totals in balloting history, including a record 40.2 million ballots cast in 2012. More than 20 million Firestone All-Star ballots will be distributed at MLB's 30 ballparks, each of which will have 23 dates for balloting. 

In addition, fans around the world can cast their votes for starters 25 times exclusively at MLB.com and all 30 Club web sites - online or via their mobile devices - with the 2014 All-Star Game MLB.com Ballot Sponsored by Experian. The All-Star Game MLB.com Ballot Sponsored by Experian is available in English and Spanish, and offers audio CAPTCHA functionality for visually-impaired fans. 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.

Every Major League Club began its in-stadium balloting no later than May 12^th. When the in-stadium phase of balloting concludes no later than June 26^th, fans will have the opportunity to cast their ballots exclusively online at MLB.com, the 30 Club Web sites and their mobile devices until Thursday, July 3^rd at 11:59 p.m. (EDT).

Firestone, the official tire of MLB, is once again the exclusive sponsor of the 2014 In-Stadium All-Star Balloting Program. The ballot features an All-Star sweepstakes, in which a winner will be rewarded with a trip for two to MLB All-Star Week, including airfare, hotel accommodations, tickets to the All-Star Game and other MLB All-Star Week events, and VIP on-field access to watch batting practice before the All-Star Game with an MLB legend.

For the sixth consecutive year, the ballot features the Home Run Derby Fan Poll. Fans have the opportunity to select three players in each League who they would most like to see participate in the Home Run Derby. The Fan Poll is also available online at MLB.com. The 2014 Home Run Derby, part of Gatorade All-Star Workout Day, will be broadcast live on ESPN, ESPN HD, ESPN Deportes and ESPN Radio in the United States beginning at 8:00 p.m. (ET)/7:00 p.m. (CT) on Monday, July 14^th. The 10 American League candidates are Jose Bautista of the Toronto Blue Jays; Carlos Beltran of the New York Yankees; Miguel Cabrera of the Detroit Tigers; Robinson Cano of the Seattle Mariners; 2013 Home Run Derby Champion Yoenis Cespedes of the Oakland Athletics; Chris Davis of the Baltimore Orioles; Prince Fielder of the Texas Rangers; All-Star Ambassador Joe Mauer of the Twins; David Ortiz of the Boston Red Sox; and Mike Trout of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. The 10 National League candidates are Pedro Alvarez of the Pittsburgh Pirates; Jay Bruce of the Cincinnati Reds; Paul Goldschmidt of the Arizona Diamondbacks; Bryce Harper of the Washington Nationals; Jason Heyward of the Atlanta Braves; Buster Posey of the San Francisco Giants; Yasiel Puig of the Los Angeles Dodgers; Giancarlo Stanton of the Miami Marlins; Troy Tulowitzki of the Colorado Rockies; and David Wright of the New York Mets.

The 2014 American League and National League All-Star Teams will be unveiled on the 2014 MLB All-Star Game Selection Show during the weekend of July 5^th-6^th, with further details to follow.   The A.L. All-Star Team will have nine elected starters via the fan balloting program, while the N.L. All-Star Team will have eight fan-elected starters. The pitchers and reserves for both squads - totaling 25 for the N.L. and 24 for the A.L. - will be determined through a combination of "Player Ballot" choices and selections made by the two All-Star managers - N.L. skipper Mike Matheny of the St. Louis Cardinals and A.L. manager John Farrell of the defending World Series Champion Boston Red Sox.

Immediately 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 2014 All-Star Game MLB.com Final Vote Sponsored by Experian. Fans will cast their votes from a list of five players from each League over the balloting period. Now in its 13^th season with more than 430 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 will vote exclusively online at MLB.com and the 30 Club sites via the 2014 All-Star Game MLB.com MVP Vote Sponsored by Pepsi, and their collective voice will represent 20 percent of the official vote determining this year's recipient of the Arch Ward Trophy. 

The 2014 All-Star Game will be played at Target Field on Tuesday, July 15^th. The 85^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 200 countries via MLB International's independent feed. 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.