CHICAGO -- Jose Abreu continues to close in on a feat not accomplished by a White Sox player in more than 20 years.
• VOTE: 2018 Camping World MLB All-Star Ballot
The final update for the 2018 Camping World MLB All-Star Ballot, as each update before it, puts Abreu at the top of the American League's first basemen. If Abreu's lead holds, he would be the first White Sox player voted to start an All-Star Game by fans since Frank Thomas in 1996.
Abreu, who led Houston's Yuli Gurriel by over 300,000 votes last week, has compiled 1,312,221 votes overall, though he saw his lead shrink slightly to 224,000 over Gurriel, who has 1,088,068 votes. Mitch Moreland (907,955), Jose Pujols (688,594) and the injured Jose Cabrera (499,603) round out the Top 5.
For the season, Abreu has hit .271/.328/.474 with 12 home runs and 50 RBIs. He struggled for most of June, but he rebounded at the end of the month and into July, going 6-for-20 over his past five games with a triple and a home run.
Fans may cast votes for starters at MLB.com and all 30 club sites -- on computers, tablets and smartphones -- exclusively online using the 2018 Camping World MLB All-Star Ballot until Thursday at 11:59 p.m. ET. On smartphones and tablets, fans can also access the ballot via the MLB At Bat and MLB Ballpark mobile apps. Each fan can vote up to five times in any 24-hour period, for a maximum of 35 ballots cast.
Following the announcement of this year's All-Star starters, reserves and pitchers, fans should return to MLB.com and cast their 2018 Camping World MLB All-Star Final Vote for the final player on each league's roster. Then on Tuesday, July 17, while watching the 2018 All-Star Game presented by Mastercard live on FOX, fans may visit MLB.com to submit their choices for the Ted Williams Most Valuable Player Award presented by Chevrolet with the 2018 MLB All-Star Game MVP Vote.
The 89th Midsummer Classic, at Nationals Park in Washington, D.C., will be televised nationally by FOX Sports; in Canada by Rogers Sportsnet and RDS; and worldwide by partners in more than 180 countries. FOX Deportes will provide Spanish-language coverage in the United States, while ESPN Radio and ESPN Radio Deportes will provide exclusive national radio coverage of the All-Star Game. MLB Network, MLB.com and SiriusXM also will provide comprehensive All-Star Week coverage. For more information about MLB All-Star Week and to purchase tickets, please visit AllStarGame.com and follow @MLB and @AllStarGame on social media.
Abreu would be the sixth White Sox player (11th time) to be fan-elected as a starter to the All-Star team, joining Thomas (1994-96), Carlton Fisk ('81-82), Richie Zisk ('77), Dick Allen ('72-74) and Luis Aparicio ('70).
Entering Monday, Abreu led all AL first basemen with a .474 slugging percentage and an .801 OPS.