ST. LOUIS -- A fifth Cardinal has been added to the National League race for the All-Star Game courtesy of fans' votes on the Esurance MLB All-Star Game Ballot. Matt Carpenter is now fifth among first basemen after not cracking the list in last week's update.
Carpenter is looking to make his fourth career All-Star Game, leading the team in home runs (nine) and RBIs (27). He has 214,324 votes, as revealed on Monday, but he will need some help to move up in the rankings. The Nationals' Ryan Zimmerman leads all first basemen with 670,671 votes, while Anthony Rizzo is close behind (657,702).
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Yadier Molina remains third amongst NL catchers, but he's just behind the Cubs' Willson Contreras for second. Giants backstop Buster Posey currently has a strong lead at the position with 917,359 votes to Molina's 478,406.
If Molina is indeed voted to represent the NL in the 88th All-Star Game presented by MasterCard, he would join Ozzie Smith (12) and former teammate Jose Pujols (five) as the only players in Cardinals history to be voted in as an All-Star starter at least five times. He was not voted to the game last year after being an NL All-Star for eight consecutive seasons.
Infielders Kolten Wong and Jedd Gyorko remain among the top All-Star vote-getters at second and third, however, both slid from fourth to fifth in incredibly tight races. Wong, despite spending the past week on the 10-day disabled list, has 171,848 votes, less than 4,000 behind the Rockies' DJ LeMahieu, who is in fourth. The Nationals' Daniel Murphy leads at second base with 1,149,130 votes, while the Cubs' Kristopher Bryant is ahead at third base with 895,752 votes.
Gyorko continues to be one of the Cards' offensive leaders and has the team's highest batting average (.319) and OPS (.919).
William Fowler has moved up from 11th to 10th place among outfielders in the All-Star voting, and he's hoping to make his second-consecutive All-Star team, after making his first appearance last year as a Cub.
Fans may cast votes for starters at MLB.com and all 30 club sites -- on computers, tablets and smartphones -- exclusively online using the 2017 Esurance MLB All-Star Game Ballot until Thursday, June 29, at 10:59 p.m. CT. On smartphones and tablets, fans can also access the ballot via the MLB.com At Bat and MLB.com Ballpark mobile apps. Vote up to five times in any 24-hour period for a maximum of 35 ballots cast.
Following the announcement of the 2017 All-Star starters, reserves and pitchers, fans should return to MLB.com and cast their 2017 Esurance MLB All-Star Game Final Vote for the final player on each league's All-Star roster. Then on Tuesday, July 11, while watching the 2017 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 2017 MLB All-Star Game MVP Vote.
The 88th Midsummer Classic, at Marlins Park in Miami, 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, while MLB Network, MLB.com and SiriusXM will have comprehensive All-Star Week coverage. For more information about MLB All-Star Week and to purchase tickets, please visit AllStarGame.com and follow @AllStarGame on social media.