Surprising starts reflected in NL All-Star voting

Surprising starts reflected in NL All-Star voting

Three Braves, two Giants among early leaders for starting spots

June 11th, 2018

The Braves' surge in the National League East standings has carried over into the 2018 Camping World MLB All-Star Ballot. In the first NL ballot update released Monday, Atlanta, which has been one of baseball's best stories this season, occupies three of the eight potential starting slots, with first baseman Freddie Freeman getting more clicks than any NL player at the virtual ballot box.
• VOTE NOW: 2018 Camping World MLB All-Star Ballot
Freeman, second baseman and outfielder are all on pace to start for the NL in the 89th All-Star Game presented by Mastercard, to be played on Tuesday, July 17, at Nationals Park in Washington.
• American League All-Star voting update
The only other NL squad with multiple players currently in a starting slot is the Giants, with catcher and shortstop .
Here is the first batch of NL results, with statistics through Sunday's games:

CATCHER

  1. , Giants: 281,331
  2. , Cubs: 259,427
  3. , Braves: 223,108
  4. , Pirates: 168,832
  5. , Cardinals: 152,336
    Posey is vying for his fourth consecutive start behind the dish for the NL, and he has close competition in this race from Contreras and Suzuki. Contreras' .825 OPS is the highest among qualified NL catchers. He is hitting .281/.372/.453, while Posey is at .294/.365/.431 and Suzuki is hitting .273/.335/.474.

FIRST BASE

  1. Freddie Freeman, Braves: 633,342
  2. , Cubs: 248,275
  3. , Giants: 162,750
  4. , Dodgers: 113,392
  5. Joey Votto, Reds: 83,272
    Freeman's vote total is tops in the league, a well-deserved recognition for the guy with the highest OPS (.998) in the NL. Freeman's .340/.430/.568 line with 12 homers, 19 doubles and 45 RBIs has him on pace for his first All-Star selection since 2014. Rizzo is off to a slow start offensively, but he has swung the bat well in recent weeks, and Belt has been slowed this season by his recent appendectomy.

SECOND BASE

  1. , Braves: 398,816
  2. , Cubs: 360,307
  3. Scooter Gennett, Reds: 309,512
  4. , Mets: 97,243
  5. Joe Panik, Giants: 62,325
    Albies didn't get as much preseason attention as fellow "Baby Brave" , but the second baseman's revelatory extra-base-hit production (he has 36 of them to lead all NL hitters) has helped accelerate the Braves' competitive timetable. This is a close race, though, with Albies, Baez and Gennett all within 90,000 votes of each other. Gennett's .340/.376/.556 line with 12 homers and 47 RBIs has made him one of the game's most unexpected delights.

THIRD BASE

  1. , Rockies: 527,683
  2. , Cubs: 305,062
  3. , Braves: 152,260
  4. , Reds: 87,659
  5. , Dodgers: 87,387
    Arenado vs. Bryant is one of the more interesting positional debates in the game right now, and Arenado has the current edge both in the offensive numbers and the All-Star vote. Arenado's .314/.407/.549 slash line outpaces Bryant's .293/.402/.500 marks. Suarez's offensive numbers (.301/.386/.568, 12 homers, 11 doubles, 48 RBIs) merit strong consideration, too.

SHORTSTOP

  1. , Giants: 466,021
  2. Dansby Swanson, Braves: 225,182
  3. , Cubs: 210,764
  4. , Nationals: 158,252
  5. , Rockies: 143,603
    Crawford's .338 average, .385 on-base percentage and .536 slugging percentage are all far and away the best among qualified NL shortstops, so his placement here hardly qualifies as a surprise. He just had a three-hit day off Max Scherzer that included a two-run home run in a 2-0 win, and his .439 average since May 1 is by far the best in the Majors.

OUTFIELD

  1. , Nationals: 498,189
  2. , Braves: 494,206
  3. Matt Kemp, Dodgers: 351,780
  4. Charlie Blackmon, Rockies: 309,099
  5. , Braves: 277,077
  6. , Braves: 225,225
  7. , Cubs: 203,299
  8. , Cubs: 196,837
  9. , Phillies: 189,234
  10. , Cubs: 175,583
  11. , Brewers: 163,575
  12. Corey Dickerson, Pirates: 150,239
  13. A.J. Pollock, D-backs: 110,055
  14. Matt Adams, Nationals: 106,317
  15. , Brewers: 104,948
    The race for the third outfield spot is one of the closest, with Kemp outpacing Blackmon by just roughly 42,000 votes. The 33-year-old Kemp has had a stunning start to the season -- a .338/.368/.564 slash line with 10 home runs and 16 doubles -- after getting shipped from Atlanta back to Los Angeles in a deal that was perceived to be only about financial flexibility for the Dodgers, not about acquiring an All-Star.
    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, July 5, 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, visit AllStarGame.com and follow @MLB and @AllStarGame on social media.