Boston Red Sox outfielder Mookie Betts has moved into third place among American League outfielders in the latest fan balloting update for the 2016 Major League Baseball All-Star Game presented by MasterCard, it was announced earlier today on MLB Network. The 2016 Esurance MLB All-Star Game Ballot, which is available exclusively online via MLB.com, Club sites and mobile devices, will be accessible until the voting period ends on Thursday, June 30th at 11:59 p.m. (ET). The next National League voting update will be announced tomorrow afternoon.
In what remains the AL's tightest race, the 23-year-old Betts has received 1,435,218 total votes to move slightly ahead of fourth-place Mark Trumbo of the AL East-rival Baltimore Orioles (1,408,195) and fifth-place Lorenzo Cain of the Kansas City Royals (1,403,617). Betts, aiming for his first career trip to the Midsummer Classic, is joined among the outfield leaders by Mike Trout of the Los Angeles Angels (2,324,597) and his Red Sox teammate Jackie Bradley Jr. (1,725,672). Betts, who was selected by Boston in the fifth round of the 2011 Draft, has reached base safely in 20 of his last 21 games dating back to May 28th. In that span, the Tennessee native is batting .337 (31-for-92) with five doubles, a triple, six home runs, 15 RBI and 20 runs scored. On the season, Mookie leads the Majors with 61 runs scored and ranks among Major League leaders with 88 hits (4th), four triples (T-6th), 35 extra-base hits (T-8th) and 50 RBI (8th). In addition, he leads all leadoff hitters in home runs (15), RBI, hits, extra-base hits and total bases (157). Together with Bradley, the duo is bidding to become the first pair of Red Sox outfielders to earn fan-elected starting assignments since Johnny Damon and Manny Ramirez in 2005.
Trumbo is seeking his second career All-Star nod (2012) and first fan election, while Cain aims for his second consecutive Midsummer Classic selection and fan-elected start. Trumbo, who leads the AL and is tied for first in the Majors with 20 home runs, is batting .281 with 12 doubles, 38 runs scored and a .551 slugging percentage on the season. Cain, who is tied for the Major League lead with 15 go-ahead RBI on the season, is batting .288 with eight home runs, 37 RBI, 10 doubles and 35 runs scored. Toronto's Jose Bautista, who is hitting .230 on the season with 12 home runs and 41 RBI, remains close behind with 1,302,121 votes received.
The remaining AL leaders include: catcher and overall AL leader Salvador Perez of the Royals (2,744,293); first baseman Eric Hosmer of the Royals (2,054,642); second baseman Jose Altuve of the Houston Astros (1,606,705); third baseman Manny Machado of the Orioles (1,626,064); shortstop Xander Bogaerts of the Red Sox (2,116,020); and designated hitter David Ortiz of the Red Sox (2,612,215).
The Esurance MLB All-Star Game Ballot, the largest program of its kind in professional sports, is being conducted exclusively online for the second consecutive season. Fans around the world can cast their votes for starters a total of 35 times with the 2016 Esurance MLB All-Star Game Ballot, including a maximum of five valid ballots cast in any 24-hour period. The 2016 Esurance MLB All-Star Game Ballot is available in English and Spanish, and offers audio CAPTCHA functionality for visually impaired fans. Banco BHD once again 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.
Details regarding the unveiling of the 2016 American League and National League All-Star Teams will be announced later this week. 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 - AL skipper Ned Yost of the defending World Series Champion Royals and NL manager Terry Collins of the New York Mets.
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 2016 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 15th season with nearly 600 million votes cast, fans again will be able to make their Final Vote selections on MLB.com, Club sites and their mobile devices.
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 2016 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. 
MLB All-Star Week includes the MLB All-Star Game presented by MasterCard at Petco Park (July 12th), Gatorade All-Star Worktout Day featuring the T-Mobile Home Run Derby (July 11th), All-Star Sunday featuring the SiriusXM All-Star Futures Game and All-Star Legends & Celebrity Softball Game (July 10th), All-Star FanFest at the San Diego Convention Center (July 8th-12th), plus a lineup of additional events taking place around the city. The 87th Midsummer Classic 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 about MLB All-Star Week and to purchase tickets, please visit AllStarGame.com and follow @AllStarGame on social media.