Cincinnati Reds shortstop Zack Cozart has moved ahead of Corey Seager of the Los Angeles Dodgers in the latest National League balloting update for the 2017 MLB All-Star Game presented by Mastercard, it was announced earlier today on MLB Network. The next balloting update for the American League will be announced tomorrow. The 2017 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 29th at 11:59 p.m. ET.
Cozart, who is aiming for his first career All-Star selection, has tallied 997,966 votes, while Seager, a 2016 All-Star and the 2016 NL Rookie of the Year, has a total of 804,788 votes. Cozart would become the first Reds shortstop to earn a fan election since Hall of Famer Barry Larkin drew consecutive fan-elected starting assignments in 1999 and 2000. The 31-year-old Cozart, who was drafted by the Reds in the second round of the 2007 Draft, is second among NL hitters with five triples and ranks fifth with a .329 batting average. In addition, he leads NL shortstops with 68 hits, a .416 on-base percentage and a .580 slugging percentage, while his nine home runs are tied for first. Seager, who also has nine homers, leads NL shortstops with 45 runs scored and 17 doubles.
The remaining NL leaders include: first baseman Ryan Zimmerman of the Washington Nationals (1,060,532); second baseman Daniel Murphy of the Nationals (1,745,231); third baseman Kris Bryant of the Chicago Cubs (1,248,348); catcher Buster Posey of the San Francisco Giants (1,357,467); and outfielders Bryce Harper of the Nationals (2,132,795), Charlie Blackmon of the Colorado Rockies (1,588,498) and Jason Heyward of the Cubs (737,147). 
In the NL's closest race, Heyward continues to hold on to the third outfield spot despite competition from several outfielders, including his Cubs teammate Ben Zobrist (678,795); Atlanta's Matt Kemp (647,728); Marcell Ozuna (613,356) and Giancarlo Stanton (603,290) of the host Miami Marlins; and Kyle Schwarber of the Cubs (599,910). On the right side of the infield, the Nationals duo of Zimmerman and Murphy continue to be followed by a pair of Cubs - first baseman Anthony Rizzo (950,851) and second baseman Javier Báez (1,029,025). Murphy continues to garner the second-highest vote total in the NL behind his teammate Harper, who remains the leading vote-getter across all of Baseball. Colorado's Nolan Arenado (951,747) follows Bryant at third base, and Cubs backstop Willson Contreras (740,372) remains second behind Posey. 
The Esurance MLB All-Star Game Ballot, the largest program of its kind in professional sports, is being conducted exclusively online for the third consecutive season. Fans around the world can cast their votes for starters a total of 35 times with the 2017 Esurance MLB All-Star Game Ballot, including a maximum of five valid ballots cast in any 24-hour period. The 2017 Esurance MLB All-Star Game Ballot is available in English and Spanish, and offers audio CAPTCHA functionality for visually impaired fans. Banco BHD León 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 2017 American League and National League All-Star Teams will be available in the coming weeks. 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 23 for the NL and 22 for the AL - will be determined through a combination of "Player Ballot" choices and selections made by the Commissioner's Office.
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 32-man roster via the 2017 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 16th season with over 680 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 2017 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 Marlins Park (July 11th), Gatorade All-Star Workout Day featuring the T-Mobile Home Run Derby (July 10th), All-Star Sunday featuring the SiriusXM All-Star Futures Game and All-Star Legends & Celebrity Softball Game (July 9th), All-Star FanFest at the Miami Beach Convention Center (July 7th-11th), plus a lineup of additional events taking place around the city. The 88th Midsummer Classic 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 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.