St. Louis Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina leads San Francisco Giants backstop Buster Posey by a slim margin in the latest National League balloting update for the 2016 Major League Baseball All-Star Game presented by MasterCard, it was announced earlier today. 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).
Molina, a seven-time NL All-Star bidding for his fifth fan election (2009-10, 13-14), has received 694,204 votes to remain ahead of Posey (631,799), who is seeking his fourth career All-Star selection (2012-13, 15). Together, they have combined to win each of the last four, and six of the last seven fan elections as the NL's starting catcher at the Midsummer Classic. With a fan election, Molina would become just the third Cardinals player to collect five in his career, joining Hall of Famer Ozzie Smith (12) and former teammate Albert Pujols (5). In addition, the 33-year-old would become the fourth NL catcher to garner at least five fan elections, joining 2016 Hall of Fame electee Mike Piazza (11), as well as Hall of Famers Johnny Bench (10) and Gary Carter (8). Molina, a two-time World Series Champion (2006, 2011) is batting .256 on the season with a home run, 21 RBI, 12 doubles and 19 runs scored. The Puerto Rico native, who is tied for first among NL catchers in doubles and paces all Major League catchers with 456.1 innings caught this season, ranks first all-time in Cardinals history in games, starts and innings caught. The 29-year-old Posey is batting .257 on the season with eight home runs, 26 RBI, 11 doubles, a triple and 29 runs scored.
The remaining NL leaders include: first baseman Anthony Rizzo of the Chicago Cubs (1,264,404); second baseman Ben Zobrist of the Cubs (1,140,808); third baseman Kris Bryant of the Cubs (1,172,717); shortstop Addison Russell of the Cubs (832,191); and outfielders Dexter Fowler of the Cubs (1,170,718), Bryce Harper of the Washington Nationals (1,119,168) and Yoenis Cespedes of the New York Mets (1,097,593).
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 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 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.