CLEVELAND -- Miguel Cabrera is headed back to the All-Star Game, just not in a starting spot. The Tigers first baseman was selected by players as a reserve for the American League team, his 11th selection to the Midsummer Classic, seven of them in nine seasons with the Tigers.
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Cabrera returns to the All-Star Game after a one-year hiatus. He beat out Kansas City's Eric Hosmer for the starting nod at first base last year, but he missed the game after suffering a left calf strain July 4 that kept him out until August. Hosmer topped him by just under 600,000 votes this year, but players made sure Cabrera had a spot on the bench. It's his first reserve selection since 2012, when he lost out to Adrian Beltre at third base.
Cabrera, the reigning American League batting champion, entered Tuesday's game against the Indians batting .300 (94-for-313) with 16 doubles, 18 home runs and 51 RBIs. His .910 OPS ranked seventh among AL hitters. The only one of those statistical categories where Hosmer had Cabrera topped was batting average, though Baltimore's Chris Davis led AL first basemen in home runs and RBIs.
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Cabrera's seventh All-Star nod as a Tiger ties him with Jim Bunning for fourth-most in club history. He's the first Tigers position player to earn seven consecutive All-Star selections since Bill Freehan had a stranglehold on the catcher position, earning 10 straight selections from 1964 to 1973.
Among the Tigers left out was Nick Castellanos, crowded out of a stellar field of candidates at third base, and Victor Martinez, whose production at DH trailed only Boston's David Ortiz in several categories.
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Fans can vote for the 2016 Esurance MLB All-Star Game Final Vote until 4 p.m. ET on Friday. The winners, as chosen exclusively by online fan voting totals, will be announced during a Final Vote-themed telecast of "MLB Now" featuring commentary from political analyst Jeff Greenfield, live on MLB Network and MLB.com from 4-5 p.m. ET. MLB Network will provide extensive coverage across all of its studio programming during the Final Vote, including interviews with the candidates, frequent updates, heat maps indicating the cities where votes are being cast for each candidate, news on player and club campaigns and a running countdown clock leading up to the announcement.
Baseball fans have cast nearly 600 million online votes for Final Vote candidates since the program's inception in 2002. In addition to MLB.com and the official club websites, fans can use their mobile devices to cast votes at MLB.com/vote or via text message. To receive the ballot, text the word "VOTE" to 89269. To vote for a specific player, fans can text their choice to 89269. EXAMPLE: Text "A3" to vote for AL Player 3 or "N3" to vote for NL Player 3. Message and data rates may apply. Text "STOP" to end and "HELP" for information. Mobile voting in Canada also is available and fans should text their choices to 101010.
For the fifth consecutive year, the Final Vote will include social balloting, as Twitter support for the 10 candidates over the last six hours of balloting will count toward their vote totals. From 10 a.m.-4 p.m. ET on Friday, any tweet that includes a designated player hashtag will be tabulated as part of the official vote total used to determine the winners.
On Tuesday, July 12, watch the 2016 All-Star Game presented by MasterCard live on FOX, and during the game visit MLB.com to submit your choice for the Ted Williams Most Valuable Player Award presented by Chevrolet via the 2016 MLB All-Star Game MVP Vote. The 87th All-Star Game, in San Diego, will be televised nationally by FOX, in Canada by Rogers Sportsnet and RDS, and worldwide by partners in more than 160 countries via MLB International's independent feed. ESPN Radio and ESPN Radio Deportes will provide national radio coverage of the All-Star Game. MLB.com, MLB Network and SiriusXM will also provide comprehensive All-Star Week coverage. For more information, please visit allstargame.com.