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MLB All Star Voting 2021: Updated Leaders and Predictions for Fan Selections

Jul. 1, 2021
MLB All Star Voting 2021: Updated Leaders and Predictions for Fan Selections

The vote to determine the 2021 Major League Baseball All-Star Game starters is down to its final day.

The three finalists at each position in both leagues have less than 24 hours to make their final push into the lineups for the July 13 event at Coors Field.

As of Tuesday, the Phase 2 results favored the teams from the American League the most. Five of the 10 vote leaders in the AL come from that division.

Over in the National League, Cincinnati and Atlanta appear to be in good shape to have two All-Star starters. Atlanta could have a third at second base, but Pittsburgh's Adam Frazier received a boost over Ozzie Albies in the first two days of voting.

While the balloting ends Thursday, the winners will not find out about their starting spots until Sunday during the league's selection show.

Updated All-Star Voting Leaders

Predictions

American League

C: Salvador Perez, Kansas City

1B: Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Toronto

2B: Marcus Semien, Toronto

3B: Rafael Devers, Boston

SS: Xander Bogaerts, Boston

OF: Mike Trout, Los Angeles Angels

OF: Byron Buxton, Minnesota

OF: Aaron Judge, New York Yankees

DH: Shohei Ohtani, Los Angeles Angels

The voting push from the AL East squads is suppressing the impact of the Houston Astros on the starter vote.

Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Marcus Semien, Xander Bogaerts and Rafael Devers are all ahead of Houston players in the top three at their respective positions.

If you expand further, Salvador Perez, Shohei Ohtani and the three outfield leaders are also leading Houston players in the balloting process right now.

Houston deserves to have a few players included in the AL All-Star team since it leads the AL West with a 48-33 mark, but its stars face tough challenges across the board to get into the starting nine.

Guerrero should be a lock to start at first base, as should Shohei Ohtani at designated hitter. The pair of home run leaders should make up the top part of the AL order at Coors Field.

Bogaerts and Devers have been vital parts of the first-place Boston Red Sox order. Bogaerts ranks third in the AL in batting average, while Bogaerts is one home run away from joining the 20-dinger club.

Bogaerts should face more competition at shortstop from Toronto's Bo Bichette since Devers' main rival, Alex Bregman, is on the 10-day injured list.

Injuries will play a role in the actual AL order since Mike Trout and Byron Buxton will not be back in time to play in Denver.

Trout and Buxton should be voted in as starters, and they will be recognized for that before the first pitch, but they will not actually appear in the game.

That opens up two roster positions for more outfielders to get into the squad, and even start. Houston's Michael Brantley and Cedric Mullins from Baltimore could be the top two beneficiaries of that situation.

Brantley and Mullins were fourth and fifth, respectively, in the latest AL voting update. Brantley leads the AL in batting average, while Mullins sits in the top five in batting average, on-base percentage and OPS in the AL.

National League

C: Buster Posey, San Francisco

1B: Freddie Freeman, Atlanta

2B: Ozzie Albies, Atlanta

SS: Fernando Tatis Jr., San Diego

3B: Nolan Arenado, St. Louis

OF: Ronald Acuna Jr., Atlanta

OF: Jesse Winker, Cincinnati

OF: Nick Castellanos, Cincinnati

A handful of spots in the NL starting lineup should be determined already.

Fernando Tatis Jr. and Ronald Acuna Jr. are two of the sport's brightest superstars, and they should receive plenty of votes to make it to Denver as starters.

Cincinnati's Jesse Winker and Nick Castellanos feel like locks in the outfield alongside Acuna because of how dominant they both have been at the plate.

Winker and Castellanos are the only two players not named Tatis with an OPS over 1.000 in the NL. They both rank in the NL's top five in slugging percentage and on-base percentage.

That leaves five positions open and only one or two that are up for debate. Buster Posey appears to be rewarded for San Francisco's hot start at catcher, and Freddie Freeman held a 13 percent lead in Tuesday's voting update.

Nolan Arenado carries a slight edge over Justin Turner and Kris Bryant, but he has been the NL's vote leader at third base for most of the process.

At second base, Frazier is locked in a battle with Ozzie Albies, who starred in his latest All-Star audition on Wednesday with seven RBI in a 20-2 win over the New York Mets.

Albies should receive a push from Atlanta's regional fanbase that extends over most of the southeast. A late push may give Atlanta the most All-Star starters from a single team, depending on what happens with Bichette in the AL.

Frazier is second to Castellanos in NL batting average and he is one of three players in the league with 100 hits.

If Frazier held on to the advantage he has over Albies, it would be a deserving reward for someone who has thrived on one of the worst teams in baseball, but the All-Star vote is all about popularity and that is where Albies may have the edge on the final day.

Statistics obtained from MLB.com.


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