1B: Joey Votto leads by a landslide. The fact that he is batting .353/.478/.643 makes him the easy choice, especially because the NL has a lack of productiveness out of the first base position this season.
2B: This one is a question mark. Dan Uggla leads Brandon Phillips by over 700,000 votes. The only edge Uggla has over Phillips is one more home run (eleven to ten). Uggla has committed four times as many errors as Phillips (eight to two). While Brandon Phillips is hitting a respectable .289, Uggla is sitting at .232, which would have to be one of the lowest batting averages for an all-star the game has ever seen.
3B: David Wright leads Pablo Sandoval by a few hundred thousand votes. Batting .357 makes that well deserved on its own.
SS: Rafael Furcal and Troy Tulowitzki are in a close race, with Furcal leading. With Tulo not going to be be off the DL for the Midsummer Classic, the nod will likely go to Furcal. I have no problem with Furcal instead of Starlin Castro, as Castro's defense has been inconsistent, and his overall offensive stats are not even with Furcal's.
C: Backstop is currently the NL voting's biggest mistake so far.
Player A: .300/.366/.483/.850
Player B: .364/.428/.591/1.019
Player C: .316/.367/.518/.885
Player A is leading Player C by almost 200,000 votes and Player B by almost 700,000. If you follow baseball intently you probably know who these three are. While Carlos Ruiz (B) is leading all of Major League Baseball in hitting, Buster Posey (A) is in line to start the All-Star Game. Yadier Molina (C) is also having a better year than Posey. Both Ruiz and Molina are far better defensively than the young phenom, but in this voting none of that seems to matter.
OF: Matt Kemp leads all outfielders, and while he is currently on the DL, he aspires to return to play in the ASG. Carlos Beltran is in a deserving second, replacing Albert Pujols with 20 HR and 59 RBI to go along with a .312 average. Melky Cabrera and his .351 average have surpassed Ryan Braun for third. If not for the steroid allegation, Braun's popularity probably would have had him leading this vote. Following these four are Andre Ethier, Matt Holliday, Hunter Pence, Michael Bourn, Angel Pagan, Andrew McCutchen, Carlos Gonzalez, and Jason Heyward. A few of these guys will be snubbed, as many are having similarly terrific seasons. It appears the Giants are stuffing the ballots somewhat, as Pagan has no business being on this list. Heyward is a stretch as well. To put them in order, I'd go:
Beltran, McCutchen, Bourn, Cabrera, Kemp, Gonzalez, Braun. The rest shouldn't make the roster.
AL will be done tomorrow.
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