ESPN news: Aaron Judge and Juan Soto of the Yankees land in another fresh trouble.
There are two implications for the approaching month-long 2024 MLB All-Star Game.
First off, the first voting update has been released.
The second is that many of the top vote-getters are worthy, but some of the candidates holding the top ranks in their respective categories are puzzling.
Star players Aaron Judge and Juan Soto of the Yankees are well-deserving. Not only do they lead the list of American League outfielders, but they lead the list of all MLB players as well.
The top two vote-getters overall are Judge (1,366,315 votes) and Soto (1,252,020), ahead of talents like Bryce Harper and Shohei Ohtani.
The only Yankees in contention to start the game are Judge and Soto right now, but there are a few more in the running.
At designated hitter, Giancarlo Stanton (408,610 votes) is just behind Yordan Alvarez (475,158).
Although Anthony Volpe has 339,150 votes, he has a long way to go before he can pass Bobby Witt Jr. (541,261) and Gunnar Henderson (740,436) among shortstops.
The Mets, what about them?
Pete Alonso, who received 151,602 votes at first base, is the only Mets player in the top five scorers at his position. Although he is close to Matt Olson, who received 154,672 votes, who is in third place, Freddie Freeman (713,858) and Harper (1,110,562) are very unlikely to be caught.
Despite having a season that borders on All-Star status, Starling Marte does not rank among the top nine outfield vote-getters. There is one name on there that is rather odd, though: Nick Castellanos, who has the sixth-most votes but a.609 OPS.
The list of the top five vote-getters at shortstop, which is headed by the now-injured Mookie Betts and the injured but soon-to-return Trea Turner, does not include Francisco Lindor.
The peculiar moniker among those five? Orlando Arcia, the shortstop for the Atlanta Braves, is ranked fourth in votes despite his.253 OBP and 72 OPS+.
*** The player who finishes as the highest vote-getter at each position before the first phase of voting ends on June 27 will automatically be selected to the All-Star squad; the player who finishes in second place at each position moves on to the second phase of voting.
The player ballot will decide the team’s reserves and pitchers, so worthy Yankees and Mets players who aren’t selected by the fans can still enter that way.
On July 7, the complete All-Star Game rosters will be made public.
On July 16, the game will be played at Globe Life Field in Texas.
