Results and Analysis of the 2022 MLB All-Star Ballot Update
Written by: Nathan Middleton
Major League Baseball released its second ballot update for the 2022 All-Star Game today. I will be going over the new format, the leaderboard, my ballot, and my predictions.
What Are the Selection Rules?
There will be two rounds of voting
The top two players at each position make it to the final round (six outfielders)
The exception is the top vote-getter in each league (who automatically makes the team)
Phase One ends Thursday, June 30th
Now for the leaders in each position
American League
First Base
Vlad Jr is the clear front-runner here as he has almost double the second-place total and more than double the third-place total. The real race is between Ty France and Anthony Rizzo to see who will join him in the finals.
Second Base
Jose Altuve is leading but is not quite assured of a spot in the finals while Santiago Espinal is in second with Andres Gimenez and Gleyber Torres still having a shot at the top two.
Third Base
Not much of a contest here as Jose Ramirez and Rafael Devers are a deserving top two and third place is almost 500K votes back.
Shortstop
Bichette is up about 240K votes up on second place but is not assured of finishing in the top two as second-place Tim Anderson and third place Xander Bogaerts are separated by just 22K votes.
Outfield (three starters)
Judge and Trout will fight it out for the automatic starting spot, which means that only players ranking second through fifth would advance to the final round to compete for two spots. Currently third through fifth are; George Springer, Giancarlo Stanton, and Taylor Ward but Lourdes Gurriel Jr., Teoscar Hernandez, and Byron Buxton have a real shot at reaching the top five.
Catcher
Alejandro Kirk is WAY out in front over a million votes clear of second place and Jose Trevino is almost there as well as he is up 300K votes on Salvador Perez (with Martin Maldonado close behind him).
Designated Hitter
Yordan Alvarez and Shohei Ohtani are the clear top two. Somehow Yordan Alvarez has never been an All-Star (which will deservingly change).
National League
First Base
Paul Goldschmidt (the likely NL MVP if the season ended today) is about 600K votes ahead of second-place Pete Alonso. The fight for second will be between Alonso, Freeman, and Olson.
Second Base
This is a three-horse race for two spots between Jazz Chilsholm Jr., Ozzie Albies, and Jeff McNeil who are separated by about 120K votes.
Third Base
Manny Machado is the runaway leader almost 600K votes clear of the field but Nolan Arenado and Austin Riley are only separated by less than 70K votes.
Shortstop
Trea Turner is almost certain to finish in the top two and Dansby Swanson has a solid 260K vote lead over Francisco Lindor who is the only threat to the top two.
Outfield (three starters)
One of Betts and Acuna will be the automatic starter so only second through fifth place will advance to the final round. Pederson, Marte, and Soto are third through fifth right now but Adam Duvall, Mark Canha, Marcell Ozuna, and Cody Bellinger could still get into the top five.
Catcher
Willson Contreras is virtually certain to reach the final round while Travis d'Arnaud is up by 180K votes on Yadier Molina for second place.
Designated Hitter
Bryce Harper is well over a million votes clear of third place while William Contreras is over 400K votes clear of third place (Albert Pujols).
Overall Leaders
The new CBA and voting procedure means that the top vote-getter in each league gets the only automatic All-Star starting spot.
In the AL Judge leads by about 300K votes over Trout.
In the NL Betts is up by less than 75K votes on Acuna.
No one else in either league is within 500K votes of being the top vote-getter.
My All-Star Ballot
American League
First Base: France
Second Base: Altuve
Third Base: Devers
Shortstop: Bogaerts
Outfield: Judge, Trout, and Buxton
Catcher: Kirk
DH: Alvarez
National League
First Base: Goldschmidt
Second Base: McNeil
Third Base: Machado
Shortstop: Turner
Outfield: Pederson, Betts, and Schwarber
Catcher: Contreras
DH: Harper
My Finalist Predictions
American League
Winner: Judge
First Base: Guerrero and Rizzo (France is injured so he may drop a bit)
Second Base: Altuve and Espinal
Third Base: Ramirez and Devers
Shortstop: Bichette and Bogaerts
Outfield: Trout, Springer, Stanton, and Ward
Catcher: Kirk and Trevino
DH: Alvarez and Ohtani
National League
Winner: Acuna (Betts is hurt so I think Acuna will pass him)
First Base: Goldschmidt and Alonso
Second Base: Chisholm and Albies
Third Base: Machado and Riley
Shortstop: Turner and Swanson
Outfield: Betts, Pederson, Marte, and Soto
Catcher: Contreras and d'Arnaud
DH: Harper and Contreras
Links to Check Out
Here is the All-Star Ballot for you to fill out
My Twitter Account
https://twitter.com/nathanjm000
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