The 88th MLB All-Star Game is closing in and voting for the annual summer classic is beginning to pick up. Two players who are earning votes at a fast and furious pace are new york yankees rookie phenom Aaron Judge and Washington Nationals right fielder Bryce Harper.
Harper leading all players in votes
Bryce Harper once again is having a great season in D.C., and he obviously is one of the most popular figures in the game today. Baseball America indicates that the latest update in voting for the 2017 MLB All-Star game reveals Harper leads all vote-getters with 2,827,330.
That number currently puts Harper at 500,000 or so votes over the second overall leader in the National League and 300,000 above the closest in the American League. Harper is on pace to have one of his best seasons as a pro in 2017. He has already smashed 18 home runs, driven in 53, and is hitting .316.
Races for NL starting spots in the MLB All-Star Game remain close as voting reaches its final two weeks.https://t.co/D5DZ7tK3Dr
— Baseball America (@BaseballAmerica) June 20, 2017
If the voting ended today, Harper, along with Charlie Blackmon (Colorado Rockies) and Jayson Heyward (Chicago Cubs) would make up the NL outfield. The infield starters would include Harper’s teammates, Ryan Zimmerman at first base along with Daniel Murphy at second.
Kris Bryant of the Chicago Cubs would start at third, Cincinnati’s Zack Cozart at shortstop and Buster Posey of the San Francisco Giants would do the catching. While seeing Harper leading all of the outfielders in the National League is not a surprise at all, who in the world is this Judge kid in the Bronx?
Judging the competition
Aaron Judge has taken New York City and the baseball world by storm so far in 2017, and it is showing in the all-star balloting. With 23 home runs, 53 RBI and a batting average of .335, Judge is hands down the front-runner for the Rookie of the Year award, and possibly the American League MVP as well.
Judge should be a virtual lock to be in the AL starting lineup and New York Yankees fans are doing their best to make sure that happens.
One thing fans of the Bombers newest superstar are learning is that Judge is wise beyond his years.
Judge recently said in a Newsday interview that there will be a time and place when he can look back at all of the hoopla and enjoy it, but right now he feels like he has a job to do on the field, and that is to help the Yankees win baseball games. While Judge is the closest thing as a sure thing to start in the 2017 All-Star game for the American League, the AL will most likely be without slugger Mike Trout who is still recovering from a thumb injury and may not return to action until after the all-star break.
The 2017 MLB All-Star game is scheduled to take place at Marlins Park in Miami, Florida on Tuesday, July 11 at 8 p.m. ET.
