The 88th MLB All-Star Game voting ends this upcoming Thursday. Two Chicago Cubs look to make final pushes to start in the infield for another straight year, but the Washington National faithful are looking to fill the starting lineup with three players. This is the final update of the voting until results are revealed.
Bryant vs Arenado race goes down to wire
Third base is one of the closest races in the National League. Chicago Cubs third baseman, Kris Bryant, is leading Colorado Rockie, Nolan Arenado. Bryant leads the position with 1,978,692 votes while Arenado has 1,920.610 votes.
The margin is just over 58,000 votes. Arenado can make the case to start over Bryant as he has 59 runs batted in compared to Bryant's 31 runs batted in. He is also hitting 32 points higher than Bryant, but Cubs fans are loyal and could vote the former MVP in.
First base is just as tight
Another Cubs is making a run to start in the game. Ryan Zimmerman is still leading the majors in batting average at .350, but Anthony Rizzo's surge in the leadoff spot is making him catch ground. Rizzo has four leadoff home runs this season which has gained a lot of attention. Rizzo has 1,601,245 votes compared to Zimmerman's 1,728,607 votes. Zimmerman could make his first All-Star Game since 2009, but Rizzo is going to try and make his third straight.
Ozuna makes surge to start
Marcell Ozuna went from having the fifth most votes to sliding into a starter's role. Ozuna is now the third outfielder in the All-Star Game alongside Bryce Harper and Charlie Blackmon. Ozuna passed Jason Heyward but only leads by 39,000 votes. Voting goes until Thursday, so Heyward still has a chance to be voted in, but Ozuna is very deserving after he hit his 20th home run recently.
The 26-year old has 54 runs batted and could be the best outfielder on the Marlins team even though he shares the outfield with the slugger, Giancarlo Stanton.
Cozart looks to hold off Seager
Corey Seager is three million votes down to Zack Cozart as we enter the home stretch. Cozart is batting .320 and could raise his trade value if he is voted in.
The Reds are in the last place, and Cozart at age 31 doesn't look like he will be with the winning regime. It will be interesting to see if Seager makes it as a reserve since he is batting .298 on the season.
The runaways
Buster Posey will start his fifth All-Star Game. He holds a 1.5 million vote lead over Wilson Contreras. Harper and Blackmon each over three million votes and are locks. Daniel Murphy will start at second base. Murphy has nearly a 1.5 million vote lead over Javy Baez.
