Second All-Star update has three Red Sox starting

The second voting update for the American League All-Star roster is rather more reasonable than the first, and features three Red Sox set to start: David Ortiz, Xander Bogaerts, and newcomer Jackie Bradley Jr.

When last we left the voting, David Ortiz was still the obvious starter at DH, but Bradley trailed outside of the top-three spots in the outfield, and Xander Bogaerts' lead at shortstop was remarkably small.

For Xander, there was no doubt he should be first, far-and-away. With Manny Machado eligible at third, Bogaerts' batting line of .345/.396/.500 outpaces Eduardo Nunez' .335/.363/.516 and dwarfs Francisco Lindor's .308/.361/.448. Meanwhile, he's gone from being an uncertain commodity at short to one of the game's better defenders at one of the most demanding positions. It's a bit silly to site WAR over two-month samples given how much of it is based on defensive statistics that take far longer to stabilize, but by those measurements, Bogaerts is currently not far behind the likes of Mike Trout and the aforementioned Machado in the MVP race.

All that makes his current lead of over 200,000 votes over Alcides Escobar in the standings entirely appropriate. Granted, the players who should actually be second to him are even further behind that, as certain fanbases ballot stuff at will. But at least when it comes to who's first, Bogaerts' place seems as secure as it should be.

With Jackie Bradley, this is just voting catching up to reality. Bradley was as cold to start the season as he was hot in May, so it's not hugely surprising to see him come on strong in. His lead over 4th place Mark Trumbo is some 120,000 votes, which seems reasonably stronger in the second round of voting than the first. Just as it might not be hugely surprising to see him fall off if he continues what has been a slightly colder stretch since the end of his hitting streak. As it stands, though, Bradley is second in wRC+ among AL outfielders, and no early-season defensive metrics in the world should make anyone believe he's anything less than stellar in center.

As for the other Red Sox, they're certainly scattered throughout, but none come in anywhere above fourth place, with Travis Shaw's slump hurting his argument, Dustin Pedroia stuck behind a loaded field of American League second baseman, and both Hanley Ramirez and Blake Swihart's presence in the top-five more of an example of fan voting gone wrong than anything else.

If there's one player with a beef, it's Mookie Betts, who currently sits sixth in the outfield voting. He's second in the league in fWAR this season among outfielders, but that's again taking the small sample size defense into a bit too much account. Still, he's 8th in wRC+, with plenty of guys ahead of him (Mark Trumbo, Kole Calhoun, Neson Cruz, Michael Saunders) who nobody would argue are close to him with the glove. Certainly it's silly for him to be trailing Jose Bautista and, yes, Lorenzo Cain. It's not clear-cut that he deserves top-3, but there's certainly something wrong with where he is relative to some of the guys ahead of him.