American League All-Star voting update: Mookie Betts falls

On Tuesday, the league announced the latest update on the voting for American League All Stars. We’re still a little over a month away from the actual game, but voting has been in full swing for a while now and we’re starting to get a fuller picture on the voting landscape. Here is the full release.

There are a few Red Sox-related notes that jump out here, but the first one is that Mookie Betts has fallen out of the starting group. If you recall, in the first voting update on May 31, Boston’s right fielder came in as the third-leading vote getter among AL outfielders. He’s fallen to fourth this time around, with Cleveland’s Michael Brantley leapfrogging over him. Of course, Mike Trout currently occupies the second spot but is almost certain to be on the disabled list during the game, so Betts could still earn a starting gig. Still, hopefully Sox fans can turn out and get him to start this game outright, and hopefully he’ll get on a hot streak to justify that course.

Sticking with the outfielders, Andrew Benintendi has also fallen one spot in the rankings to sixth. He was leapfrogged, surprisingly, by Avisail Garcia, one of the most surprising players in baseball this season. Obviously, Boston’s rookie left fielder has recently been in the midst of a bad slump, but there is hope that he’s breaking out of it now and hopefully he can carry that into a sustained hot streak into the break. A starting gig in this game is unlikely, but that doesn’t mean you should stop voting.

The only other spots in which the Red Sox have players appearing is in the middle infield. Xander Bogaerts is currently in fourth among shortstops, and while that’s probably one spot too low I can’t really see him winning this starting gig. Honestly, I don’t know how anyone besides Francisco Lindor wins. Not only is he fantastic, but he’s also charismatic and Cleveland’s fanbase has proven to be a strong voting base. Hopefully Boston proves me wrong. Meanwhile, Dustin Pedroia is fifth in voting among second baseman. Like Bogaerts, I can’t see him winning this vote, but it’s nice to see him included here.

Those four are really the only ones you’d expect to see included in these voting updates, with the possible exception of Christian Vazquez. The issue with Vazquez is that he splits playing time with Sandy Leon, giving him fewer chances than the others getting more votes. On top of that, Vazquez isn’t even the Red Sox catcher on the ballot. That’s Leon. So, don’t expect to see him in the top five any time soon.

Pitchers, of course, aren’t selected using fan voting, so Chris Sale and Craig Kimbrel can’t be voted in. If they could, though, one would have to imagine they’d be near or at the top at their respective positions.

Go out there and vote for Red Sox players. I’m not trying to watch an All-Star game with no Red Sox starters.