Mookie Betts loses top vote-getter status in latest All-Star voting update

The focus for the Red Sox and the rest of the league is obviously on the product on the field, but the All-Star Game is right around the corner. As such, voting is in full-swing and on Tuesday the league released their latest update to the voting. We’ve mentioned it before, but it’s always worth remembering that pitchers are not included in these votes, so Chris Sale, David Price and Craig Kimbrel will not be mentioned. Position players are included, however, and the Red Sox have a few players of note. You can see the full update here.

The good news is that Mookie Betts is still the top vote-getter among outfielders. Although this writer thinks it’s absurd that Mike Trout doesn’t get the most votes every year, he also won’t complain that Betts is getting the recognition. He’s not undeserving. The bad news is that Betts has actually fallen off a bit since the last update. When the first results were revealed, Betts had the most votes of any major leaguer. Now, he must settle for second with less than 4,000 votes fewer than Jose Altuve.

Betts isn’t the only potential All-Star starter from the Red Sox, either. J.D. Martinez is the leading vote-getter among DH’s, and it’s not at all close. The Red Sox slugger has over 1.1 million votes. Giancarlo Stanton, the second-place vote-getter, comes in with just over 400,000 votes. It’s safe to say Martinez will win this one, and the two elite hitters in the Red Sox lineup will start for the American League.

There are two other Boston players included here, though neither is likely to gain enough momentum to earn a starting spot. Mitch Moreland is in second place among first baseman and had a legitimate argument to get the starting spot a few weeks ago. He’s cooled off considerably since then, however, and is about 150,000 votes behind Jose Abreu. I’d be surprised if he caught up. Andrew Benintendi, meanwhile, has had a great year but the AL outfield class is deep. Benintendi is sixth among his positional group, but he’s about 500,000 votes outside of the starting group. I don’t think anyone is going to surpass Betts, Trout or Aaron Judge.

Those are the only four players mentioned in the voting, with Xander Bogaerts still not cracking the top five in a crowded race among AL shortstops.

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