MLB All-Star Game 2017: Predicting rosters

First Base

American League:

The race for first base duty in the American League is tight. Less than 5,000 votes separate Oakland’s Yonder Alonso and Detroit’s Miguel Cabrera.

Yonder Alonso is hitting .302 with 17 home runs and 37 RBI while Cabrera has a .277 with 7 homers and 32 RBI. There are several guys on the list with better averages and more home runs, but Alonso is having a great year and the way he’s playing makes it easy to throw some votes his way.

That said, with just over a week to go there is plenty of time for the votes to change and for Cabrera to recapture the lead. And don’t discount the Royals’ Eric Hosmer, who was about 20,000 votes behind Cabrera.

Prediction: Yonder Alonso

National League:

The National League race for first base is really between the top two spots. The Nats’ Ryan Zimmerman (1,060,532 votes) leads Anthony Rizzo by about 110,000 votes, so there’s plenty of time for things to change. Zimmerman (.349, 19 HR, 54 RBI) is by far the standout of the NL first base ballot with his .349 average, and his home runs and RBI are competitive with the top players on the list.

Rizzo has been helping to get the Cubs back on track. He’s averaging .263 with 16 home runs and 45 RBI, so on paper he doesn’t look at all like Zimmerman, which could factor into Zimmerman’s appeal.

Prediction: Ryan Zimmerman