Justin Turner, Mike Moustakas lead MLB All-Star Game Final Vote campaign
The duo of third basemen emerge as the early favorites to take the final spot in the American and National League All-Star rosters with one day left to vote.
A pair of third basemen have taken the early lead in the MLB All-Star Game Final Vote balloting, as Mike Moustakas and Justin Turner have taken an early lead in the standings. The five-player ballot in each league is being conducted jointly through MLB.com and via Twitter, where player-specific hashtags are being utilized to select the 32nd and final elected players on each league’s roster.
Moustakas is looking to make his second All-Star Game after making his debut in the Midsummer’s Classic in 2015, after being elected via the Final Vote campaign that season. The Kansas City Royal has already hit a career-best 23 home runs. He is joined on the American League slate by a trio of shortstops in Didi Gregorius, Xander Bogaerts and Elvis Andrus. Rounding out the AL slate is Tampa Bay Rays first baseman Logan Morrison, who has made waves of late regarding the All-Star festivities, taking issue with not being passed over for next Tuesday’s Home Run Derby
.In the National League, if Turner is elected it would be his All-Star debut. The Los Angeles Dodger is currently sporting a .384 batting average on the year, which would qualify among the 10-highest pre-All-Star Break averages since 1969. He is leading the NL pack that consists of another pair of third basemen, including defending NL MVP Kris Bryant and Anthony Rendon, as well as first basemen Mark Reynolds and Justin Bour of the host Miami Marlins.
There has been an outpour of Twitter activity and video support from fans, teammates and even the official ‘Game of Thrones’ Twitter handle, who put their support behind Andrus with his hashtag #ElectElvis.
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It’s the 16th year that the Final Vote campaign has been a part of the All-Star voting, with over 680 million votes cast throughout its history. Past winners have included current All-Stars Carlos Martinez and Chris Sale, as well as Brandon Belt and Michael Saunders a year ago.
Voting will go on until 4:00 PM ET on Thursday, July 6th.