Nick Castellanos leads the way on tragic Phillies-themed All-Star Game ballot
The MLB All-Star Game is one of the big events of the Summer. It's a showcase of the game's top talent that features mic'd up moments, 100 MPH fastballs, tape measure homers and fun from the best players in the game.
But the voting is kind of flawed.
The way voting works is that fans are allowed to select players for the All-Star Game, with it broken down into different phases. Kinnu Singh here at FanSided did a tremendous job of breaking it down here.
But the main thing is that the fan voting is how a player is selected and if you can't see the flaw in this, I'll let Philadelphia Phillies fans explain it for you with their devoted actions this season.
Phillies fans continue to expose All-Star voting flaws with overwhelming support
The latest update for Phase 2 of the voting has released.
Philadelphia already has the automatic starter, Bryce Harper, who led all NL players in votes after phase 1. The Phillies also feature Trea Tuner (53 percent) and Alex Bohm (70 percent) leading their positions in the latest update.
Kyle Schwarber, JT Realmuto, Brandon Marsh and Nick Castellanos are all still on the ballot for the second phase. All four of these guys are having solid seasons, but to consider the fact that they're all receiving such All-Star support, especially while they fight injuries, is incredible.
The biggest outlier here is the outfielder, Nick Castellanos. Don't get me wrong, Castellanos is a great player and one of the best personalities in the game. But he's slashing .231/.289/.386 with a 91 OPS+ and well below average defense. He has not been All-Star caliber in any aspect of the game and is a perfect example of the fan voting selecting a player, not based on production, but based on name and the team he plays for.
I'm not sure if this is a bigger testament to just how loyal, dedicated, supportive and incredible the Phillies fanbase is or just how flawed the All-Star voting is. Either way, you can't fault Castellanos, the rest of the Phillies, or their fanbase for the situation at hand. It's on MLB to find a better way to decide the All-Star teams. Until a change is made, it's definitely down to the other teams and fanbases in the league to support their teams the way Philadelphia fans do.
Philadelphia has done their part. If you have a problem with it, get out and vote.