The 88th annual Major League Baseball All-Star Game takes place on Tuesday, July 11 in Miami's Marlins Park. As is tradition, the starters -- at least those able to play -- are elected via a fan vote, which began Monday.
Voting for the starters in each league takes place on MLB.com. Fans can vote up to five times every 24 hours with a maximum of 35 votes per fan. Voting closes at 11:59 p.m. ET on June 29. Along the way, the league will be sending balloting updates every few weeks and we'll be posting those here so the Internet Outrage people can have their say.
Fans will continue to have a voice once voting for starters is concluded, as there's then a one-week "final vote" for candidates to become the 32nd man on the roster for each league. Then, during the game itself, fans will be able to vote for the Ted Williams All-Star Game MVP.
The ballot can be viewed here (go vote!) and one thing that jumps out is how loaded NL first base is. With the emergence of Eric Thames and Ryan Zimmerman having a ridiculous April, they join the likes of Anthony Rizzo, Paul Goldschmidt, Freddie Freeman, Joey Votto, Wil Myers, Matt Carpenter, Brandon Belt and Adrian Gonzalez. Rockies first baseman Mark Reynolds is off to a good start, but Ian Desmond is the club's first baseman on the ballot. He returned from injury Sunday.
At least Desmond is back. The following players appear on the ballot but haven't played in a big-league game this season: Luis Valbuena (Angels 1B), Matt Duffy (Rays SS), Adrian Beltre (Rangers 3B), J.D. Martinez (Tigers OF), Jorge Soler (Royals OF), Colby Rasmus (Rays OF) and Andre Ethier (Dodgers OF). Please don't vote for those guys.
My early bets for the top vote getters: Mike Trout in the AL and Bryce Harper in the NL. I think Kris Bryant will have a strong vote total as well, but he has to contend with Nolan Arenado and, to a lesser extent, Justin Turner at NL 3B.
