Houston Astros Sluggers Lead All-Star Game Voting At Two Positions
The Houston Astros, in spite of being under .500 this season, have two players who could play their way into a starting spot on the American League All-Star team next month.
The game is set for July 16 at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas, the home of their archrivals, the Texas Rangers.
Designated hitter Yordan Alvarez and second baseman Jose Altuve lead their respective positions, while outfielder Kyle Tucker is in the top three in the outfield.
Voting ends at noon eastern on June 27. After that, the top two vote-getters at each position will be announced, along with the top six outfielders. Then the second stage of voting begins on June 30 to determine the starters.
Altuve is shooting for his ninth All-Star Game berth and his sixth nod as a starter. He has 620,724 votes, which puts him less than 100,000 votes ahead of last year’s starter, the Rangers’ Marcus Semien (539,223). If both advance the voters would determine which of them starts.
Altuve might make the team either way. He’s batting .299/.350/.460/.811 with 11 home runs and 29 RBI in 71 games. He wasn’t only last year’s All-Star team because he missed most of the first half of the season due to an injury.
Alvarez is seeking his third straight All-Star Game berth and has 475,158 votes, with the New York Yankees’ Giancarlo Stanton close behind him with 408,610 votes. It could be a battle between the two for the starting nod. The departure of Shohei Ohtani for the Los Angeles Dodgers has opened up the DH spot, which he occupied as the starter each of the last three seasons.
Alvarez is batting .290/.362/.511/.873 with 14 home runs and 37 RBI in 71 games.
Tucker is well behind the Yankees’ duo of Aaron Judge (1,366,315) and Juan Soto (1,252,020) with 593,358 votes. That would be enough to get Tucker to the second stage. Judge is the AL’s leading vote-getter and if he remains there he would get an automatic spot in the starting lineup, leaving two open spots.
Tucker is batting .266/.395/.584/.979 with 19 home runs and 40 RBI in 60 games. He is also seeking his third All-Star Game nod.
The Astros didn’t have another player in the top five at a position or in the top nine in the outfield.
MATTHEW POSTINS
Matthew Postins is an award-winning sports journalist who covers the Texas Rangers, Philadelphia Phillies, Chicago Cubs and Houston Astros for Sports Illustrated/FanNation. He also covers he Big 12 for Heartland College Sports.