3 Blue Jays Lead All-Star Game Voting In First Ballot Update
Alejandro Kirk seems destined for the All-Star Game.
The Blue Jays' catcher is one of just three players sitting with over a million votes in the first round of Major League Baseball's Phase 1 All-Star voting. The Jays have someone in the top four for each position of voting, so far, with Kirk, Vladimir Guerrero Jr., and Bo Bichette leading their respective positions in the American League.
Only the top overall vote-getter in each league (currently Aaron Judge in the AL) is guaranteed an All-Star spot after this first round of voting, but the top two vote-getters at every position (and top four outfielders) move on to the second round of voting. On top of the three Blue Jays leading their positions right now, Santiago Espinal and George Springer are also set to move on to Phase 2 voting, with the current ballot counts.
The current positional standing and vote counts for Blue Jays hitters are as follows:
1B: Vladimir Guerrero Jr. — 947,045 votes (1st)
2B: Santiago Espinal — 522,154 (2nd)
3B: Matt Chapman — 406,182 (3rd)
SS: Bo Bichette — 585,744 (1st)
OF: George Springer — 622,063 (3rd)
Lourdes Gurriel Jr. — 381,591 (7th)
Teoscar Hernández — 374,226 (8th)
C: Alejandro Kirk — 1,057,008 (1st)
DH: Danny Jansen — 297,484 (4th)
The Blue Jays sent four players to the All-Star Game last year—Guerrero Jr., Hernández, Bichette, and Marcus Semien. With many bats performing well in the voting and pitchers like Alek Manoah and Jordan Romano stating their case on the field, the Jays could send more to the mid-summer classic in 2022.
The current phase of voting closes at 2 p.m. ET on June 30 and the 2022 All-Star Game takes place on July 19 at Dodger Stadium.
Mitch Bannon is a baseball reporter for Sports Illustrated covering the Toronto Blue Jays and their minor league affiliates.Twitter: @MitchBannon