"No Jarren Duran is criminal" - MLB fans react to latest All-Star Game ballot ahead of trip to Arlington
The early MLB All-Star Game ballot shows quite a lot of players in pole position to represent their teams at their own positions this summer. Fan voting is well underway, and there are a lot of deserving candidates being supported.
However, as is often the case with fan votes, some people don't believe everyone should make it. Others believe there are more deserving candidates.
There's still plenty of time for fans to vote and for the All-Star Game rosters to take shape. That said, the latest vote count has a few players missing that fans are a little surprised to see.
"No Bobby Witt is a crime," one fan said.
"WHERE IS KWAN WTF," another yelled.
"Best catcher in NL Will Smith not on there is criminal, the guy leads every catcher in average, home runs, OPS, WAR," one pointed out.
"Fan voting sucks, has always sucked, and will continue to suck," another added.
Fans have taken issue with a few players being notable omissions from the current All-Star Game lineup: Los Angeles Dodgers catcher Will Smith, Boston Red Sox outfielder Jarren Duran and Cleveland Guardians outfielder Steven Kwan.
Given how fan voting works, it's difficult to foresee those players breaking through, except Will Smith. The Dodgers are extremely popular, so he might have enough backing to pass William Contreras in the next little while.
Who is in the MLB All-Star Game?
While the voting is subject to change and replacements and reserves have yet to be announced, the current All-Star Game lineups are likely to be very similar next month when the game actually takes place. There will be changes, but what's shown now will likely stay true.
That means that this will likely be the American League's lineup:
- Juan Soto, RF, Yankees
- Aaron Judge, CF, Yankees
- Kyle Tucker, LF, Astros
- Jose Ramirez, 3B, Guardians
- Gunnar Henderson, SS, Orioles
- Jose Altuve, 2B, Astros
- Ryan Mountcastle, 1B, Orioles
- Adley Rutschman, C, Orioles
- Yordan Alvarez, DH, Astros
The Baltimore Orioles and Houston Astros are well-represented. In the National League, this is what the lineup looks like:
- Teoscar Hernandez, RF, Dodgers
- Christian Yelich, CF, Brewers
- Jurickson Profar, LF, Padres
- Alec Bohm, 3B, Phillies
- Mookie Betts, SS, Dodgers (Will be replaced due to injury.)
- Ketel Marte, 2B, Diamondbacks
- Bryce Harper, 1B, Phillies
- William Contreras, C. Brewers
- Shohei Ohtani, DH, Dodgers
Fan voting will go on for a while before reserves and injury replacements are announced. The All-Star Game is July 16.