Atlanta Braves Lagging on 1st NL All-Star Ballot Report
May 24, 2015; Atlanta, GA, USA; Atlanta Braves catcher A.J. Pierzynski (15) in the dugout against the Milwaukee Brewers during the eighth inning at Turner Field. The Braves defeated the Brewers 2-1. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports
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The first All-Star ballot update for the National League is out, and the best hope Atlanta seems to have for getting players to Cincinnati in July is… Shelby Miller, who isn’t even on the ballot.
Honestly, this is pretty ugly: you might expect to see Freddie Freeman and Andrelton Simmons on the list… somewhere…
I hear Crickets.
MLB released the top five vote-getters at every position – 15 outfielders – and there is exactly ONE Brave name on the chart… and you might never guess who.
It’s A.J. Pierzynski – 4th-ranked among NL Catchers. Go figure.
How Bad Is It?
- For 1st base, Adrian Gonzalez leads with 929,016 votes. Even if Freeman is 6th-ranked, he’s at least 540,000 votes behind… 105,000 behind 2nd place Anthony Rizzo.
- Matt Adams of the Cardinals is listed 4th… but it seems that the Cardinal faithful has been busily casting votes.
- At Shortstop, Jhonny Peralta is #1, with 595,741 votes. Simmons apparently has around 400,000 or fewer votes, and thus is around 200,000 behind. Even second place would be a tall order since Starlin Castro is close behind Peralta.
- Even though Pierzynski is getting solid support (347,094 votes – very nearly in third place), he’s still light-years behind the usual suspects: Yadier Molina (859,520) and Buster Posey (759,187). He could probably get to the game if he’s third by the end of June.
- If you think Nick Markakis is deserving of an All-Star nod (nope – not on the list), then you’d have to cringe at seeing Nori Aoki‘s name 4th among the outfielders. Or maybe Angel Pagan (5th).
- Heck, Justin Upton is more deserving than Aoki or Pagan and he’s 9th right now. Jason Heyward, by the way, is 7th… but he’s a Cardinal, of course and their entire team is represented.
But that’s just the first update – there will be 5 more through the end of June.
So if you’d like to assist in engaging in unrelenting ballot-box stuffing (you can vote 35 times…per email address), then click here for the ballot.