Braves All-Star Voting Update

An update on the All-Star Game voting came out today, with one Brave in line for a starting spot.  Dan Uggla is leading the way at second base, over 450,000 votes ahead of second place Brandon Phillips.  While the All-Star Game is really just a popularity contest, Uggla does deserve the starting spot.  He ranks first in Fangraphs’ WAR among 2B, and second on Baseball-Reference, with Darwin Barney‘s +15 defensive value leading him to a higher WAR.

At catcher, Brian McCann is fourth in the voting, with Buster Posey leading the voting.  However, Carlos Ruiz, Yadier Molina, and A.J. Ellis are essentially in a dead heat for the league lead in WAR.  Freddie Freeman is in third place, way behind Joey Votto.  Votto is the deserved starter, about 2 WAR ahead of any other NL first baseman.  Troy Tulowitzki and Rafael Furcal are very close in the voting for shortstop, with Jed Lowrie and Starlin Castro joining Furcal at the top of the WAR leaderboards.  Chipper Jones is 4th in the voting at third base, still within striking distance, though the leader David Wright has outperformed all other candidates.

In the outfield, Michael Bourn is 8th, Jason Heyward 13th, and Martin Prado is 15th.  Matt Kemp, Carlos Beltran, and Ryan Braun lead the voting, with Melky Cabrera and Andre Ethier round out the top 5.  In the WAR leaderboards, Bourn is at the top, with Braun, Prado, and Cabrera deserving the other two spots.  There is no voting for pitchers, but Brandon Beachy and Craig Kimbrel should also be invited.