Detroit Tigers: Get Out & Vote for All-Star Players

It’s time to get voting, Detroit Tigers fans. Whether you love or hate that fans get to pick the All-Star Game starters, the fact is that if you don’t vote, your favorite players will not start.

At this time, not one Detroit Tigers starter is currently in the top spot in any position ballots. And, there are several players who should be in the top spot.

You can find the All-Star Game ballot here. Fans can vote up to 35 times and 5 times per day. The last day to vote is June 30. The game will be held on July 12 at Petco Park in San Diego, California.

As Wednesday, the Tigers have men in the top five in the following positions:

• First base: Miguel Cabrera is second to Eric Hosmer, by over 500,000 votes
• Second base: Ian Kinsler is in the fifth-place spot behind Jose Altuve, Omar Infante (yes, THAT’s happening again), Robinson Cano, and Dustin Pedroia.
• Third base: Nick Castellanos is fourth behind Manny Machado, Mike Moustakas, and Josh Donaldson.
• Designated hitter: Victor Martinez is fourth behind David Ortiz, Kendrys Morales, and Edwin Encarnacion. Ortiz has over one million more votes than Martinez has.

Not one of the Detroit Tigers outfielders is even in the running. This is rather sad, considering that the 15th place spot belongs to Colby Rasmus who has just 240,000 votes. There have to be at least that many Tigers fans who could vote for at least one of the Tigers outfielders. Even though J.D. Martinez is not hitting at the same clip he did in 2015, he and Cameron Maybin are putting up solid numbers worth noticing. 

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It is not surprising that James McCann is not in the running. His .184 batting average is only a few ticks above the .176 that belongs to Yan Gomes. Even though McCann’s bat is waking up, he probably will not turn enough heads before the end of the month.

Along with McCann, Jose Iglesias probably will not reach the top of the ballot at shortstop. He is near the bottom with .236 batting average. Remember when he was batting .300 in 2015? He isn’t putting up the same numbers as last year, so he will most likely not have an All-Star Game appearance.

The players who should be closer to the top or at the top include Miguel Cabrera, Ian Kinsler, Nick Castellanos, and Victor Martinez.

Cabrera’s biggest competition is Eric Hosmer. Even though Cabrera has more home runs and RBIs, Hosmer has a better batting average and more stolen bases. The Royals fans do get out and vote which will most likely keep Hosmer in the top spot all the way until the end. Even though we Tiger fans all know who the best first baseman in the league really is, he might not get to start in the All-Star Game simply because those fans fail to vote him in.

Unfortunately for Kinsler, he has to constantly battle against Altuve. Their numbers are so close, but Altuve plays the Houston Astros, which is in Texas. And, we all know that Texas is more populated than Michigan, which means there are more fans who are voting for Altuve. It is understandable why Altuve is leading in the vote, but what isn’s understandable is that Omar Infante is ahead of Everyday Ian.

Castellanos has the second highest batting average of all third basemen on the list. His .316 is second to Danny Valencia and his .343 with the Oakland A’s. We fans all know this is Casty’s break-out year, so we need to break out the vote to get him on third to open the game.

The final Tiger who should be a starter on July 12 is Victor Martinez. He, too, has the trouble of being a contemporary of another great player – David Ortiz. Martinez does have a better batting average than Ortiz, but fewer home runs. Martinez is hitting at an amazing clip of .341, but it is hard to compete with a man who has 16 home runs in his final year of playing.

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If you want to see any of the Detroit Tigers players open the All-Star Game, you must get out and vote. Their fate on July 12 rests in our hands.