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Texas Rangers Results from First MLB All-Star Ballot

By Jim McCormick |

The first All-Star ballot results were released yesterday afternoon and were indicative of the way the Texas Rangers started the season. The only player from the Rangers to appear among the top 5 voting leaders for a position is Adrian Beltre, who is in fifth place for the third base spot. Beltre has 205,836 votes and trails the leader Mike Moustakas by 1,055,933 votes.

On the season, Beltre is hitting .261/.298/.418 overall but has shown the same path of improvement as the rest of the team as he has hit .307/.324/.485 in the month of May.  At the age of 36, Beltre is entering his 18th season in the majors and is looking to play in his 5th All-Star game and 4th as a member of the Rangers. Beltre hit his 400th career home run earlier this month and notched his 1,400th career RBI.

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After the success the team has experienced in May, several candidates have emerged with the potential to climb the voting leaderboard or be selected as a reserve by the managers. Of these, the most likely is Prince Fielder who started the season off strong and has gotten even hotter in May, hitting .392/.444/.701 with eight home runs in 97 at-bats. The most likely candidate from the pitching staff is Nick Martinez, who owns a perfect 4-0 record in nine starts and has a 1.96 ERA in his 55 innings. With the injury losses this team has faced, Martinez has stepped up as one of the team’s best starters and a reliable pitcher every fifth game.

The ballot is being dominated by the Kansas City Royals, who have five of the eight starting positions and all eight starting position players making the top five for their position. The votes leader for the American League with 1,447,753 votes is Salvador Perez, the catcher for the Royals who is looking to make his third All-Star appearance. The only non-Royals position players leading the voting for their position are Mike Trout, Jose Altuve, and Miguel Cabrera.

After the Royals, the New York Yankees come in second with six players making the leaderboards and the Boston Red Sox and Detroit Tigers each with five. Of the 15 teams in the American League, only the Minnesota Twins and the Tampa Bay Rays do not have a player in the top five for any position. This may not come as a shock to many that even though the Twins are having success, it is tough for a player on a small market team to gather enough fan support to make the ballot as a starter.

Taking a look around the rest of the American League West, the Los Angeles Angels and Oakland Athletics each have two players in the running with Trout being the only starting candidate of the four. The Houston Astros and the Seattle Mariners each have only one player involved but each player would be a starter, second baseman Altuve and designated hitter Nelson Cruz.

Rangers fans:  It is time to represent our team to make sure Beltre continues to climb the third base leaderboard and other Rangers get into the top five! Fans may vote up to 35 times.

Next: Mitch Moreland's Return Sparks the Texas Rangers

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