In the latest update on Monday, Minnesota Twins outfielder Byron Buxton and first baseman Luis Arraez have both lost ground in their bids to qualify for the second stage of voting for this year’s MLB All-Star Game.
Buxton was in good shape after last week’s update but has slid from sixth to eighth among American League outfielders. This is a blow to Buxton’s odds of moving on to the second round as the top six outfielders are slated to advance, but with New York’s Aaron Judge (2,433,088) and Los Angeles’ Mike Trout (2,134,471) battling to receive an automatic bid as the AL’s top vote getter, it’s a good bet that the top seven will move on.
That’s good news for Buxton, who has 629,216 votes and trails Toronto teammates Lourdes Gurriel Jr. (672,811 votes) and Teoscar Hernandez (662,092 votes) for sixth and seventh place.
The other outfielders ahead of Buxton are Toronto’s George Springer (1,048,403 votes), New York’s Giancarlo Stanton (814,706 votes) and Los Angeles’ Taylor Ward (763,939 votes).
While Buxton has an outside chance, Arraez may have to hope to become a reserve. The AL’s current leader in batting average sits fourth among American League first basemen with 462,319 votes but will need to jump into the top two spots to advance.
That’s a daunting task as Seattle’s Ty France has nearly twice the votes with 880,530. Toronto’s Vladimir Guerrero Jr. currently leads first basemen with 1,624,228 votes while New York’s Anthony Rizzo is third with 773,218 votes, meaning Arraez will need to do some serious campaigning before the first round of voting ends Thursday.
The second phase of voting runs July 5-8 with fans only allowed to vote once. The winners of the second phase will claim a starting spot in the All-Star Game with pitchers and reserves announced July 10.
This year’s game is set to take place at Dodger Stadium on Tuesday, July 19.
