With the Royals Rocking the Vote, Jose Altuve Might Fall Short

Jun 6, 2015; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Houston Astros second baseman

(27) reacts to a hit during the first inning in a game against the Toronto Blue Jays at Rogers Centre. The Toronto Blue Jays won 7-2. Mandatory Credit: Nick Turchiaro-USA TODAY Sports

The latest All-Star voting results have come out, and the Kansas City Royals are geared to have eight of nine starting positions locked up. The only non-Royal player in the starting lineup is Mike Trout, who is trailing Lorenzo Cain 5,944,068 to 5,944,06. Trout is in no danger of losing his spot unless there is a big push to get Alex Rios from Royals fans too. Let’s take a look at the rest of the results below.

Remember When…

Gone are the days of going to the ballpark and doing the push out circle voting ballots by hands, and then stuffing it into the ballot boxes around the stadium. I remember sitting at Minute Maid Park punching out Jeff Bagwell, Craig Biggio, and Lance Berkman, then voting for other players on other teams who I thought were worth it. It would take me more than 3-5 minutes to do 35 or so of the paper ballots. Plus you would have to walk to other boxes, so people didn’t see you stuffing all the ballots into one box. That’s when voting meant something when you could only do it in the game.

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Nowadays, fans can sit at home in front of the computer in their underwear and create as many email addresses as their internet provider will allow them to have. It probably would take a fan 3-5 minutes to vote for all their favorite players per email address. Then you got to sleep, wake up, eat, and repeat the process. Don’t get me wrong, I’m all about voting for your home team players who deserve to get a vote. In the case of a team that got to the 2014 World Series, you are going to have some new fans from around the country.

I can’t realistically vote for Chris Carter with the season he has had over the possibly better options. Carter is a dangerous player because he can make a game-changing swing at any time. But I am an educated fan who votes for a player’s stats, and not the name on the front of the jerseys.

Let’s take a look at my ballot:

Catcher – Salvador Perez (AL Catchers are really weak this year)

First Base – Miguel Cabrera

Second Base – Jose Altuve (Kipnis might be better, but homer pick here)

Shortstop – Jose Reyes (but recently Carlos Correa just for fun)

Third Base – Josh Donaldson (no doubter)

Outfield – Adam Jones, Mike Trout, George Springer

Designated Hitter – Nelson Cruz

Now that you know how I vote, you can see that I am not a Kansas City hater. However, I could understand if Jose Altuve lost in the fan vote to Jason Kipnis because his numbers are better. However, Altuve is losing to Omar Infante of the Royals by around 300,000 votes. Altuve has 4,203,702 votes while Omar Infante, who has 4,518,765 votes. Altuve has been leading for most of the time, but I noticed when I type in #Vote onto a Tweet, the top pull-up options are #VoteRoyals #VoteOmar. The Royals fans couldn’t stand not having a mostly Royal lineup, so they made a push vote for Infante.

You can vote Astros here.

Next: Comparing Infante and Altuve

Comparing Infante and Altuve

May 19, 2015; Kansas City, MO, USA; Kansas City Royals second baseman Omar Infante (14) is congratulated in the dugout after scoring in the seventh inning against the Cincinnati Reds at Kauffman Stadium. The Royals won 3-0. Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports

Let’s compare the stats of Infante and Altuve.

In the picture on top of this page, Infante has a big smile. I wonder if he is smiling because he knows he’s in the lead for the starting nod in All-Star game. I would like a Royals fan to give me a justification for their choice, other than that he is a Royals player. Altuve tops Infante in batting average, OBP, homers, RBIs, runs, and stolen bases. Infante leads in zero of those categories. Eureka, I just figured it out! Infante is the better defender. Let’s look at their WAR and defense stats.

Omar Infante – .986 Fielding %, three errors, and -0.4 WAR.

Jose Altuve – .993 Fielding %, two errors, and 1.3 WAR.

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Sorry Royals fans, I thought that maybe I fell across some justification there. Let’s say that the eight Royals start the game, that means that eight of the 25-man roster will be designated Royals. That leaves only 17 positions available for the All-Star roster. Every team needs to be represented in the game, so take away 14 players to represent all the non-Royal teams. That leaves only three open roster positions at Ned Yost‘s discretion.

With only three open spots, the likelihood that another Royal player would be selected would be slim to none. Teams like the Astros, who have three possible All-Star representatives in Dallas Keuchel, Will Harris, and the already mentioned Jose Altuve. Jason Kipnis might not make the team because the manager might go with Corey Kluber instead. One of the picks also has to be a backup catcher, so the AL All-Star roster will be severely limited because of the #VoteRoyals campaign.

You can vote Astros here.

Next: A Triple Threat for Voting