Astros: Jose Altuve, Yordan Alvarez Lead MLB All-Star Game Voting

Two Astros — Jose Altuve and Yordan Alvarez — rank atop their position in All-Star voting.

Houston Astros fans rejoiced after Major League Baseball released the first vote counts for the 2022 MLB All-Star Game. Jose Altuve and Yordan Alvarez are the current leading vote-getters at second base and designated hitter, respectively, for the American League.

Altuve, who has just over an 188,000 vote lead on Toronto Blue Jays’ Santiago Espinal, is looking for his eighth All-Star game selection of his career. Altuve is having one of the better offensive seasons in his recent career.

He is currently slashing .274/.345/.507 with 34 runs, 13 home runs and 24 RBI. He ranks first in home runs, batting average, on-base percentage and slugging percentage amongst second basemen in the American League.

Despite the inevitable rain of jeers, he is sure to face with the All-Star game at Dodger Stadium, Jose Altuve told reporters on Tuesday that he is committed to playing in the Mid-Season Classic. Altuve opted to not play in the exhibition last season to due to a minor-leg injury.

On the other hand, a selection for the 2022 MLB All-Star Game would be the first of Yordan Alvarez’s career. He has nearly 300,000 more votes than Los Angeles Angels’ Shohei Ohtani.

Alvarez is a star in the making and is clearly getting recognition for his offensive prowess. Amongst AL designated hitters, Alvarez currently sits in first in home runs, runs-batted-in, on-base percentage, slugging percentage and OPS.

Yordan has made a major step in his development this season. It’s hardly fair to compare him to the American League’s other designated hitters. He is firmly in the AL MVP conversation and deservedly so. He slashing an impressive .311/.403/.623 with a shocking OPS+ of 193.

There are several Astros amongst the top 10 in the league for their positions. Jeremy Peña is fourth at shortstop, Martín Maldonado is fourth at catcher, Yuli Gurriel is fifth at first base, Alex Bregman is fifth at third base and Michael Brantley and Kyle Tucker are eighth and ninth respectively in the outfield. While Tucker certainly deserves, the rest of the voting numbers aren’t in the favor of the Astros.

MLB Network will announce All-Star finalists on June 30. ESPN will announce starters on July 8 and full rosters on July 10. This season’s MLB All-Star Game will be played on July 19 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, CA. The American League will be lead by Astros’ manager, Dusty Baker and his staff.