Red Sox: Mookie Betts falls in MLB All-Star Game fan voting update

The second batch of fan voting results for the 2017 MLB All-Star Game have been released, showing Red Sox players are currently without a starting spot.

Major League Baseball has released the second wave of fan voting results for the 2017 All-Star Game, which are even less favorable to the Boston Red Sox than the initial balloting update.

At least last week’s results included one Red Sox player with enough votes to earn a starting spot on the American League squad. That’s no longer the case. Mookie Betts, the runner-up for the MVP Award last season, has dropped behind Cleveland’s Michael Brantley for fourth place among AL outfielders.

Cleveland Indians fans are clearly making a strong push in support of their players. Every position on the ballot includes an Indians player within the top five. That’s no surprise considering Cleveland is coming off of a trip to the World Series last season, although the results do highlight issues that many have with the voting process.

In fairness, Betts hasn’t performed up to the level he was at least year when he made his All-Star debut. He enters the day hitting .264 with an .811 OPS. The batting average is a fluke resulting from a career-low .261 BABIP. Betts rarely strikes out and is still hitting the ball hard, so his average will undoubtedly trend upward. Yet at the moment there’s a sizable gap between Betts and Brantley’s .309 average that will catch the eye of casual observers. Betts has the edge in run producing categories such as home runs and RBI, yet trails slightly behind Brantley’s .823 OPS due in large part to the batting average differential.

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Where Betts has a significant advantage is on defense. The 30-year old Brantley has declined to merely average in the field, while Betts is among the best defensive outfielders in the game. This explains why Betts owns a 2.3 WAR that is well ahead of Brantley’s 1.4 WAR.

Mookie’s all-around game and recent track record following a monster season make him an easy selection to start the All-Star Game. Unfortunately, that’s not how this popularity contest works.

There’s still time for Betts to overtake Brantley, although he also has Avisail Garcia hot on his heels. Even if the fans don’t vote Betts in as a starter, he’ll be the likely replacement for the injured Mike Trout. He’s going to be on the team, it’s merely a matter of if he gets the honor of being a starter.

Elsewhere on the ballot there is little improvement for the Red Sox. Andrew Benintendi is still fifth among outfielders but isn’t going to pass Betts, let alone enough candidates to move into the top three. Dustin Pedroia cracked the top five at second base after being left out last week, yet remains well behind Houston’s Jose Altuve. At shortstop we find Xander Bogaerts has inexplicably fallen behind Didi Gregorius, putting him in fourth place at a stacked position.

No other Red Sox position players appear on the ballot.

Regardless of how the fan vote turns out, Betts will be an All-Star. Bogaerts will most likely join him. Fans don’t vote for pitchers, so a more trustworthy panel can be counted on to ensure Chris Sale and Craig Kimbrel are locks to make the team. Worry not, the Red Sox will have plenty of representatives in the All-Star Game.

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There’s still time for fans to push their favorite players into the starting lineup. Voting ends on June 29, so cast your ballot online to help Red Sox players get to Miami.