Major League Baseball released the National League ballot leaders on Tuesday ahead of July's All-Star Game.
Milwaukee Brewers first baseman Eric Thames currently has 170,244 votes, placing him fifth among NL first basemen. Left fielder Ryan Braun owns 143, 587 votes, good for 12th among outfielders on the senior circuit.
Outfielder @Bharper3407 of the @Nationals leads the NL in fan balloting for the 2017 @AllStarGame. Vote now at https://t.co/qd5OOxn7ED pic.twitter.com/SdPsLKdClg
— MLB Communications (@MLB_PR) May 30, 2017
Thames is currently batting .273/.404/.584 with 13 home runs, but has slumped mightily since his electric start. The 30-year-old is batting just .186 while battling nagging injuries in May.
Braun has undergone similar issues. The six-time All-Star slugged seven homers in April, but two DL stints have limited him to only six games this month.
As for the rest of the league, Washington Nationals right fielder Bryce Harper leads all players with over 900,000 votes.
Players from the Nationals and Chicago Cubs have been popular picks thus far. Both teams have a player in the top five at each position.
The Nationals' dominance in the votes is well-deserved. Washington owns the second-best record in the NL, and sports the best OPS in baseball (.813).
However, the defending champion Cubs have slumped all season long. Chicago sits at just 25-25 so far this year, and its top vote-getters have been in a malaise throughout 2017.
Cubs first baseman Anthony Rizzo has a large lead at his position, despite batting just .235 right now. Addison Russell ranks second among NL shortstops, but is posting a horrendous .657 OPS. World Series hero Kyle Schwarber is well below the Mendoza line, yet sits fifth among NL outfielders (teammates Jason Heyward and Ben Zobrist rank third and fourth respectively with mediocre numbers as well).
The voting stays open through June 29. The American League ballot standings will be released next Tuesday.
