Mets outfielders Cespedes, Bruce trail in All-Star Game voting

Of the eight Mets who made the 2017 All-Star Game ballot, only two appear to be within striking distance of being voted in, and even those appear to be long shots. Yoenis Cespedes and Jay Bruce are currently at nine and eleven, respectively, in National League All-Star outfield voting, slotting behind front runners Bryce Harper, Charlie Blackmon, and Jason Heyword, as well Ben Zobrist, Matt Kemp, Kyle Schwarber, Giancarlo Stanton, Marcel Ozuna and, in Bruce’s case, Dexter Fowler.

Of course, the real crime here is that Michael Conforto was left off the ballot entirely, though fans have been encouraged to write him in. Conforto is currently second in the NL in Fangraphs WAR among qualified outfielders with 2.4, ahead of everyone but Bryce Harper. Bruce slots in at 15 and Curtis Granderson at 29 among hitters with enough at-bats to qualify. Neither Cespedes nor Juan Lagares have played enough to qualify, though both have surpassed Granderson’s fWAR in their limited playing time.

Fans can cast their ballots until June 29 at MLB.com, and hopefully Conforto will be part of the voting for the last spot on the ballot, much like Jeurys Familia was last season.