Major League Baseball opens All-Star voting with tweaked format

Earlier today, Major League Baseball went live with All-Star Game voting, and you can cast your ballots on MLB.com. Votes are limited to five per day per person, and there’s also one bonus vote per day if you’re willing to do it right on Google, which is a sponsor.

What’s new here is that the process of electing players to the rosters for the game. From today through June 21, fans will vote in what MLB has deemed “the primary.” And the top three players at each position—nine in the case of outfielders—will go into a two-day runoff vote on June 26 and 27. That runoff will determine who starts in the All-Star Game.

It should go without saying that thus far this season, the Mets have three hitters who are deserving of spots on the National League roster: Michael Conforto, Pete Alonso, and Jeff McNeil. All three of those players are in the top 25 in all of baseball in wRC+ right now, with Conforto leading the way at 17th and Alonso and McNeil sitting at 23rd and 24th.

Now in his fourth full season in the big leagues, Conforto has seemingly flown somewhat under the radar, but he’s hit .267/.407/.513 with nine home runs and a 149 wRC+ in 189 plate appearances this year. He made one All-Star appearance back in 2017, which was a similarly excellent season for him before it came to an end because of a freak shoulder injury.

Alonso is clearly in the early running for Rookie of the Year and has been fantastic with the bat, even as his average and on-base percentage have come down to Earth a bit. He’s hit .254/.332/.593 with 17 home runs and a 143 wRC+. Among first basemen, he ranks fifth in wRC+, and all four players ahead of him—Josh Bell, Anthony Rizzo, Freddie Freeman, and Rhys Hoskins—are in the National League. But the All-Star Game is supposed to be at least a little bit fun, and Mets fans shouldn’t hesitate to try to send Alonso to the game as a starter.

McNeil is on the injured list at the moment, but he’s hit .333/.418/.461 with two home runs and a 143 wRC+. His stats in the big categories will likely harm him when it comes to getting votes from elsewhere around baseball, but as one of baseball’s best hitters, he wouldn’t be the least bit out of place at the game.

The Mets have other candidates on the ballot, too. Robinson Cano, who has been an All-Star eight times, represents them at second base, though his performance so far this year will likely eliminate his chances of getting significant votes. Wilson Ramos has a couple of All-Star appearances to his name, too, and represents the Mets at catcher, but even after his recent hot streak, his stats on the season don’t look so great. Todd Frazier, who has appeared in two All-Star games, is on the ballot at third base, and Amed Rosario is on there at short.

You can’t ever blame a Mets fan for voting straight down the Mets ticket, but at the very least, voting for the big three early and often seems like a no-brainer.