MLB All-Star Game 2018 voting: Aaron Judge the only Yankee in the starting lineup?

The 2018 MLB All-Star Game will be played on Tuesday, July 17, 2018 (7/17/18) at Nationals Park in Washington, DC. Yankees right fielder Aaron Judge, DH Giancarlo Stanton, shortstop Didi Gregorius, rookie second baseman Gleyber Torres and rookie third baseman Miguel Andujar are vying for spots in the American League’s starting lineup.

MLB released the latest ballot totals on Tuesday for the 2018 All-Star Game, and Yankees right fielder Aaron Judge remains on track to start for the American League.

However, as of right now, it looks like Judge will be the only Yankees position player in the starting lineup on Tuesday, July 17th at Nationals Park in Washington, DC.

Catcher Gary Sanchez continues to fall off the pace (although his availability would be very much in doubt after landing on the disabled list with a strained groin). DH Giancarlo Stanton, shortstop Didi Gregorius, rookie second baseman Gleyber Torres and rookie third baseman Miguel Andujar have impressive vote totals, but not enough to crack the lineup, as of right now.

But Luis Severino should be on the American League pitching staff, and could be in line to start the game.

Yanks’ 5 biggest problems

Here are the latest voting details, per MLB:

Eight different teams continue to be represented among the nine American League leaders in the latest fan balloting update for the 2018 MLB All-Star Game presented by Mastercard.  The latest AL balloting update was announced earlier today on MLB Network.  The 2018 Camping World MLB All-Star Ballot, which is available exclusively online and via mobile devices at MLB.com, all 30 Club sites and the MLB At Bat and MLB Ballpark mobile apps, will be accessible until the voting period ends on Thursday, July 5^th at 11:59 p.m. (ET).

Current leaders include two players from the Boston Red Sox and one player each from the Baltimore Orioles, the Chicago White Sox, the Cleveland Indians, the Houston Astros, the Los Angeles Angels, the New York Yankees and the Tampa Bay Rays.  Since balloting was returned to the fans in 1970, neither league has had eight different teams win a fan election in the same year.  The National League has had seven different teams among the winners on eight occasions, including the most recent occurrence in 2014, while the AL has had seven different teams represented 12 times, including last year for the Midsummer Classic in Miami.

White Sox first baseman Jose Abreu continues to maintain the lead that he has held from the outset, garnering 1,032,748 votes to remain ahead of Houston’s Yuli Gurriel (714,361) and Boston’s Mitch Moreland (644,728).  Abreu, an All-Star during his rookie season in 2014, is bidding to become the first White Sox player to win a fan election since Hall of Famer Frank Thomas in 1996.  In addition, the Cuban-born Abreu would become just the sixth White Sox player overall to win a fan vote, joining Hall of Famers Thomas (1994-96), Luis Aparicio (1970) and Carlton Fisk (1981-82), as well as Dick Allen (1972-74) and Richie Zisk (1977).  The 31-year-old Abreu is batting .272 on the season with 11 home runs, 44 RBI, 27 doubles and 37 runs scored.

In the AL’s closest race, Tampa Bay Rays catcher Wilson Ramos has totaled 1,063,708 votes to outpace Gary Sanchez of the New York Yankees (904,678) behind the plate.  Ramos, a native of Venezuela, is bidding for his second career All-Star selection following 2016, when he was a National League All-Star while playing for the Washington Nationals.  The 30-year-old would become just the fifth different Rays player to win a fan election (sixth time overall), joining designated hitter Jose Canseco (1999), third baseman Evan Longoria (2009-10), outfielder Carl Crawford (2010) and designated hitter Corey Dickerson (2017).  Wilson is batting .293 on the season with 11 home runs, 39 RBI, nine doubles and 24 runs scored.  Sanchez, an All-Star in 2017, is vying to become the first Yankees catcher to garner a starting assignment since Jorge Posada earned consecutive fan elections in 2002-03.  The 25-year-old Sanchez ranks second among all Major League catchers with 14 home runs and 41 RBI.

The remaining AL leaders include: second baseman Jose Altuve of the Astros (2,460,967), who remains MLB’s leading vote-getter; third baseman Jose Ramirez of the Indians (1,319,651); shortstop Manny Machado of the Orioles (960,628); outfielders Mookie Betts of the Red Sox (2,337,514), Mike Trout of the Angels (1,989,649) and Aaron Judge of the Yankees (1,557,109); and designated hitter J.D. Martinez of the Red Sox (1,675,492).  Altuve is followed at second base by rookie Gleyber Torres of the Yankees (797,817), while Ramirez continues to pace another New York rookie – third baseman Miguel Andujar (764,032).  Houston’s Carlos Correa (793,087) is in pursuit of Machado at shortstop, while the trio of outfield leaders are out in front of Houston’s George Springer (829,579), Cleveland’s Michael Brantley (794,074) and Boston’s Andrew Benintendi (784,969). At designated hitter, 2017 NL MVP Giancarlo Stanton (738,878), now of the Yankees, remains second behind Martinez. 

For the fourth consecutive season, MLB’s All-Star Balloting Program is being conducted exclusively online and via mobile devices at MLB.com, all 30 Club web sites and the MLB At Bat and MLB Ballpark mobile apps.  Since Friday, June 1^st, fans around the world have been able to cast their votes for starters a total of 35 times with the 2018 Camping World MLB All-Star Ballot, including a maximum of five valid ballots cast in any 24-hour period.  Additionally, when fans vote they have a chance to win a 2019 Freedom Elite Motorhome, valued at over $85,000.  During the voting period, the 2018 Camping World MLB All-Star Ballot is available in English, Spanish and Japanese, and offers audio CAPTCHA functionality for visually impaired fans.  Banco BHD Leon once again sponsors online All-Star balloting in the Dominican Republic, making Spanish-language ballots available to fans in the Dominican Republic via LasMayores.com, the official Spanish-language web site of Major League Baseball.

Details regarding the unveiling of the 2018 American League and National League All-Star Teams will be available later this week.  The AL All-Star Team will have nine elected starters via the fan balloting program, while the NL All-Star Team will have eight fan-elected starters.  The pitchers and reserves for both squads – totaling 23 for the NL and 22 for the AL – will be determined through a combination of “Player Ballot” choices and selections made by the Commissioner’s Office.  The AL squad will be managed by AJ Hinch of the defending World Series Champion Houston Astros, while the NL team will be led by Dave Roberts of the defending NL Champion Dodgers.

Following the announcement of the American League and National League All-Star rosters, fans will begin voting to select the final player for each League’s 32-man roster via the 2018 Camping World MLB All-Star Final Vote.  Fans will cast their votes from a list of five players from each League over the balloting period.  Now in its 17^th season with over 760 million votes cast, fans again will be able to make their Final Vote selections on MLB.com, the Club sites and on their mobile devices.

Mike Rosenstein may be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @rosenstein73. Find NJ.com on Facebook.