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Major League Baseball released the first update on All Star voting for the year, with several Brewers maintaining spots near the top of voting at their respective positions.
Most notably, perhaps, is the fact that Ryan Braun is currently in line to start the 2014 All Star game as he is currently third on outfield voting with 446,780 votes. He's 20,000 ahead of GIancarlo Stanton and 20,000 behind Andrew McCutchen. Despite his suspension last season, it seems Braun still has the support of many fans for his accomplishments on the field.
Charlie Blackmon, of all people, is first in outfield voting with over 549,000 votes. The 27-year-old is hitting .321/.358/.524 with nine homers this season, helping a Rockies offense that is first in the NL in runs scored per game.
Carlos Gomez is also up there on the leaderboard for the National League outfield, falling sixth with 370,000 votes. He may have a tough time breaking through much further, however. In addition to those top four, Gomez is also trailing Dodgers outfielder Yasiel Puig, who is sure to receive plenty of attention as the voting continues.
Rockies shortstop Troy Tulowitzki, in the midst of an excellent and healthy campaign, is leading all National League players with over 745,000 votes. That's bad news for Jean Segura, who is a distant fifth in shortstop voting with just over 200,000 votes. Also ahead of Segura are Brandon Crawford, Andrelton Simmons and Hanley Ramirez.
Meanwhile it appears injured Brewers third baseman Aramis Ramirez may be in line to start an All Star game. He is currently second in voting at the position, but Nolan Arenado -- who is first -- recently suffered a broken finger and may miss an extended period of time. While he may not necessarily miss the All Star game, it will give a strong chance for Ramirez to make up a 30,000 vote deficit.
The fact that Ramirez is still so close to a starting spot says a lot about both how strong the Brewers voting contingent is and how weak the NL third base class is this year. Ramirez is hitting just .252/.309/.390 this year despite a hot start. Todd Frazier has arguably been the best hitting third baseman in the league this season, but he does not show up in the top five of voting nor, surprisingly, does the Cardinals' Matt Carpenter.
The biggest disappointment for Brewers fans will surely be Jonathan Lucroy currently falling fourth in voting at catcher. It's little surprise that Yadier Molina and Buster Posey -- the two biggest-name catchers in the game -- are one and two, respectively. Also ahead of Lucroy is Evan Gattis of the Braves, who is hitting .248/.295/.527 this season with 10 homers.
Lucroy, meanwhile, is the best hitting catcher in the NL this season. That's not even debatable. It's not close. Lucroy has outhit Posey, Molina, Gattis, Brayan Pena, Travis d'Arnaud...any catcher in the league. This season, Lucroy is hitting .332/.400/.489. Of catchers with at least 100 plate appearances, only Carlos Ruiz is within 35 points of Lucroy's OBP. Only Molina is within 60 points of his average. And only Gattis is topping his slugging percentage.
As far as wOBA goes? Nobody is touching Lucroy. His .390 wOBA is miles ahead of Ruiz and Gattis, who are tied for second at .352. If there is any player on the Brewers roster who absolutely deserves to be leading the vote at their position, it's Lucroy. He should be an All Star this year, but it's not likely to come from the fan vote.
The Brewers did not place in the top few of voting at first base or second base. Surprise, surprise.
