New York Mets' Pete Alonso, Starling Marte Move on to Final Phase of All-Star Voting; Jeff McNeil Snubbed
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The Mets have two position players, who have a shot to start the All-Star game for the National League next month.
First baseman Pete Alonso and right fielder Starling Marte are moving on to the second and final phase of All-Star voting.
MLB announced Phase 1 results at 5 p.m. eastern time on Thursday, which revealed Alonso received 1,521,254 votes behind St. Louis Cardinals first baseman Paul Goldschmidt's 2,477,992. The top two vote-getters at each infield position move on to the next round, in which the total vote count then resets.
As for Marte, he came in with the fourth-most votes among outfielders, racking up a total of 1,236,390. The top six outfielders advance to the next round.
While Francisco Lindor (3rd among shortstops), and outfielders Mark Canha (8th) and Brandon Nimmo (10th) all missed the cut, the biggest surprise was that the Mets' starting second baseman was snubbed.
Jeff McNeil lost out to Braves' Ozzie Albies (1,745,859) and Marlins' Jazz Chisholm (1,731,805), despite the fact that he is having a better season than this pair. Depending on how Phase 2 shakes out, McNeil could potentially replace Albies in the Midsummer Classic, as Atlanta's second baseman suffered a fractured foot on June 24, which will sideline him indefinitely.
McNeil, who was an All-Star in 2019, has a 2.2 bWAR and is slashing .323/.380/.457 with an .837 OPS, 139 OPS+ and 33 RBIs. He is also hitting .397 with runners in scoring position.
Meanwhile, the injured Albies has an 0.6 WAR, .244/.289/.405 triple slash and a .694 OPS. As for Chisholm, he has McNeil edged out in the power department with a .535 slugging percentage, 14 home runs, 45 RBIs and an .860 OPS, but his batting average is just .254, his on-base percentage is .325 and he has 21 less hits.
Phase 2 voting will begin on Tuesday, July 5 at noon eastern time and end on Friday, July 8 at 2:00 p.m. MLB will announce All-Star game starters later that evening at 7:00 p.m. on ESPN. Full rosters will be announced on Sunday, July 10 at 5:30 p.m. Player ballots and Commissioner's office selections will decide the pitching staffs and reserve spots for the NL and AL teams.
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