Harper tops polls with two million votes
Another week, another week atop the All-Star Game charts for Bryce Harper, who is currently the only National League player with more than 2 million votes. The latest voting results were announced on Monday.
No other National Leaguers are particularly close to Harper’s total; his teammate Daniel Murphy is second overall with 1.7 million votes. Murphy currently leads National League second basemen, as Ryan Zimmerman does at first. If voting stopped now — and importantly, it doesn’t — all three of them would be all-star starters.
Some of their teammates are not far behind, as Anthony Rendon and Matt Wieters both sit fourth at their positions, faced with seemingly insurmountable deficits. Votes are just for all-star starters, so players who do not win at their positions are by no means precluded from roster spots.
But for now, Harper, Murphy and Zimmerman seem the likeliest candidates to start the game, though pitcher Max Scherzer is charging into the race, too. National League Manager Joe Maddon will name his all-star starter several weeks from now, and Scherzer’s starting schedule would have to line up in order for him to be under consideration.
Either way, the Nationals are currently in position to have three players start the game, one more than the reigning champion Chicago Cubs, who currently have Jason Heyward and Kris Bryant in position to do so. Anthony Rizzo is trailing Zimmerman by around 100,000 votes for first base, making Zimmerman’s the most precarious position of the would-be Nationals starters.