You'd think that with Kansas City Royals steadily overtaking positions since voting totals first were announced three weeks ago, fans of other teams would have stepped up and started stuffing the electronic ballot boxes to even things out. But no. The Royals' command of the starting spots on the American League roster just keeps expanding.
With vote totals exceeding 300 million, the latest counts show Royals starting at eight positions. If not for defending AL MVP Mike Trout, it would be an all-Royals starting lineup -- if the voting ended today, of course.
The latest Royal to surge to the top of his position is second baseman Omar Infante. Despite batting only .204 with no homers and 17 RBIs, Infante has gathered 4,518,765 votes, moving him past injured Astro Jose Altuve (4,209,702).
Royals catcher Salvador Perez remains the top vote-getter in the AL at 7,202,292. The other Royals who would be All-Stars are center fielder Lorenzo Cain (second in the AL at 6,611,781), third baseman Mike Moustakas (6,505,248), shortstop Alcides Escobar (6,332,981), first baseman Eric Hosmer (5,777,363), left fielder Alex Gordon (5,581,096) and designated hitter Kendrys Morales (5,422,250).
The Angels' Trout is second in outfielder voting with 5,944,068. Kansas City right fielder Alex Rios, who has been slumping since coming back from a broken hand suffered early in the season, is fourth in the voting (3,952,551), well behind Gordon.
Though other AL players are within reach of starting spots -- in addition to Altuve's proximity to Infante, Tigers first baseman Miguel Cabrera is almost 500,000 votes behind Hosmer and Seattle's Nelson Cruz is within shouting distance (about 550,000) of Morales -- consider this: Royals manager Ned Yost will have considerable say in the AL pitching staff.
In other words, there could well be more Royal All-Stars yet to come.
