Peralta, Carpenter, Holliday remain on track to be All-Star starters
ST. LOUIS -- Three Cardinals remain on track to start for the National League in the All-Star Game through the final update before starting lineups are officially announced Sunday night.
Jhonny Peralta looks like a lock at shortstop with almost 3 million more votes than his closest competition, while third baseman Matt Carpenter and left fielder Matt Holliday held onto narrow leads. After the duo got off to a remarkably hot start, Carpenter is batting just .190 in June and Holliday hit .208 in the first eight games this month before going to the disabled list with a right quad strain.
Even Peralta has slowed some since surging in May, but he still leads St. Louis with a .303 average, 11 home runs and 40 RBIs. No major league shortstops have more home runs than the 33-year-old veteran, who remains on pace to at least tie his career high of 24.
Cincinnati's Todd Frazier leads all third basemen with 25 home runs and has moved to less than 65,000 votes behind Carpenter, whose season average has fallen to .279. His 21 doubles, 17 of which he hit by May 22, are tied with Frazier for the major league lead among third basemen.
Holliday may not be able to return to the Cardinals' lineup or play in the All-Star Game, but his only competition for the third NL outfield spot, San Francisco's Nori Aoki, finds himself in the same predicament after fracturing his right fibula at Los Angeles on June 20. Aoki remains more than 300,000 votes behind despite a .317 batting average that ranks fifth in the NL, but Holliday's team-best on-base percentage of .417 easily bests Aoki's .383.
The second-place vote getter in the NL outfield, Giancarlo Stanton, won't recover from a wrist injury in time for the Midsummer Classic. Any starters voted by the fans who are unable to play will be replaced by NL manager Bruce Bochy of the Giants.
Catcher Yadier Molina and second baseman Kolten Wong sit a distant second behind San Francisco's Buster Posey and Miami's Dee Gordon, respectively.
With a 2.61 team ERA that is significantly better than any other team in baseball, the Cardinals should also see multiple pitchers sent to Cincinnati.
Michael Wacha ranks second in the NL with 10 wins and seventh with a 2.77 ERA, closely followed by fellow starters Carlos Martinez at 2.80 and Lance Lynn at 2.84. Trevor Rosenthal's 23 saves are tied for second in the NL, and his 0.52 ERA is the second best in the majors among relievers, behind only Kansas City's Wade Davis.
Voting ends at midnight Thursday and starters will be revealed at 6:30 p.m. Sunday. Reserves chosen by players, managers and coaches will be announced next Monday at 3 p.m.
You can follow Luke Thompson on Twitter at @FS_LukeT or email him at lukegthompson87@gmail.com.
