Blue Jays: Vladimir Guerrero Jr leads five Blue Jays into final vote

The first phase of voting has concluded for the 2021 MLB All-Star Game and moved into the new phase on Monday.  MLB changed up the All-Star voting that now sees the top three voting leaders from each infield position, along with DH move onto the next round as well as the top nine outfielders.  In Phase Two, all players will have their votes reset to zero and voting will commence at noon EST on Monday and finish on Thursday July 1 at 2PM EST.

Vladimir Guerrero Jr led all vote getters after the first round with just over 2.7 million votes, which was almost 200,000 more than second place Ronald Acuna Jr.  Guerrero Jr, currently leads the American Lead in hits (94), home runs (26), RBI (66), On-Base Percentage (.443), Slugging Percentage (.684), and OPS (.684); and he will be up against Yuli Gurriel from the Houston Astros and Jose Abreu of the Chicago White Sox.

Marcus Semien also led vote getters for American League second basemen.  Semien took home the May “Player of the Month” award and has posted a slash line of .281/.346/.519 while taking over the lead off hitting position in the Blue Jays lineup.  Semien has 37 extra-base hits this year including 18 home runs, while going 9 for 10 in stolen bases.  If Semien wins the vote, it will be his first All-Star Game in his nine year big league career.

More from Jays Journal

• Matt Chapman has been exactly what the Blue Jays needed
• Blue Jays: The goalposts are moving in the right direction
• Single-A Dunedin Blue Jays advance to the Championship Series
• Blue Jays: Comparisons for Alek Manoah’s Second Season
• Blue Jays: Adam Cimber, the unlikely decision King

Also in contention for the All-Star Game and have moved onto the next phase of voting is Bo Bichette, Teoscar Hernandez and Randal Grichuk.  Bichette finished second in voting for shortstops after the first round, one behind Boston’s Xander Bogaerts, but ahead of Carlos Correa (Houston) as they move into the final round.  Bichette currently leads the American League in runs scored (66) while hitting 32 extra-base hits and going 12 for 12 in stolen bases.  He’ll be in tough against Boegaerts who has one less home run, but leads the league in doubles and his batting average in almost 50 points higher than Bichette.

Hernandez missed nearly 20 games at the beginning of the season when he came down with the coronavirus, but has able to bounce back with 11 home runs and 47 RBI already while posting a slash line of .301/.343/.498.  Hernandez is yet to play in an All-Star Game, but he is one of the reigning Silver Slugger Award winners and is on pace to set career highs in every offensive category.  After the first round of voting, Hernandez finished sixth in voting.

Grichuk has made giant strides the last two years on offence and many speculated that he would be a trade piece this past offseason, but he has started the year off strong.  He slid into ninth place in voting for outfielders to give him one last shot of starting at the summer classic.  Grichuk already has 52 RBI through the first part of the season and looks to easily surpass his career high of 80 set in 2019 if he can stay healthy.

You can vote for any of these players by clicking the link to go to ballot or you can go to www.mlb.com/all-star/ballot.