Fans seem to be doing a good job so far of voting for an American League All-Star team that makes sense, according to Box-Toppers statistics.
But the National League team that fans are picking could use some wholesale changes to better coincide with position leaders in Box-Toppers points.
There's still time to correct those mistakes. Voting for the All-Star Game closes this week, July 4. The All-Star Game is July 16 at Citi Field in New York.
Box-Toppers stats agree (or largely agree) with eight of the nine AL position players currently leading in voting for the All-Star Game. However, Box-Toppers only agrees with two of the eight NL vote leaders. In the chart (at right), the fan vote leaders are listed, followed by their current rank by position in Box-Toppers points for the 2013 season, followed by a Box-Toppers judgment of fans' selections.
Box-Toppers stats indicate the biggest snubs are:
• Paul Goldschmidt of the Diamondbacks should be top NL first baseman. He leads among NL first basemen in Box-Toppers points for the 2013 season (8.7) and also leads his position in points over the 2012 and 2013 season (13.2). Current fan voting leader, Joey Votto of the Reds, is 14th among NL first basemen in Box-Toppers points in 2013 (1.5) and ninth place over the combined 2012 and 2013 seasons (6.7). As of June 23, Votto led in fan voting among NL first basemen with 2.7 million votes. Goldschmidt was in second place with 2.3 million.
• Carlos Gonzalez of the Rockies should be among the top NL outfielders. He leads all NL batters in Box-Toppers points for the 2013 season (9.5) and also leads all NL batters in points over the combined 2012 and 2013 seasons (18.7). Two of the current fan voting leaders for NL outfield do not rank very highly in their position in Box-Toppers points for the 2013 season: Carlos Beltran of the Cardinals ranks 33rd and Justin Upton of the Braves ranks 45th. Gonzalez ranks fourth in fan voting for NL outfield with 2.1 million votes. Beltran has 3.5 million, Upton has 2.5 million and Bryce Harper of the Nationals has 2.4 million.
In the chart at right, Box-Toppers gives its judgment as either "Good" (these are the players Box-Toppers stats would deem worthy of an All-Star start), "OK" (these are not necessarily the most worthy players, but they are among Box-Toppers points leaders in that position) or "Should be's" (these are players Box-Toppers stats would deem unworthy of the honor and suggesting a substitute who is leading or is among the leaders in Box-Toppers points).
In the American League, Box-Toppers suggests only one substitute: Adam Jones of the Orioles, vote leader among AL outfielders should be replaced with Yoenis Cespedes of the Athletics. Jones ranks 19th among AL outfielders in Box-Toppers points for 2013 while Cespedes is the leader.
In the National League, Box-Toppers can only endorse two of the fans' selections: Brandon Phillips of the Reds at second base and Bryce Harper of the Nationals in the outfield.
Here are AL All-Star voting leaders as of June 23.
Here are NL All-Star voting leaders as of June 23.
The chart below shows Box-Toppers points leaders by position so far through the 2013 season. The columns to the right look at players over the longer run, seeing who is leading in Box-Toppers points for the combined 2012 and 2013 seasons.
The chart also includes Box-Toppers points leaders among starting, middle relief and closing pitchers, even though fans don't get to vote on those.
Here is how the Box-Toppers All-Star teams stand as of today:
| ALL-STAR VOTE LEADERS | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AL PLAYERS | TEAM | RANK BY POS. | BOX-TOPPERS JUDGMENT | |
| 1B | Chris Davis | bal al | 1 | Good |
| 2B | Robinson Cano | nyy al | 1 | Good |
| SS | J.J. Hardy | bal al | 3 | Good |
| 3B | Miguel Cabrera | det al | 1 | Good |
| CA | Joe Mauer | min al | 2 | Good |
| OF | Adam Jones | bal al | 19 | Should be Yoenis Cespedes, OAK |
| OF | Mike Trout | ana al | 5 | Good |
| OF | Nick Markakis | bal al | 6 | OK |
| DH | David Ortiz | bos al | 3 | OK |
| NL PLAYERS | TEAM | RANK BY POS. | BOX-TOPPERS JUDGMENT | |
| 1B | Joey Votto | cin nl | 14 | Should be Paul Goldschmidt, ARI |
| 2B | Brandon Phillips | cin nl | 1 | Good |
| SS | Troy Tulowitzki | col nl | 5 | OK, but should be Everth Cabrera, SD |
| 3B | David Wright | nym nl | 12 | Should be Pedro Alvarez, PIT |
| CA | Yadier Molina | stl nl | 8 | Should be Brian McCann, ATL |
| OF | Carlos Beltran | stl nl | 33 | Should be Carlos Gonzalez, COL |
| OF | Justin Upton | atl nl | 45 | Should be Matt Holliday, STL |
| OF | Bryce Harper | dc nl | 2 | Good |
RANK BY POS: Where the player ranks by fielding position in Box-Toppers points for the 2013 season.
| 2013 SEASON | 2012-13 SEASONS | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AL | PLAYER | TEAM | BTP | PLAYER | TEAM | BTP | |
| First base | Davis, Chris 2478 | bal al | 6 | Davis, Chris 2478 | bal al | 18 | |
| Second base | Cano, Robinson 2092 | nyy al | 4.5 | Kipnis, Jason 2933 | cle al | 9.5 | |
| Shortstop | Drew, Stephen 2210 | bos al | 4.5 | Hardy, J.J. 2071 | bal al | 10.2 | |
| Third base | Cabrera, Miguel 1776 | det al | 10.7 | Cabrera, Miguel 1776 | det al | 22.4 | |
| Catcher | Arencibia, J.P. 2781 | tor al | 5.5 | Mauer, Joe 1869 | min al | 14 | |
| Outfield 1 | Cespedes, Yoenis 3008 | oak al | 4.5 | Trout, Mike 2949 | ana al | 14.5 | |
| Outfield 2 | Johnson, Kelly 2018 | tb al | 4.5 | Hamilton, Josh 2332 | ana al | 11.5 | |
| Outfield 3 | Nava, Daniel 2740 | bos al | 4.5 | Cespedes, Yoenis 3008 | oak al | 10.5 | |
| Designated hitter | Encarnacion, Edwin 2098 | tor al | 5.7 | Butler, Billy 2330 | kc al | 15.2 | |
| Starting pitcher 1 | Masterson, Justin 2462 | cle al | 11.7 | Verlander, Justin 2112 | det al | 30.8 | |
| Starting pitcher 2 | Sale, Chris 2806 | chi al | 10.7 | Hernandez, Felix 2064 | sea al | 27.4 | |
| Starting pitcher 3 | Buchholz, Clay 2363 | bos al | 10.1 | Sale, Chris 2806 | chi al | 26.4 | |
| Starting pitcher 4 | Iwakuma, Hisashi 3048 | sea al | 9.7 | Darvish, Yu 3003 | tex al | 25.8 | |
| Middle reliever | Tazawa, Junichi 3151 | bos al | 4 | Chen, Bruce 1170 | kc al | 8 | |
| Closing pitcher | Perkins, Glen 2506 | min al | 6 | Rodney, Fernando 1803 | tb al | 11 | |
| NL | |||||||
| First base | Goldschmidt, Paul 2935 | ari nl | 8.7 | Goldschmidt, Paul 2935 | ari nl | 13.2 | |
| Second base | Phillips, Brandon 1691 | cin nl | 5 | Phillips, Brandon 1691 | cin nl | 14.5 | |
| Shortstop | Cabrera, Everth 2625 | sd nl | 4.5 | Cabrera, Everth 2625 | sd nl | 7.5 | |
| Third base | Alvarez, Pedro 2817 | pit nl | 5.2 | Freese, David 2710 | stl nl | 14.2 | |
| Catcher | McCann, Brian 2179 | atl nl | 6 | McCann, Brian 2179 | atl nl | 12 | |
| Outfield 1 | Gonzalez, Carlos 2460 | col nl | 9.5 | Gonzalez, Carlos 2460 | col nl | 18.7 | |
| Outfield 2 | Harper, Bryce 3011 | dc nl | 5.9 | Braun, Ryan J. 2300 | mil nl | 16 | |
| Outfield 3 | Pollock, A.J. 3142 | ari nl | 4.7 | Holliday, Matt 1836 | stl nl | 15.7 | |
| Starting pitcher 1 | Corbin, Patrick 3027 | ari nl | 11.4 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | lad nl | 31.5 | |
| Starting pitcher 2 | Miller, Shelby 3134 | stl nl | 11.4 | Lynn, Lance 2992 | stl nl | 27.1 | |
| Starting pitcher 3 | Harvey, Matt 3075 | nym nl | 11 | Bumgarner, Madison 2753 | sf nl | 25.4 | |
| Starting pitcher 4 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | lad nl | 10.7 | Strasburg, Stephen 2736 | dc nl | 25.4 | |
| Middle reliever | Collmenter, Josh 2863 | ari nl | 5 | Collmenter, Josh 2863 | ari nl | 7 | |
| Closing pitcher | Chapman, Aroldis 2826 | cin nl | 6 | Chapman, Aroldis 2826 | cin nl | 20 | |
| AL top pitcher | Masterson, Justin 2462 | cle al | 11.7 | Verlander, Justin 2112 | det al | 30.8 | |
| AL top batter | Cabrera, Miguel 1776 | det al | 10.7 | Cabrera, Miguel 1776 | det al | 22.4 | |
| NL top pitcher | Corbin, Patrick 3027 | ari nl | 11.4 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | lad nl | 31.5 | |
| NL top batter | Gonzalez, Carlos 2460 | col nl | 9.5 | Gonzalez, Carlos 2460 | col nl | 18.7 |