Pirates fall behind in first round of All-Star voting

Major League Baseball released its first round of voting results for the 2023 All-Star Game and Pittsburgh Pirates fans were shocked when they saw the results.

Despite sitting atop the National League Central, no Pirates hitters are remotely close to leading on the ballot. To add salt to the wound, only three players rank in the Top 10 across seven slots.

The Pirate with the most attention is Andrew McCutchen, who ranks sixth in the designated hitter category with 107,483 votes. He trails Christopher Morel of the Chicago Cubs (114,897), Jorge Soler of the Miami Marlins (170,483), Travis d’Arnaud of the Atlanta Braves (221,543), Bryce Harper of the Philadelphia Phillies (380,345), and J.D. Martinez of the Los Angeles Dodgers, who leads the category with 412,373 votes.

Surprisingly, Carlos Santana is eighth among NL first basemen with 52,479 votes, which is odd considering San Francisco’s LaMonte Wade Jr. has 1,169 more votes but is in ninth.

Outfielder Bryan Reynolds is really dragging on the ballot, coming in at No. 15 with 132,990 votes.

What sticks out to most fans is St. Louis’ Nolan Arenado leading all NL third basemen with more than 410,122 votes. Meanwhile, Ke’Bryan Hayes isn’t even in the Top 10. Then again, when hasn’t Arenado been favored over Hayes for absolutely no reason?

Take a moment and breathe. This is only phase one of the process, which only determines starters.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s frustrating to see guys like Santana get a good amount of votes while Hayes gets basically nothing, but that’s what you get when leagues utilize the fan vote.

The Pirates have two shoe-ins for the All-Star game: Mitch Keller and David Bednar. They might get one or two more with the reserve vote, but that’s still to be determined.

First round voting ends June 22, and fans can click here to vote for their favorite Pirates.