Athletics’ All-Star Update: Norris and Cespedes Climbing
By Jason Burke
Josh Donaldson,
Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
The latest All-Star ballot update has shown us 2 things. The first is that Josh Donaldson has a commanding lead, and will presumably start the All-Star game at third base. The second is that both Yoenis Cespedes and Derek Norris have a legitimate shot at being named starters in the game as well.
Josh Donaldson, cold streak and all, is leading the balloting at third base by just over a million votes over next-highest vote getter, Adrian Beltre. Yes, 1 million votes separates Donaldson from his closest competition. He is all but assured of starting the All-Star game.
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Yoenis Cespedes is making the climb towards being an All-Star starter as well. With the power display he put on at last year’s Home Run Derby, couple with the throws he has made to nail people at various bases this season, he has put his name out into the baseball universe. The universe apparently likes what they’ve seen, because Cespedes currently sits 4th among AL outfielders in the voting. Jose Bautista is leading all vote getters, followed by Mike Trout and Melky Cabrera. Cabrera currently has a 342,915 vote lead on Cespedes, but with a few weeks of voting left, the lead is not insurmountable.
The surprise candidate for the Athletics is Derek Norris. Matt Wieters currently leads AL catchers in fan voting, but it was just announced that he will be missing the rest of the season due to Tommy John surgery. That leaves only Brian McCann ahead of Norris, and the vote differential is a measly 2,383 votes. This is completely manageable A’s fans!
The next game you attend, just pick up 10 ballots. Fill them out before the game, or in between innings (voting for your favorite A’s players, of course) and drop off the ballot in one of the stations around the park. It’s that easy. If we all do this, the starting roster for the All-Star game with be 1/3 Athletics. This year, we’re not going to have to wait around for a reliever to hopefully get into the game. This year our guys will have a big impact on the outcome.