First Angels all-star balloting results were just about what we expected
On the first of June all-star balloting opened for fans of the Los Angeles Angels and other teams to vote for their favorite players to head to the MLB All-Star Game in July at T-Mobile Park in Seattle.
Fans are allowed to vote up to five times each day and will do their best to try and get players from their respective teams to start in the game.
The first ballots just came back yesterday and the results were pretty much exactly what Angels fans should've expected.
LA Angels superstars Shohei Ohtani and Mike Trout lead the way in the AL ballots
The Los Angeles Angels roster not only two of the best but also two of the most popular players in all of baseball. Shohei Ohtani is the best and most popular player in the league with Mike Trout not too far behind. The first ballot results reflect that.
Shohei Ohtani leads all Designated Hitters with 924,182 votes as of yesterday. That is over 700,000 more than second place Brandon Belt in the DH category, something pretty unfathomable to see.
Mike Trout, despite his down year, always has support of not only Angels fans but baseball fans as a whole. He received 598,918 votes through the first round of balloting which is second among all AL outfielders trailing only Aaron Judge of the Yankees.
Ohtani ranks first in the league with his votes while Trout sits in fifth. Not too shabby for the Angels superstars.
Unlike past seasons, the Angels do have a chance at getting more than Trout and Ohtani into the All-Star game. Relievers don't get voted in by fans, but Carlos Estevez has quite the All-Star case so far. Position players do, and the Angels do have some of their own cracking the ballot.
Matt Thaiss ranks eighth among AL catchers. While he likely won't catch Adley Rutschman or Jonah Heim, if he keeps hitting he could sway coaches into voting him in as a reserve which would be quite the story.
Brandon Drury and Anthony Rendon rank fifth in their positions in the AL while Zach Neto ranks sixth among AL shortstops and Jared Walsh ranks seventh among AL first basemen. Of these four players, Neto is probably the most deserving just as a player, but he's not going to come close to catching guys like Bo Bichette and Corey Seager in the fan vote.
For starters, the Angels are likely capped at Ohtani and Trout. For reserves, there's a good chance we see one or two more guys.