CLEVELAND: Francisco Lindor has established himself as one of the top all-around shortstops in the game today, but after the first round of All-Star Game voting, his name doesn’t appear among the top 5 in the American League.
Major League Baseball releases updates on All-Star Game voting by showing the top 5 in votes at each position each week. To date, Boston’s Xander Bogaerts and Kansas City’s Alcides Escobar are first and second, respectively, with nearly 600,000 votes each.
Toronto’s Troy Tulowitzki (325,949 votes), Houston’s Carlos Correa (304,997) and Baltimore’s J.J. Hardy (226,087) round out the top 5. And Hardy is currently on the disabled list.
Lindor is outside the top 5 but, per FanGraphs, is second in WAR among AL shortstops (as they appear on the ballot) at 2.3, behind only Bogaerts’ 3.0. Escobar is at -0.2, indicating he’s been below average compared to an average replacement shortstop.
Entering Sunday’s game, Lindor was hitting .308 with a .364 on-base percentage, five home runs, 11 doubles, 26 home runs and 10 stolen bases. In Saturday’s 7-1 win against the Royals, he became the first Indians hitter to record three extra-base hits in a single game this season.
Still, the fan vote has left him off the list.
“Absolutely, it’s disappointing,” said Josh Tomlin after Saturday’s game. “You saw what he did last year, and he hasn’t even really broke stride. … To see him not even on the top list for shortstops for the All-Star Game, it is disappointing. He’s a special player and he needs to be there.”
Lindor does stand a good chance of appearing in the game. The fan vote determines the position player starters and the final spot on the roster. Eight pitchers and a position player are voted in by the players, and the manager rounds out the rest of the roster. If he continues the pace he’s on, it’d be unlikely he wouldn’t be selected in some way.
All-Star Game voting was an issue last season, when at one point the Royals’ Omar Infante, a below-average player according to WAR, was going to start at second base for the AL, a game that determines home-field advantage in the World Series. He was above Houston’s Jose Altuve and the Indians’ Jason Kipnis, who was leading the AL in WAR for a time.
So it’s a familiar situation for the Indians, but it’s moved across the diamond a bit. Lindor, though, isn’t concerned with it.
“I didn’t even know. That’s fine,” Lindor said. “Whatever happens, happens. I don’t play for any awards. I play for October baseball. That’s what it’s all about. The biggest accomplishment anyone could have is to win the World Series. You can see the Kansas City team. They got Gold Glovers, All-Stars and Silver Sluggers. And you can ask them, ‘What was the best part of your career so far?’ They will say winning the World Series. That’s what I want.”
Bullpen return
The Indians are set to activate relief pitcher Joba Chamberlain from the 15-day disabled list on Monday.
Chamberlain strained his left intercostal — a muscle between the ribs — and was placed on the disabled list on May 23 ahead of the Indians’ doubleheader against the Chicago White Sox. He’s been a solid addition to the bullpen thus far, with a 1.93 ERA and 0.857 WHIP in 14 innings.
Ryan Lewis can be reached at rlewis@thebeaconjournal.com. Read the Indians blog at www.ohio.com/indians. Follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/RyanLewisABJ and on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/RyanLewisABJ