Cardinals lag behind in first All-Star voting update

ST. LOUIS, Mo. (First Alert 4) - Major League Baseball released the first update on All-Star voting Monday and it appears that the Cardinals will need to pick up the pace in order to see any of their representatives voted into the All-Star Game as starters.

The highest-ranked Cardinal across the respective positions is one who has not participated in game action in more than a month. Willson Contreras ranks fourth among National League catchers with 149,315 votes. That vote total puts Contreras well behind the pace of J.T. Realmuto (558,624) and his younger brother, William Contreras (746,461) for the top two spots on the NL catching balloting.

Other Cardinals and their respective positional rankings in the voting totals include first baseman Paul Goldschmidt (eighth place, 71,594 votes), second baseman Nolan Gorman (seventh place, 125,089 votes) third baseman Nolan Arenado (sixth place, 174,671 votes), shortstop Masyn Winn (eighth place, 90,733 votes) and designated hitter Alec Burleson (tenth place, 57,954 votes).

No Cardinal outfielder ranked among the top 20 vote-getters at the position in MLB’s first balloting update.

MLB will distribute another update to the tallies on Monday, June 24, before Phase 1 of the voting concludes at noon (ET) on Thursday, June 27. Only the top two vote-getters at each position will advance to Phase 2 of the voting, which means the Cardinals are on pace to collectively make an early exit from consideration.

According to a release from MLB, “the pitchers and reserves for both squads--totaling 23 for each side--will be determined through a combination of “Player Ballot” choices and selections made by the Commissioner’s Office.”

Given the state of the voting to this point, that’s how the Cardinals’ representative in the All-Star Game is likely to arrive. Sonny Gray (8-4, 3.01 ERA) is an obvious candidate for a possible selection. Gray has 91 strikeouts on the year, which ranks tied for seventh among NL starters. That comes despite Gray having started the season on the injured list, missing a couple of turns through the rotation before making his season debut on April 9.

Another candidate on the pitching side is closer Ryan Helsley, who leads MLB with 24 saves in 25 save opportunities this season. Helsley is one of two NL closers with 20+ saves on the year and has posted a 2.53 ERA with 36 strikeouts in 32 innings pitched.

All-Star Game starters will be unveiled on Wednesday, July 3, with full rosters revealed on Sunday, July 7. The 2024 MLB All-Star Game will be held on Tuesday, July 16 in Arlington, Texas.

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