For the fourth straight All-Star Game, the Tigers likely won't have a position player on the field.
After the first ballot update for Phase 1 of fan voting was released Tuesday, only one Tiger ranks among the top 10 American League vote-getters at his respective position: Miguel Cabrera, who ranks fifth among designated hitters.
Yordan Alvarez of the Astros is the leading AL DH with about 835,000 votes -- about 600,000 more than Cabrera. Miggy will have to catch Angels phenom Shohei Ohtani, who currently ranks second with 555,000 votes, to advance to Phase 2 of the fan vote, which starts July 1. In other words, not happening.
Still, good for Cabrera. While he's far from the slugger he once was, he's revived some of his past this season with a near-.300 average approaching July. And the fans have rightly acknowledged it. He was the last Tigers position player voted into the Midsummer Classic when he made his 11th All-Star Game in 2016.
(Justin Upton was Detroit's last position player representative as an injury replacement in 2017.)
The top two vote-getters at each position will advance to the Phase 2 of the vote to determine the All-Star Game starters. The pitchers and reserves for both squads will be determined via Player Ballot choices and selections made by the Commissioner’s Office.
The Tigers' rep figures to be another pitcher, likely either starter Tarik Skubal or one of a handful of strong relievers headlined by Alex Lange and Will Vest. They were represented by relievers Gregory Soto in 2021, Shane Greene in 2019 and Joe Jimenez in 2018 and then-starter Michael Fulmer in 2017. (The pandemic-shortened season of 2020 did not feature an All-Star Game.)
This year's All-Star Game takes place July 19 at Dodger Stadium.
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