The Colorado Rockies not only did some damage to the Chicago Cubs win-loss record last week, taking three of four games in a weekend series at Wrigley Field, they also put a dent in the All-Star hopes of a couple Cubs.
As it stands right now, Chicago has one player leading the voting at his position (Kris Bryant, third base), three in second place (Willson Contreras, catcher; Anthony Rizzo, first base; Javier Baez, second base) and two in third place (Addison Russell, shortstop; Jason Heyward, outfield).
All but Heyward will have to rise to first place in order to start the Midsummer Classic in Miami; he’ll have to hold of his teammate Ben Zobrist and Matt Kemp of the Atlanta Braves.
The Rockies’ Charlie Blackmon has all but locked in his spot as the second outfielder for the National League with a huge week at the voting booth. Blackmon pulled in 608,537 votes last week – nearly triple the amounts Heyward and Zobrist earned.
Here’s how the outfield voting stacked up last week…
OUTFIELD (As of 6/5/17)
1. Bryce Harper, Nationals: 1,459,235
2. Charlie Blackmon, Rockies: 979,961
3. Jason Heyward, Cubs: 498,079
4. Ben Zobrist, Cubs: 472,114
5. Matt Kemp, Braves: 457,586
If Blackmon can extend his lead just a little more, Heyward, Zobrist and Kemp would be effectively fighting one another for the final spot in the outfield. Heyward is hitting just .257 with five home runs this season. Zobrist is hitting .228 with seven home runs, while Kemp is hitting .326 with 10 home runs. Blackmon is at .337 and 15 by comparison.
Here’s where votes stood as of Monday…
OUTFIELD (As of 6/12/17)
1. Bryce Harper, Nationals: 2,132,795
2. Charlie Blackmon, Rockies: 1,588,498
3. Jason Heyward, Cubs: 737,147
4. Ben Zobrist, Cubs: 678,795
5. Matt Kemp, Braves: 641,728
Just like a Wrigley, however, it wasn’t a clean sweep for the Rockies. At third base, Rockies hopeful Nolan Arenado actually lost some ground to Kris Bryant.
Here’s how voting looked last week…
THIRD BASE (As of 6/5/17)
1. Kris Bryant, Cubs: 895,752
2. Nolan Arenado, Rockies: 613,571
3. Justin Turner, Dodgers, 362,952
4. Anthony Rendon, Nationals: 295,369
5. Jedd Gyorko, Cardinals: 275,281
Arenado added 338,176 votes to eclipse the half-million mark, but Bryant climbed 352,596 votes for a net gain on Arenado of 14,420 votes.
Bryant is hitting .268 with 14 home runs. Arenado is hitting .286 with 14.
Here are this week’s totals…
THIRD BASE (As of 6/12/17)
1. Kris Bryant, Cubs: 1,248,348
2. Nolan Arenado, Rockies: 951,747
3. Justin Turner, Dodgers: 503,286
4. Anthony Rendon, Nationals: 489,809
5. Jake Lamb, D-backs: 387,228
DJ LeMahieu more than doubled his voting total for Colorado at second base last week, but he’s still far behind Baez and Daniel Murphy. He’d likely need a manager or player selection to get him in this year.
SECOND BASE (As of 6/12/17)
1. Daniel Murphy, Nationals: 1,745,231
2. Javier Baez, Cubs: 1,029,025
3. DJ LeMahieu, Rockies: 287,131
4. Brandon Phillips, Braves: 261,704
5. Kolten Wong, Cardinals: 226,981
Voting ends on June 29, so things are looking good for Charlie Blackmon. Nolan still needs to make a huge surge to surpass Bryant, but crazier things have happened. Like the Rockies taking five of seven games from the defending world champions this season.
