If the season ended Monday, the Boston Red Sox would be a playoff team. But if the latest MLB All-Star voting returns are any indication, they're not exactly stocked with high-end talent.
Major League Baseball released its second All-Star fan voting update Monday, and the Red Sox have just one player who ranks among the top five vote-getters at his position in the American League: third baseman Rafael Devers. Devers has 602,047 votes to date, behind Cleveland Guardians star Jose Ramirez (1,426,755 votes) and the Baltimore Orioles' Jordan Westburg (846,352 votes).
It's very possible that Devers will be the Red Sox' only position-player representative at this year's All-Star Game in Arlington, Texas. Here's a look at where other Boston players stand in fan voting at their position as of Monday:
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- Catcher: Connor Wong, eighth
- First base: Triston Casas, eighth
- Second base: Vaughn Grissom, 10th
- Third base: Rafael Devers, third
- Designated hitter: Masataka Yoshida, ninth
- Outfielder: Jarren Duran, 19th
The biggest injustice here is Duran's ranking. The 27-year-old speedster is enjoying a breakout season and ranks fifth among all AL outfielders with a fWAR of 2.9 that also leads the Red Sox. He leads the AL in doubles (22), leads all of MLB in triples (10) and ranks sixth in all of baseball with 20 steals to go along with a .288 batting average, seven home runs and 36 RBIs through 78 games.
Duran has even made great strides defensively and has yet to make an error in center field, where he robbed a home run in Saturday's win over the Cincinnati Reds.
The AL's top six vote-getters in the outfield will be revealed on Thursday, June 27, and Duran almost certainly won't make the cut. But it's still possible he sneaks in as a reserve; reserves will be determined by player votes and will be announced on July 7, with a total of 23 position players and pitchers from each league being selected.
Even if Duran doesn't get chosen, he's a big reason why the Red Sox are 42-36 and in the third Wild Card spot as of Monday. Fans can cast their ballots for the 2024 All-Star Game at MLB.com until 12 p.m. ET on Thursday, June 27.
