247report: Yankees baseball star welcome a new baby.
Although Yankees baseball hasn’t been all that fun this past week, Aaron Judge and Juan Soto are still putting up impressive numbers. With 28 home runs and a 206 wRC+, the former easily leads all MLB hitters after recovering from a quiet April. Regarding the latter figure, Shohei Ohtani is hitting and is right behind Judge at 188. Soto is following closely behind Ohtani.305/.431/.563 with a league-high 63 walks, 183 wRC+, and 18 home runs.
In the first update, Judge and Soto lead all of MLB in Phase 1 All-Star voting; as of the second check-in, that is still the case. With more than 2.3 million votes, Judge would be guaranteed a spot on the roster for the All-Star Game as the leader of the American League (and MLB). Soto and National Leader leader Bryce Harper are the only two who have crossed the two million mark as well. As things stand, Soto would have to overcome a couple more outfielders in Phase 2, though it appears that he will lead that group as well, and Harper would also receive a bye to the Midsummer Classic.
As one of the top six vote-getters in this batch, Verdugo was expected to move on to Phase 2 at the time of the last update. But Cowser of Baltimore has surpassed him by a considerable amount. Cowser already has a strong case on his own, and Verdugo’s recent 2-for-27 slump can’t have helped with that. Thus, there’s little chance that the Yankees’ dim hope of fielding an all-star outfield is still alive.
Giancarlo Stanton’s chances of making the All-Star team will probably be limited due to his hamstring issue. Technically, he still trails Houston’s Yordan Alvarez in the AL designated hitter rankings, but Cleveland’s David Fry is closing in on him. It is unlikely that Big G will receive many more votes on the IL. Anticipate that Fry (or Ryan O’Hearn of Baltimore) will surpass him and move on to Phase 2.
Among AL shortstops and catchers, Anthony Volpe and Jose Trevino are tied for third place, but they are both far behind second place and will not progress. Both teams have an Oriole and a Royal lead: Volpe (537,398) is surpassed by Gunnar Henderson and Bobby Witt Jr. (1,551,124 and 987,689), while Trevino (388,072) is surpassed by Adley Rutschman and Salvador Perez (1,638,425 and 1,033,099).
Among first and third basemen, Anthony Rizzo and Oswaldo Cabrera are likewise far behind in fourth place. At the keystone, Gleyber Torres comes in eighth place. At this moment, Jordan Westburg and José Ramírez would progress to third base, Jose Altuve and Marcus Semien would advance to second, and Ryan Mountcastle and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. would advance to first.
