MLB All-Star Voting 2015: Standings, Predictions for Midsummer Classic Roster

It's getting down to the final days of voting for the 2015 Major League Baseball All-Star Game, which is probably news to many fans outside of Kansas City. 

While the balloting is close in a few races, most of the starting positions seem to be locked up barring a late voting barrage from fans. The good news is there are only five Kansas City Royals leading their respective positions to start, so there figures to be more of a variety on the field in Cincinnati. 

In anticipation of Sunday's release of the starting lineups, it's time to look at the latest voting totals in both leagues followed by final predictions for each starting nine in the Midsummer Classic on July 14. 

Keep in mind these are not predictions for who should be starting the game. There will always be deserving players who should start, but won't because their vote total isn't close enough to the leaders.

A case in point this year is Cleveland second baseman Jason Kipnis, who leads the AL with 4.6 wins above replacement, per FanGraphs, and is tied for second with a .348 batting average. He should be battling Jose Altuve for the starting job, but is a distant third in the voting. 

With that caveat out of the way, here are the latest round of voting totals and predictions for the starting lineups in this year's MLB All-Star Game. 

Voting Leaders

American League (Vote Total)	Position	National League (Vote Total)
Salvador Perez, Kansas City Royals (11,666,785)	C	Buster Posey, San Francisco Giants (7,990,423)
Miguel Cabrera, Detroit Tigers (11,594,518)	1B	Paul Goldschmidt, Arizona Diamondbacks (6,278,553)
Omar Infante, Kansas City Royals (7,514,642)	2B	Dee Gordon, Miami Marlins (6,316,113)
Alcides Escobar, Kansas City Royals (10,057,381)	SS	Jhonny Peralta, St. Louis Cardinals (7,151,624)
Josh Donaldson, Toronto Blue Jays (11,738,206)	3B	Matt Carpenter, St. Louis Cardinals (6,252,327)
Mike Trout, Los Angeles Angels (11,461,212)	OF	Bryce Harper, Washington Nationals (11,363,949)
Lorenzo Cain, Kansas City Royals (10,418,343)	OF	Giancarlo Stanton, Miami Marlins (6,062,318)
Alex Gordon, Kansas City Royals (8.934,052)	OF	Matt Holliday, St. Louis Cardinals (5,454,953)
Nelson Cruz, Seattle Mariners (8,891,784)	DH (AL Only)	-

Latest voting updates can be found on MLB.com by clicking here.

Predicted Starting Lineups

American League	Position	National League
Salvador Perez, Kansas City Royals	C	Buster Posey, San Francisco Giants
Miguel Cabrera, Detroit Tigers	1B	Paul Goldschmidt, Arizona Diamondbacks
Jose Altuve, Houston Astros	2B	Dee Gordon, Miami Marlins
Alcides Escobar, Kansas City Royals	SS	Jhonny Peralta, St. Louis Cardinals
Josh Donaldson, Toronto Blue Jays	3B	Matt Carpenter, St. Louis Cardinals
Mike Trout, Los Angeles Angels	OF	Bryce Harper, Washington Nationals
Lorenzo Cain, Kansas City Royals	OF	Andrew McCutchen, Pittsburgh Pirates
Alex Gordon, Kansas City Royals	OF	Joc Pederson, Los Angeles Dodgers
Kendrys Morales, Kansas City Royals	DH (AL Only)	-
Chris Archer, Tampa Bay Rays	SP	Max Scherzer, Washington Nationals

Injury Replacements

Rob Foldy/Getty Images

The most notable change from the current voting leaders is in the National League outfield. Washington's Bryce Harper should and will get one of the starting spots, but Miami's Giancarlo Stanton and St. Louis' Matt Holliday are getting bumped out. 

Stanton, who has battled a number of injuries in his career, is on the shelf again. The Marlins placed their big slugger on the disabled list after he broke a bone in his left hand on June 26, and he is expected to miss four to six weeks. 

Not only does Stanton's absence hurt the All-Star Game, but it crushes the Home Run Derby on July 13. The 25-year-old wasn't officially in the competition, though he would have been a stellar addition with an MLB-leading 27 homers this season.  

As for Holliday, he has been on the disabled list since June 9 with a strained right quad. Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported on June 29 that even though there is no timetable for the star outfielder's return, "around the All-Star break is not far-fetched."

It seems unlikely that Holliday or the Cardinals would want to tempt fate by having him participate in a meaningless exhibition simply because the fans voted him in—even if he's healthy in time for the game. 

As a result, the two players joining Harper in the outfield will be the next two healthy players on the voting list and worthy of starting: Pittsburgh's Andrew McCutchen (fifth) and Los Angeles' Joc Pederson (sixth). 

McCutchen is an easy selection. The 2013 National League MVP got off to a slow start this season, but has recovered with a strong .294/.383/.487 slash line before Tuesday's game. He's also a great ambassador for the game, recently writing for the Players' Tribune about why baseball needs to increase its focus to include lower-income kids and the kind of star MLB should be selling on a national stage. 

The rookie Pederson, while not quite the same household name as McCutchen, is also the kind of talent MLB will love to market. He's having an incredible debut year, needing one more home run before the break to tie an NL record set by slugger Albert Pujols, per ESPN's John Buccigross:

Anytime a rookie is doing something that puts his name in the same breath as peak-era Pujols, something is going right. It also helps that Pederson is playing in one of the biggest media markets in the country, making it easier to build around him. 

It's tough to see players like Stanton and Holliday injured and unable to participate in the All-Star Game, but at least MLB is fortunate to have so many excellent fallback options to use in their place. 

Close Calls

Lenny Ignelzi/Associated Press

The two closest races reside in the American League at second base and designated hitter. Altuve trails Kansas City's Omar Infante by less than 300,000 votes at the keystone spot, while Infante's teammate Kendrys Morales is approximately 225,000 votes behind Seattle's Nelson Cruz at DH. 

Infante's inclusion as a potential starter speaks to the folly of this voting system. He's been awful this season, hitting .233/.239/.314 in 67 games heading into Tuesday. The 33-year-old is one of 27 players with a negative FanGraphs WAR at minus-0.1. 

For perspective on how dire things are in Kansas City with Infante, Andy McCullough of the Kansas City Star noted in mid-June that the Royals may start to look at other options for second base:

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As the season continues, the Royals could consider either internal or external alternatives. While Colon does not appear to be an option, top infield prospect Raul Mondesi Jr., has begun playing second base about twice a week for Class AA Northwest Arkansas to improve his versatility.

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While it's not Infante's fault that Kansas City fans are out in full force to support the Royals this year, this would be a particular black eye because second base has been very good in the AL this year. In the Royals' own division, Kipnis and Minnesota's Brian Dozier are both slugging over .500.

Boston's Dustin Pedroia was hitting .306/.367/.452 before Tuesday's game. Altuve is a buzzsaw, hitting nearly .300 with 21 stolen bases while looking like he could fit in your pocket. 

It wouldn't be a surprise if Infante remains in the lead, but common sense should prevail to give Altuve a late surge into the starting spot. 

The good news is Kansas City fans will come through for Morales, who is having a solid bounce-back season with the Royals. He's already passed his home run total from last season (eight) and has provided some pop in the middle of Ned Yost's lineup. 

Cruz has fallen off a cliff in June, hitting just one home run with a .622 OPS in 24 games entering play Monday night, via Baseball-Reference. He's still tied for third in the AL with 19 home runs, but the drop in performance seems like the kind of ammunition Royals fans need to bump up their guy. 

Starting Pitchers

The choice for starting pitcher in the National League is so easy it's barely worth discussing. Washington's Max Scherzer is operating on a different planet than everyone else, leading the league with 110.1 innings pitched, a 0.79 WHIP and a 9.29 strikeout-to-walk ratio, per Baseball-Reference. 

Scherzer recently went through a three-game stretch covering 54 batters in which he didn't give up a hit, via the Nationals' official Twitter account:

Other NL pitchers are having terrific seasons, notably Los Angeles' Zack Greinke, but Scherzer is the best of the bunch. 

Things get a little murky in the AL, as there are strong cases to be made for at least four pitchers. Chicago's Chris Sale has been a machine, striking out at least 10 hitters in seven consecutive starts from May 23 through June 24. 

Reigning AL Cy Young winner Corey Kluber hasn't gotten a lot of support from Cleveland's poor defense and anemic offense, which has largely contributed to his 3-9 record. However, he has a stellar 5.52 strikeout-to-walk ratio and five games with at least 10 strikeouts, including an MLB season-high 18 against St. Louis on May 13. 

Oakland hasn't had much to brag about this season, but Sonny Gray has been a bright spot. The right-hander leads the AL with a 2.09 ERA. 

Chris O'Meara/Associated Press

Ultimately, Tampa Bay's Chris Archer gets the slight edge as of right now thanks to his AL-leading 133 strikeouts and 0.954 WHIP. He had his own historic run in late May and early June with three consecutive starts allowing no walks and compiling at least 10 strikeouts. 

According to Beyond the Box Score, there are also similarities between Archer and Scherzer when it comes to missing bats:

Dominant starting pitching has been a story in baseball for the last few years. This season's All-Star rosters will feature a wealth of overpowering arms who would be worthy of taking the mound as a starter, but Archer and Scherzer are the favorites for that gig right now. 

American League manager Ned Yost will have a lot of choices at his disposal, though it won't matter what direction he goes because of how good all of them are.