Toronto Blue Jays star Vladimir Guerrero Jr. is surprised to be leading American League first basemen in All-Star Game voting amid one of the worst seasons of his career.
"I was surprised that I'm in first," Guerrero told Mitch Bannon of The Athletic. "There's a lot of first basemen doing a better job than me. But I don't control the fans, I don't control the vote."
Guerrero had garnered 603,104 votes when the first All-Star Game ballot update was revealed Monday. That total puts the 27-year-old ahead of Ben Rice of the New York Yankees (509,830), Munetaka Murakami of the Chicago White Sox (437.107), and Nick Kurtz of the Athletics (269,658).
| PLAYER | HR | RBI | OPS |
|---|---|---|---|
| Vladimir Guerrero Jr. | 3 | 27 | .726 |
| Ben Rice | 20 | 49 | 1.007 |
| Munetaka Murakami | 20 | 41 | .938 |
| Nick Kurtz | 18 | 57 | 1.000 |
Blue Jays manager John Schneider attributes Guerrero's support to his popularity around the globe, which only increased with Toronto's run to the World Series last season.
"If numbers aren't on the scoreboard, who are you paying to come watch?" Schneider said. "He's one of those guys. So I think that plays into it."
Guerrero has appeared in five straight All-Star Games, with fans selecting him as an AL starter in four of the last five campaigns.
He plans to attend the All-Star Game if the fans vote him in again.
"If they vote for me, I gotta go," Guerrero said. "If I'm voted first, I'm going."
