All-Star Voting Update: Ryan Braun only Brewer in top 5 for position players

The first update for National League voting for the All-Star game came out today. Not surprisingly, the Brewers weren't well represented in the first update. Among the top five position players at all positions (top 15 for outfielders), Ryan Braun is the only Brewer that appears in the update. Braun is currently #5 in the outfield, and more than 300,000 votes behind #3 Yoenis Cespedes for a starting spot.

While many will argue that Braun doesn't deserve a spot based on his past positive performance-enhancing drug test, the numbers this season show that Braun is deserving of consideration. His .348 batting average leads NL outfielders, and his 163 wRC+ is tied for the lead as well. Braun is also second on the Brewers in home runs with 9, and his 31 RBI are tied for the team lead as well.

Brewers fans have put together strong turnouts in previous years to get their players into the game. However, with the team in a clear rebuilding mode right now, the support for Brewers players isn't there as much as it has been in the past. Not only is no other Brewer in the update, but the vote totals for those Brewers is so low that many already have no chance to make it into the game.

If there's one player that still has a chance to make it into the voting leaders, it would have to be Jonathan Lucroy. Though not among the top 5 at catcher right now, his 2.0 fWAR leads all catchers this year, and his .299/.351/.531 batting line is easily the best among catchers. In addition, the leader (Yadier Molina) is only at 517,000 votes, meaning there's still an opportunity to steal votes and take a shot at the top.

Another player that has a chance at the top is Jonathan Villar. Though he doesn't have the same statistical advantage over the rest of the field, his numbers keep him in consideration. His fWAR of 1.4 is fourth among shortstops, his .412 OBP leads all NL shortstops with at least 100 PA, and his wRC+ is at 127. In addition, he leads all of MLB in stolen bases, with 19 so far this year. He will have a harder time getting votes over the well-known names of Addison Russell and Trevor Story, but could still make an appearance among the leaders.

Though no one is guaranteed a spot in the game yet, some players have such overwhelming leads that they are a near lock for the game. At first base, Anthony Rizzo has a 600,000 vote lead over Brandon Belt, beating him by over a 3:1 margin. It's a little closer at second base and third base. Ben Zobrist leads Daniel Murphy by nearly 250,000 votes at second, and Kris Bryant has a 180,000 vote lead over Nolan Arenado at third. The closest race right now is shortstop, where Addison Russell has the lead over Trevor Story, though the two are separated by just 10,000 votes.

The Cubs are the most represented team on the ballot, with all eight of their eligible players among the leaders at their positions. The Mets and Giants each have seven of their eight players among the leaders as well. On the other side, the Braves, Padres, and Phillies each have no players among the leaders.

Statistics courtesy of FanGraphs