All Star Voting Phase 1 Complete; Rangers Hope For Better Results

Phase One of the 2023 MLB All-Star Fan Voting officially came to a close.

Fans had 25 days to decide which three players (nine outfielders) from each position they wanted to move on to phase two of the voting, which begins on June 26th and lasts until the 29th.

When the last update was released, the standing for Texas Rangers players was as follows:

Catcher Jonah Heim 3rd
1st Base Nathaniel Lowe 4th
2nd Base Marcus Semien 1st
3rd Base Josh Jung 2nd
Shortstop Corey Seager 2nd
Outfield Adolis Garcia 7th, Ezequiel Duran 10th, Leody Taveras 13th
Designated Hitter Robbie Grossman 3rd

As of the last update, Rangers players moving on to phase two would be Jonah Heim, Marcus Semien, Josh Jung, Corey Seager, Adolis Garcia, and Robbie Grossman.

Now, all that could change when the MLB releases the finalist in the coming days, but so far, the all-star voting has not gone the way that Ranger fans have wanted it to, with just one Texas player leading his position in votes.

That said, there are several cases as to why some Rangers should be higher up than they stood at the last update.

None might be more obvious than the case of Jonah Heim. The Rangers’ star catcher is far and away the best defensive catcher of the three (Perez 2nd, Rustchman 1st) and has a higher WAR than both of those guys.

It’s almost a no-brainer that Jonah Heim should be the starting backstop for the American League at the all-star game this year.

Josh Jung may be a rookie, but his case to be the starting 3rd baseman at the All-Star Game is quite impressive. Matt Chapman is currently in the lead, but that should not be the case if you look at the stats.

Let me list all the stats to which Josh Jung is better than Matt Chapman in…

Hits
Home Runs
RBI
Batting Average
Slugging Percentage
WAR
OPS

I think that speaks for itself, moving on.

Adolis Garcia is another player whom I think should be in the top three for AL outfielders. However, that is quite tough when you’re going against guys like Mike Trout, Aaron Judge, and Randy Arozarena.

Garcia is tied for the league lead in RBI with 58 and has a top-five SR WAR amongst AL outfielders. Should El Bombi have the most votes amongst outfielders? Probably not, but should he be higher than six? Absolutely

Corey Seager is 100% a lock for the All-Star game, but I think he has missed too many games to be the starter. However, he does have a case because he leads the entire league in OPS and wRC+, but that is in a small sample size.

Nonetheless, Seager should be a finalist, and if he continues to hit the way that he has, there is no doubt a possibility that he will win this thing.