Nolan Arenado, Troy Tulowitzki Victims Of MLB All-Star Fan Voting

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The Colorado Rockies are currently 35-47 on the season, which is good for last place (5th) in the National League West. The Rockies aren’t a team that is going to see a lot of air time on national television, which is another reason why players such as Nolan Arenado and Troy Tulowitzki didn’t lock down the number one spot at their respective positions in the Major League Baseball All-Star Voting.

I did a piece awhile back on why Nolan Arenado deserved to be in the Midsummer Classic. That didn’t work out as Arenado found himself fourth in the total voting behind players such as Todd Frazier, Matt Carpenter and Kris Bryant. Frazier deserves to be in the game, especially since it’s at Great American Ballpark in front of the Cincinnati faithful, yet there is no reason Carpenter and Bryant should be slotted above Colorado’s breakout star.

Arenado, 24, has always been known for his ability on defense, which is why the kid has collected two Gold Glove Awards in his first two seasons in the Majors. This season, however, Arenado has busted out the lumber and currently leads the National League in terms of RBI’s (Runs Batted In) with 68. Not to mention, Arenado is currently fourth in the NL with 24 home runs. Not bad for a guy who only clubbed out 18 home runs during his sophomore campaign.

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Don’t even get me started on Troy Tulowitzki finishing behind Jhonny Peralta for starting shortstop at the All-Star Game. If anything, Brandon Crawford from the San Francisco Giants deserved the spot over him [Peralta] as well. As for Tulowitzki, the power numbers are somewhat down this season, sitting at just nine home runs, yet he is still slashing at a line of .321/.358/.489 even after a rough start to the 2015 campaign. Sure, Peralta’s numbers are decent enough to land him a spot on the team (.297 average, 11 home runs, 42 RBI’s, 19 doubles) but with him landing at the number one spot is reflective of the voting process and of course with him being a member of the St. Louis Cardinals.

Speaking of Brandon Crawford, the average is not prototypical of an All-Star caliber player, yet he has been one of the more productive shortstops in the Major Leagues. He average is good for just 10th in shortstops sitting at .265, but Crawford leads the group in RBI’s with 48 on the season. Another interesting stat is his WAR (Wins Above Replacement) rating. According to ESPN, Crawford sports a WAR of 4.0 — 2.5 points higher than the second place candidate which is Jhonny Peralta (2.5).

At the end of the day, if you are on a small-market team such as the Colorado Rockies, the chances of your player(s) landing a top spot in today’s fan voting process is slim-to-none. If you want more proof on this matter, just take a look at Kansas City’s debacle throughout the season. It’s a popularity contest nowadays but hopefully Troy Tulowitzki and Nolan Arenado land a spot on the National League team, in which they deserve.