Jazz Chisholm Jr. grabs early lead in MLB All-Star Game fan voting

Miami Marlins second baseman Jazz Chisholm Jr. (2) reacts during the eighth inning against the New York Mets at Citi Field. — Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports

The Marlins second baseman has greats odds of starting for the National League at next month’s Midsummer Classic.

Fan voting for the 2022 MLB All-Star Game has been underway for nearly two weeks and you will be unsurprised to learn that Jazz Chisholm Jr. is getting a lot of love. He leads all National League basemen with 634,762 votes as of midday Tuesday.

Ozzie Albies of the Braves and Jeff McNeil of the Mets are the only NL second basemen who have received even half as many votes as Jazz has. Albies underwent surgery on his fractured left foot that will sideline him through the All-Star break, and even prior to that, he wasn’t performing particularly well. McNeil has the edge over Jazz in most statistical categories—other than power/speed ones—but he exited Monday’s game with hamstring tightness. It’s unclear how long he’ll need to recover.

Top 10 vote-getters among NL second basemen as of June 21

You can continue voting here up to five times every 24 hours per email address. Phase 1 of voting closes at 2 p.m. ET on June 30, at which point the top two vote-getters at each position advance to the finals. It’s extremely likely to come down to Chisholm vs. McNeil.

I do want to shout out Jake Cronenworth of the Padres. A 2021 NL All-Star, he has shaken off a slow start to this season with an incredible June—no MLB player as accrued more FanGraphs wins above replacement than Cronenworth so far this month (1.8 fWAR). However, he’s facing a serious uphill climb into starting spot contention with only nine days of Phase 1 remaining.

Chisholm’s national (and international) appeal goes far above and beyond what we’ve seen with any Marlins player since the José Fernández/Giancarlo Stanton era. Ordinarily, the Marlins get screwed in these voting exercises by their relatively small local fanbase. For Chisholm to be leading at his position is a testament to how a vivacious personality and authentic off-the-field fan engagement can level the playing field.

As expected, no other Marlins position players are threats to be voted in by the fans. Jesús Aguilar ranks 10th among NL first basemen with 64,662 votes. Similarly, Garrett Cooper is ninth among designated hitters with 60,966. Cooper at least has the potential to be added to the roster as a reserve later on (team-leading 140 wRC+ in 2022).

Fans do not have a direct impact on the selection of All-Star pitchers. Miami’s ace, Sandy Alcantara, is a lock to make it while Pablo López will have a strong case too if he maintains his season-to-date numbers.