\n\tThis season, the Toronto Blue Jays fans have taken over the American League All-Star voting. After the first round of votes, Blue Jays players occupy a spot in each position\u2019s phase 2 vote, with second baseman Ernie Clement<\/a> earning an automatic spot in the starting lineup for receiving the most phase 1 votes in the American League.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n \n\tThis is not the first time MLB has seen fans of one team stuff the ballot box for their favorite team. In 2015, Royals fans voted early and often to get their players on the All-Star roster. While Toronto and Kansas City have different media market sizes (Toronto’s nationwide fan base gives it one of the largest voting pools), the teams’ profiles are quite similar. Much like this year\u2019s Blue Jays, the 2015 Royals were coming off a close seven-game World Series loss while trying to overcome lengthy playoff droughts; 30 years for the Royals at the time and 33 years for the Blue Jays.\u00a0<\/span>\n<\/p>\n \n\tOne key difference is that the Royals were 14 games above .500 and leading their division at the end of June 2015, and finished the season with the best record in the AL. Conversely, the Blue Jays are finishing June six games below .500 and outside of the playoff picture.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n \n\tIn 2015, the All-Star voting was simpler. Whichever player got the most votes at their position was the starter in the All-Star game. No phases and unlimited votes per person. The excessive ballot stuffing by Royals fans ultimately led MLB to change the voting process to include two phases to help prevent one team from dominating the outcome.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n \n\tBelow are the AL vote results in phase 2 as of 12:30 pm on June 30, including the number of days left to vote. While only one Blue Jay is leading in the final phase of voting, all positions are represented with a Blue Jays player in phase two.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n \n\t\tWith voting wrapping up at Thursday at 12 pm ET, let’s check in on Phase 2 of All-Star voting for the American League!<\/span><\/p>\n Send your favorites to Philly: https:\/\/t.co\/AOTyLAg5Kr<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/oKniGcPsXU<\/a>\n\t<\/p>\n \t\u2014 MLB (@MLB) June 30, 2026<\/a><\/span>\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n \n\tThe final results in 2015 looked very similar with Royals occupying the top two spots in all positions (top 6 for outfield) At one point during the voting, eight of the nine starting positions were occupied by Royals players, but ultimately four players ended up holding on to their leads: Salvador Perez<\/a> at catcher, Alcides Escobar<\/a> at shortstop, and Lorenzo Cain<\/a> and Alex Gordon<\/a> in the outfield.\u00a0<\/span>\n<\/p>\n \n\t\tHere are the AL final voting totals for the #ASG<\/a>: pic.twitter.com\/wpSgfrM7zT<\/a><\/span>\n\t<\/p>\n \t\u2014 MLB Communications (@MLB_PR) July 5, 2015<\/a><\/span>\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n \n\tRelievers Wade Davis<\/a> and Kelvin Herrera<\/a> were also selected to the All-Star team, and Mike Moustakas<\/a> won the vote for the final roster spot.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n \n\tHow deserving was each Royal in battling for their All-Star spot?<\/span>\n<\/p>\n \n\tBelow is an initial look at key stats to see how the top vote getters compared to each other. This is not a perfect method to determine who is more \u201cdeserving\u201d since the All-Star Game was never intended to reward only the statistically best players. Fan voting has always been as much about popularity as production.\u00a0<\/span>\n<\/p>\n \n\tAll stats used will be from the start of 2015 through July 5, the day voting results were announced.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n \n\tSalvador Perez ultimately won the vote at catcher, his third all-star selection at the time. Perez was battling with Russell Martin<\/a> and Stephen Vogt<\/a>. According to Fangraphs, Perez was the least productive of the three. Among AL catchers with at least 100 plate appearances, Perez ranked 11th in fWAR, 9th in wOBA, and 8th in wRC+. Martin and Vogt were top two in each of those metrics.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n\n
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\n\tCatcher<\/span>
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