Does MLB's All-Star Fan Voting Cater To Big Market Teams?
With the first phase of fan voting for the 2024 MLB All-Star ballot finished, two players from each position advanced to the next round. But that doesn’t necessarily mean the most qualified players advanced — it means the most popular qualified players advanced.
And that’s because with fan voting, teams with bigger fan bases thrive.
There’s no better example of this than the Philadelphia Phillies. Seven of their position players advanced to the next round. It’s not a surprise that the Phillies are represented well in the voting, after all, they’re arguably the best team in baseball. But for its starters at every position to get so many votes, it says a lot about the breadth of the fanbase.
Looking at first baseman Bryce Harper and third baseman Alec Bohm, it’s clear why they’re thriving in the polls. They genuinely are the best players in the NL at their positions.
But look at the outfield and it’s a different story. Of the Phillies' three outfielders, Brandon Marsh and Nick Castellanos advanced, finishing fifth and sixth, respectively in the voting. Johan Rojas didn’t miss the mark by much, though.
Three days ago when MLB released an update of Phase 1 voting, Rojas was in seventh. Given the high standing, you’d assume Rojas was just one spot shy of advancing because he’s played well; but that’s not the case. Instead, he is a prime example of how a big-market team like the Phillies can thrive on the All-Star ballot. His lackluster .566 OPS alone should make him unqualified to be an All-Star, but on top of that he is currently playing in Triple-A.
In the grand scheme of things, this isn’t a huge deal, after all, he didn’t advance to the next round of voting. But it’s a great example of how big market team fanbases can steer voting. For teams winning at the same level as the Phillies but in smaller markets there’s a huge gap.
The Milwaukee Brewers and Cleveland Guardians are both in the same tier as the Phillies, sitting at 48-33 and 51-27, respectively. Despite their pedigree, only two players from each team advanced. Brewers second baseman Brice Turang didn’t make the cut despite his .763 OPS and 27 stolen bases. Guardians designated hitter didn’t finish in the top two despite sporting a .940 OPS.
It’s not that Brewers and Guardians fans don’t care about getting their players to the All Star Game — it’s that there aren’t enough of them to do so. The simple truth is that the number of Phillies fans greatly exceeds the number of fans for these small market teams.
The unfortunate truth is that given the fan-voting format, being a small market team is a dagger in getting players toward the top of the All-Star ballots.
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