The Lunatic Fringe

As of last week’s update in All-Star Voting, Melky Cabrera was in 4th place in NL All-Star Voting.  With 1.357 million votes, Cabrera followed only Matt Kemp, Carlos Beltran and Ryan Braun.  He trails the reigning MVP by just under 100,000 votes.  It’s hard to argue with those names ahead of him, I admit.

But following Melky?  Andre Ethier, just a little over 200,000 votes back.

Really?  Ethier?  Giants fans, we can’t let Ethier and the Dodgers win.

Ethier’s having a fine season, I admit.  He’s got a .291 batting average with 10 home runs and a .857 OPS.  But fifth place among NL outfielders fine?  No, not in the least.

Melky is 2nd in the NL with a .360 batting average and 95 hits already this season.  He has six home runs and a NL-leading seven triples.  His .932 OPS is eighth in the NL, although Kemp’s 1.163 OPS isn’t part of the discussion due to him having played in just 36 games.

So, Giants fans, we need to keep voting Melky.  Maybe he will pass up the steroid-tainted Braun.  Maybe he won’t.  But he clearly can’t be allowed to be passed by another Dodger.

Among the other leaders, Buster Posey leads the NL catchers with 1.713 million votes.  Not bad at all, although Yadier Molina of the Cardinals is less than 150,000 votes behind him.  Pablo Sandoval is second in votes at third base, behind David Wright.  But David Freese is less than 10,000 votes behind Sandoval.

Oh, and Brandon Belt is in fourth place among first basemen with 563,000 votes.  Really.  Belt.  Of course, Joe Votto is destrying that category with 2.1 million, but hey, #FreeBelt and all that.

This is a Giants offense with two legitimate All-Star hitters, and a third possibility.  There’s no way that Melky or Buster won’t make the team, even if it’s being picked as reserves.  Sandoval’s debatable, but it’s a weak field at third base.  And that’s in addition to a few deserving pitchers.  That’s saying something, with Wilson out and Lincecum just being terrible.

So follow the advice of the MelkMen!  Keep voting, fellows.  Keep the Giants (at least, the deserving ones) in the All-Star race.