Catcher Salvador Perez is only Royal in line to start All-Star Game

My, how times have changed.

The first update on American League All-Star Game voting was released Wednesday and catcher Salvador Perez was the only Royals player leading at a position. Contrast this with 2015 when at one point eight Royals players were leading at their positions. That fueled rage among fans and even some players.

That won’t be the case now.

Perez has received 420,268 votes, while Baltimore’s Wellington Castillo is second with 339,902 votes. Perez, who is hitting .267 with 11 home runs and 29 RBIs this season, received the most AL All-Star Game votes in 2016.

The only other Royals player to be in the running at this time is first baseman Eric Hosmer, who is fourth in the voting behind Detroit’s Miguel Cabrera, the A’s Yonder Alonso and Cleveland’s Carlos Santana.

Angels outfielder Mike Trout, who is out because of an injured thumb, leads all American League players with 776,937 votes received.

The race at second base is incredibly close. The Yankees’ Starlin Castro (516,268 votes) has a 536 vote lead over the Astros’ Jose Altuve. At third base, the Orioles’ Manny Machado (369,069) is slightly ahead of the Twins’ Miguel Sano (363,607).

Indians shortstop Francisco Lindor has a big lead as does Mariners designated hitter Nelson Cruz. The top four in the outfield: Trout, the Yankees’ Aaron Judge (730,438), Boston’s Mookie Betts (337,473) and the Indians’ Michael Brantley (333,703).

The All-Star Game is July 11 in Miami.

Here is the voting update.

This story was originally published May 31, 2017 at 11:46 AM with the headline "Catcher Salvador Perez is only Royal in line to start All-Star Game."