Royals Look to Sweep the All-Star Game

When the Kansas City Royals won the American League in 2014, it did more than just end a 29 year drought of futility. It caused a bit of a wave. Teams and fans were forced to take notice that the team that had long stood as the punching bag was now in the position they themselves longed to be in. Being in the World Series is an incredible feat that puts the contestants in full view of the entire nation. And when you shine brightly on the national stage, the nation begins to take notice.

MLB.com released the first update of the All-Star ballot poll and 5 Royals would be starting the game if voting ended today.

That's right, you read that correct. Half of the starting lineup would be from the lowly Royals.

Catcher Salvador Perez is currently leading in the vote count (thats…for EVERYONE) with 1,447,753 votes. Second in the OVERALL vote count is Royals centerfielder Lorenzo Cain. They currently have more votes than Mike Trout.

Of course, as always, with All-Star voting, this must be taken with a grain of salt. It is typically nothing more than a popularity contest and a display of which teams market the vote the best, but it cant be disputed that this is certainly new territory for Royals fans.

After all…are we not usually the fanbase forced to COMPLAIN about the "popularity" aspect instead of reaping the rewards? With players such as Derek Jeter beating out Alcides Escobar (who currently leads in SS voting), fans have always had a legitimate gripe that sometimes the best player at a position REALLY WAS playing in Kansas City, but was lost outside the bright lights of places like New York or LA.

For once, KC is the team being griped AT.

If voting holds (which it most likely will not, at least not in current form) then Mike Moustakas, Alex Gordon, Lorenzo Cain, Alcides Escobar and Salvador Perez would all be on the field under the direction of skipper Ned Yost who will be directing the bunting plays at this years mid season classic.

Several notable players who would still stand a solid chance would be Royals first baseman Eric Hosmer who has been one of the most solid players on the team this year. Wade Davis has yet to allow a run in relief after 19 innings of perfect pitching, so it would stand to reason if ANY reliever would be called on to represent the AL, Wade would certainly be a prime candidate. Alex Rios manages to be 6th in OF voting despite not playing since April 13th (which shows the fatal flaw in a fan vote).

The only funny thing is….for most of the Royals slated to be a part, there seems to be a very solid case for each and every one of them to be an All-Star. Cain and Gordon are both in the top 10 in MLB in WAR according to fangraphs, Moose is 4th among all 3b, Escobar is 3rd in the AL, and Salvy is 3rd in the AL.

Maybe the only thing they really needed was a dose of confidence and a little recognition. Make sure you vote Royals fans!

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