Over the weekend, Boston Red Sox slugger David Ortiz called teammate Xander Bogaerts the "best shortstop in the game by far." The voting public agrees.

Now hitting .399 with a 1.022 OPS over his last 48 games, Bogaerts - who recently overtook Mike Trout for the MLB lead in WAR - ranks fifth among AL players with 1,541,180 All-Star votes and appears set to land the starting shortstop gig July 12 in San Diego, per Tuesday's ballot update.

Crowded race for final outfield spot highlights latest American League All-Star balloting update. pic.twitter.com/PNCdOV09qe — MLB Communications (@MLB_PR) June 14, 2016

Bogaerts, one of three Red Sox players primed to start for the American League, isn't the only one separating himself from the pack, though. With more votes than every other AL player and a whopping 1.2-million vote lead over Matt Wieters, Kansas City Royals catcher Salvador Perez - who boasts an .824 OPS with nine homers in 2016 - appears destined to start his third straight Midsummer Classic.

Mark Trumbo of the Baltimore Orioles, meanwhile, is closing in on his first ever All-Star Game start, as the MLB leader in homers (20) sits just 36,165 votes shy of Lorenzo Cain, the Kansas City center fielder who finished third in MVP voting last year.