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Bryce Harper leads the NL in All-Star voting by a huge amount

mike oz

Bryce Harper is the most-talked about man in baseball right now after taking a headlining role in that brawl with the San Francisco Giants on Monday. But he’s also the most popular player in the first round of All-Star game voting, as we learned Tuesday.

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Major League Baseball released its first National League tally of All-Star votes and Harper ranks head and shoulders above anyone else in the league. Harper’s 900,079 votes greatly surpass teammate Daniel Murphy, who leads all second baseman and has the second-highest overall total with 669,643.

It’s not undeserved for Harper, either. He leads all of the NL in Wins Above Replacement. He’s tops in homers, ranks fifth in RBIs and owns an impressive .331/.443/.663 slash line.

Bryce Harper leads all vote-getters in the first NL All-Star tally. (AP)
Bryce Harper leads all vote-getters in the first NL All-Star tally. (AP)

Other faring well include Giants catcher Buster Posey, Colorado Rockies outfielder Charlie Blackmon and many Chicago Cubs. Here’s the full rundown:

Voting tallies for the NL All-Star team. (MLB)
Voting tallies for the NL All-Star team. (MLB)

If you’re looking for snubs and undeserving vote-getters, first base is the place to look. Cubs star Anthony Rizzo is off to a disappointing start but leads the pack. Paul Goldschmidt and Ryan Zimmerman are both more deserving. Freddie Freeman is the best candidate, but he’s sidelined with a broken thumb.

Elsewhere, Michael Conforto of the New York Mets is the third most valuable outfielder in the NL by WAR (behind Harper and Blackmon) but isn’t anywhere on the ballot. Quite literally too. Fans would have to write him in if they wanted to vote for him. Meanwhile, a number of outfielders are more deserving than the Cubs trio that current rank third, fourth and fifth. Either Marcel Ozuna and Giancarlo Stanton of the Miami Marlins, who are hosting the game, might eventually get that spot. Both are more productive than the Cubs outfielders at this point.

The first American League All-Star tally is due Wednesday. Another NL update will come June 5. Fans can vote five times per day on the MLB website through June 29.

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Mike Oz is the editor of Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at mikeozstew@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!