MLB All-Star Game 2013 voting: NL First Base

Votto’s performance to date in 2013 is reminiscent in some ways of his 2010 season, when he was one vote short of winning the NL MVP unanimously. Traditional counting stats may not necessarily favor Votto as the prototypical three-hole, power-hitting first baseman: He has 14 home runs, which certainly wouldn’t seem to correlate with his MVP season in which he hit 37 homers. But his insistence to take walks (he leads baseball with 58 bases on balls) and send pitches to all fields for any hit he can muster has him rated No. 2 among all NL position players with a 162 wRC+, and that’s been good enough for the voters.

Arizona’s Goldschmidt has been stellar in his second full season as a major leaguer, but it seems Votto’s lead is too significant, and that it will be up to San Francisco manager Bruce Bochy -- the NL’s manager this year -- to get Goldschmidt into his first All-Star appearance. He’s already hit 19 home runs -- compared to 20 in 587 plate appearances in 2012 -- and he’s just behind Votto with a 157 wRC+. Defensive metrics favor Goldschmidt as one of the league’s best-fielding first basemen, too.

Craig hasn’t quite replicated his production from 2012, but his .320/.360/.473 line means he’s no slouch, either. His home-run power hasn’t quite been there, but he’s been hitting doubles at a higher rate than in any of his other previous three seasons since his debut in 2010. His 94 hits puts him well on the way to topping his previous career-high of 144 hits last season.

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