NEW YORK--In the latest indication the New York Yankees-Boston Red Sox rivalry is the strongest it's been since the early 2000s, the American League East co-leaders are the only clubs with multiple players in position to start for the AL in the All-Star Game next month.
In the first AL voting update released Tuesday, New York catcher Gary Sanchez and outfielder Aaron Judge are in place to start, as are Boston outfielder Mookie Betts and designated hitter J.D. Martinez.
Anyone looking for a tiebreaker, perhaps this first battle goes to the Red Sox -- Betts leads all major leaguers with 748,872 votes thus far. He is one of three AL players with more votes that the National League leading vote-getter, Atlanta first baseman Freddie Freeman.
Los Angeles Angels outfielder Mike Trout, sandwiched between Betts and Judge in voting, has 639,822 votes. Second baseman Jose Altuve, the only player on the champion Houston Astros in a starting slot, also has more votes than Freeman -- and by far the biggest lead of any player.
Altuve's 701,236 votes are more than 400,000 greater than second-place Gleyber Torres, the Yankees' star rookie who has been on fire since his April 22 call-up.
Betts leads the AL with a .354 batting average, well ahead of Trout's .304 average. But they are in the top two in the AL in on-base percentage, slugging percentage and OPS.
Trout leads the AL with 21 home runs (tied with Martinez). Martinez's 54 RBI are also tops in the AL.
The rest of the current starting lineup represents both contenders and pretenders alike. Jose Abreu of the 22-42 Chicago White Sox leads first basemen in votes, Jose Ramirez of AL Central-leading Cleveland has the most votes at third base and Baltimore's Manny Machado -- currently playing for the worst team in baseball but the biggest name in the trade rumor mill -- is more than 100,000 votes clear of Cleveland's Francisco Lindor for the lead at shortstop.
The Washington Nationals will host the All-Star Game on July 17.
AL All-Star Game voting totals as of June 12:
FIRST BASEMEN
Rank -- Player, Team -- Votes
1 -- Jose Abreu, White Sox -- 267,812
2 -- Mitch Moreland, Red Sox -- 241,889
3 -- Miguel Cabrera, Tigers -- 173,174
4 -- Albert Pujols, Angels -- 155,219
5 -- Yuli Gurriel, Astros -- 154,363
SECOND BASEMEN
Rank -- Player, Team -- Votes
1 -- Jose Altuve, Astros -- 701,236
2 -- Gleyber Torres, Yankees -- 279,810
3 -- Dee Gordon, Mariners -- 87,647
4 -- Jed Lowrie, A's -- 70,454
5 -- Jason Kipnis, Indians -- 68,151
THIRD BASEMEN
Rank -- Player, Team -- Votes
1 -- Jose Ramirez, Indians -- 443,234
2 -- Miguel Andujar, Yankees -- 219,691
3 -- Alex Bregman, Astros -- 180,911
4 -- Adrian Beltre, Rangers -- 121,403
5 -- Mike Moustakas, Royals -- 112,150
SHORTSTOPS
Rank -- Player, Team -- Votes
1 -- Manny Machado, Orioles -- 321,887
2 -- Francisco Lindor, Indians -- 211,756
3 -- Didi Gregorius, Yankees -- 208,583
4 -- Carlos Correa, Astros -- 206,727
5 -- Andrelton Simmons, Angels -- 135,562
CATCHERS
Rank -- Player, Team -- Votes
1 -- Gary Sanchez, Yankees -- 336,280
2 -- Wilson Ramos, Rays -- 320,969
3 -- Brian McCann, Astros -- 174,661
4 -- Salvador Perez, Royals -- 144,457
5 -- Martin Maldonado, Angels -- 94,928
OUTFIELDERS
Rank -- Player, Team -- Votes
1 -- Mookie Betts, Red Sox -- 748,872
2 -- Mike Trout, Angels -- 639,822
3 -- Aaron Judge, Yankees -- 541,983
4 -- Michael Brantley, Indians -- 238,659
5 -- George Springer, Astros -- 225,316
6 -- Andrew Benintendi, Red Sox -- 208,837
7 -- Brett Gardner, Yankees -- 160,123
8 -- Marwin Gonzalez, Astros -- 132,961
9 -- Nicholas Castellanos, Tigers -- 124,676
10 -- Josh Reddick, Astros -- 124,340
11 -- Aaron Hicks, Yankees -- 119,660
12 -- Jackie Bradley Jr., Red Sox -- 105,821
13 -- Mitch Haniger, Mariners -- 100,149
14 -- Eddie Rosario, Twins -- 92,271
15 -- Tyler Naquin, Indians -- 63,725
DESIGNATED HITTERS
1 -- J.D. Martinez, Red Sox -- 513,415
2 -- Giancarlo Stanton, Yankees -- 231,885
3 -- Shohei Ohtani, Angels -- 218,981
4 -- Evan Gattis, Astros -- 155,091
5 -- Edwin Encarnacion, Indians -- 119,526
