The Nationals’ front office and many of its players are quick to note Anthony Rendon is an All-Star caliber player and vastly overlooked by the rest of the country.
All-Star Game balloting released Tuesday by Major League Baseball backs up the “vastly overlooked” part.
Rendon ranks just fifth in fan voting for National League third basemen. He has 178,215 votes – or about 23 percent of the total for leader Nolan Arenado (783,684) of the Colorado Rockies.
Kris Bryant of the Cubs, Justin Turner of the Dodgers and Josh Donaldson of the Braves came in second, third and fourth, respectively.
“Love to be an All-Star, but without going, if that’s possible,” Rendon told reporters in May.
He may not have to worry, as the opening round of fan voting ends June 21 at 4 p.m.
Your National League leaders at 1B, 2B, and 3B. pic.twitter.com/hD471mb0f6
— All-Star Game (@AllStarGame) June 11, 2019
Rendon is hitting .316 with 12 homers with 43 RBI and OPS of 1.044 going into Tuesday’s game in Chicago against the White Sox. He has a WAR rating of 2.1 this year and 23.1 in his career. But Rendon has never been an All-Star, despite receiving Most Valuable Player votes at the end of the year in 2014, 2017 and 2018.
Arenado, playing in hitter-friendly Denver, is batting .329 with 17 homers, 57 RBI and OPS of .984. His WAR rating is 3.0 this season and 35.9 since breaking into MLB in 2013. Both third basemen also excel defensively.
Rendon is the only Nationals player to rank in the top five in votes at his position. Brian Dozier is ninth among NL second basemen, Trea Turner is 10th among shortstops and Juan Soto is 12th among outfielders.
The game is July 9 in Cleveland.
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