If the All-Star Game voting closed today, the Orioles would have two starters in the lineup: Manny Machado at third base and Mark Trumbo in the outfield. Oh, yes. Trumbo is listed as an outfielder.
Trumbo is actually the leading vote-getter among Orioles, with 641,594 votes received. That places Trumbo in third among outfielders, far behind Mike Trout and close behind Kansas City's Lorenzo Cain. The top three outfielders become the starters.
Why more people have voted for Trumbo than Manny Machado, who leads third basemen with 630,028 votes, is just one of those mysteries of life. Machado is presently about 65,000 votes ahead of Kansas City's Mike Moustakas. We are probably in for another year of shenanigans in the voting from that crowd.
Some other Orioles appear among the top vote-getters in their positions, although probably none of these guys will surge into starting spots. Jonathan Schoop, for instance, is in fifth among second basemen, with 210,937 votes - over 400,000 below leader Jose Altuve.
Chris Davis sits in third among first basemen, nearly half a million votes behind Eric Hosmer. At shortstop, the injured J.J. Hardy sneaks in fifth place, around 375,000 votes behind Xander Bogaerts. And at catcher, Matt Wieters is also in third place, trailing overall vote leader Salvador Perez by over 700,000 votes. Like I said: Shenanigans appear to be again afoot.
Two other Orioles outfielders are trailing Trumbo and company. Adam Jones, who has been an All-Star every year since 2012, presently sits in ninth place, trailing Trumbo by around 375,000 votes. Early April sensation Joey Rickard also drops in 14th place, almost 450,000 votes behind Trumbo.
If you haven't voted yet, you can do so here. If you don't, a horde of barbarians will be choosing the All-Star starters instead. Nobody wants that.