Pittsburgh Pirates All-Star Vote Update #4

Pittsburgh Pirates catcher Francisco Cervelli has come out of nowhere to enter the All-Star discussion. Here is the latest National League All-Star voting update from MLB:

Cervelli is riding a hot stretch in June, going 12-for-38 with a home run and six RBI. There is also those 51 scoreless innings. Both of these factors plus an infectious enthusiasm resulted in Cervelli coming from nowhere to third in the overall catcher voting. It would appear that with the wide gap between the top two catchers (Buster Posey and Yadier Molina), Cervelli will not end up starting the game. If his stellar play continues, being named to the squad over the runner up may not be out of the question.

More from Rum Bunter

Elsewhere in the voting, Andrew McCutchen moved up from eighth to fifth. McCutchen continued his hot play, going 8-for-23 with four RBI. Serving as the cog around which the rest of the Pittsburgh Priates lineup is constructed, McCutchen has now raised his average to .293 from his nadir of .175 on April 25. There is extremely stiff competition for a starting outfielder spot this year, with Bryce Harper a virtual lock and Giancarlo Stanton directly in front of Cutch. With Matt Holliday‘s injury, the door may be cracked for McCutchen to at least make a dent. Nori Aoki also stands in front of McCutchen, but with good play Cutch can ride the name recognition factor and possibly leapfrog Aoki. Starling Marte remained steady at number 15 and did not gain many votes over the previous update. Barrring a miracle, Marte will not be an all-star this year.

Of course, any conversation about Pittsburgh Pirates all-stars would be incomplete without mentioning the Pirates pitching staff. Gerrit Cole is a lock for the game, and A.J. Burnett is making a push to be named to his first midsummer classic. As Tyler Waite points out, Francisco Liriano also has a great shot at earning a nod by showing well in his upcoming starts against quality opponents.

We will continue to analyze each voting update as it becomes available.

Next: Burnett making push for first all-star nod

Schedule