Dodgers bias makes Pirates' Brandon Lowe victim of MLB's broken All-Star voting

By now, it's no secret that Brandon Lowe has been vital to the Pittsburgh Pirates' offensive turnaround in 2026. The slugging second baseman leads the team in homers (18), the latest of which lifted Pittsburgh to a 6-5 comeback victory over the Athletics Tuesday in Sacramento. He also leads the team in slugging (.511), and fWAR (2.3), and his .242/.321/.511 line is certainly All-Star worthy.

Further buoying Lowe's All-Star case has been his surprisingly good defense. The 32-year-old ranks third in MLB in outs above average with seven and fourth in defensive runs saved with four.

Yet somehow, the Pittsburgh star isn't at the top of the early All-Star balloting. With the first round of fan voting in, he ranks sixth, trailing some worthy candidates, but also coming in behind Los Angeles Dodgers infielder Hyeseong Kim.

Kim is fourth in the fan voting so far, even though his .259/.323/.328 line doesn't seem worthy of ranking so high. If that wasn't egregious enough, consider this: Kim didn't open the season with the Dodgers because he was sent down to Triple-A at the end of spring training, and though he got a call-up, he was sent down yet again for poor performance at the end of May and has yet to resurface.

We've always known the fan portion of the voting is a popularity contest, and Lowe has two All-Star appearances on his ledger despite playing in relative obscurity in Tampa Bay for his entire career prior to 2026. But the Dodgers' massive fan base propping up Kim, who ranks fourth so far, is the height of lunacy.

If Pirates' star Brandon Lowe misses the All-Star Game, it should be because the field is highly competitive

Having the fan input is a good thing, and there are other pathways for players to be included in the Midsummer Classic. But the fact that Kim is ahead of not only Lowe, but also much more deserving candidates like Luis Arraez of the San Francisco Giants and JJ Wetherholt of the St. Louis Cardinals is ludicrous.

If we're looking at fWAR to determine who is most worthy, it's Wetherholt and Arraez who rank one and two, with 2.7 fWAR and 2.5 fWAR, respectively. Milwaukee's Brice Turang also has posted 2.5 fWAR, and next on the list is Lowe, at 2.3.

The National League is stacked at second base, with the top six in the majors at the keystone all residing on NL clubs. That makes it understandable if Lowe misses out, but if it's to a guy who has just 0.4 fWAR and is currently playing in Triple-A, it will prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that the current system is a sham.

While it's fine to say that the All-Star Game is a popularity contest and what really matters is who the fans want to see on the field, teams use All-Star appearances as a means to add incentives to players' contracts. At that point, with real money on the line, the possibility of such a travesty as Kim getting voted in shouldn't exist.

The MLB has much bigger issues to fry with the ongoing labor negotiations, but once that is settled, the All-Star voting should be addressed so that worthy players like Lowe don't miss out just because they play in smaller markets.

Add us as a preferred source on Google

Follow