Surprising player placing highly in MLB All-Star Game voting

Feb 17, 2019; West Palm Beach, FL, USA; MLB commissioner Rob Manfred addresses representatives from the grapefruit league during the annual spring training media day at Hilton in West Palm Beach. Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports

Fans being given the opportunity to vote for the starters in the MLB All-Star Game can sometimes lead to some bizarre outcomes. The league’s Monday update on current voting totals offered up another surprise.

San Diego Padres shortstop Fernando Tatis Jr. ranks fifth among NL shortstops in voting. Tatis Jr. has garnered nearly 250,000 votes despite the fact that he has not played in a game all season.

An update on the MLB All-Star Game voting has been released. Here ya go: pic.twitter.com/z7DHY3x1xQ

— Ben Verlander (@BenVerlander) June 27, 2022

Tatis Jr. is running ahead of some notable names like Didi Gregorius and Brandon Crawford. Still, there is no real danger of the Padres star actually winning the balloting, as he trails the Dodgers’ Trea Turner by over one million votes.

Tatis Jr. is a hugely popular player with a big reputation across the league. Some casual fans may have voted for him without even knowing he has been hurt all year. Or maybe dedicated Padres fans all voted for him despite him being out.

This happens in other sports as well, and it simply comes with the territory of fan votes such as this.