Brandon Belt and Michael Saunders are All-Stars

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Welcome to the final weekend of the unofficial first half. Tuesday, of course, is the All-Star Game, and the rosters have been (sort of) finalized. Yesterday, after three days of fan voting, the Final Vote contest concluded with Brandon Belt and Michael Saunders joining the ranks in their respective leagues. The former will be playing in his first All-Star Game, and is having a career year for the first-place Giants. He’s hitting .300 — a mark he’s never reached over a full season — thanks mostly to his lowest strikeout rate against major league pitching. On top of that, he’s showing off a newfound power stroke, although that’s mostly come in the form of doubles. Belt joins Buster Posey, Madison Bumgarner and Johnny Cueto as All-Star representatives from San Francisco.

The American League voting was dominated by the nation of Canada, as Saunders had the highest Final Vote total from either league. That’s not to say he didn’t deserve it, though. The Blue Jays’ outfielder has stayed healthy for the first time in his career, and the numbers haven’t suffered in a larger sample. This will be Saunders’ first All-Star appearance as well, and he can thank a massive uptick in power. He’s on pace for 30 home runs on the year, something that is partially thanks to playing in a favorable home park, but also because he can crush the ball. He joins Josh Donaldson, Edwin Encarnacion and Marco Estrada as Blue Jays All-Stars.

The Final Vote is a relatively new addition to the Midsummer Classic process, and it’s one that has its pros and cons. On the one hand, it’s somewhat meaningless since injuries (some real, some not so much) will cause players to opt out of the game and the players involved in the vote could make it anyway. Additionally, it’s putting yet another roster spot in the hands of the biased and illogical fans. However, it also often involves potential first-timers like Saunders and Belt, and only allows fans to vote for a pre-approved list of deserving players. Whether you like it or not, the fans did well this year, and the game is now more fun with these two involved.

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