Here's where ASG ballots stood at last poll
The final 2021 All-Star Game ballot update is in. Here's where things stood right before the polls closed at 2 p.m. ET.
More races tightened after Wednesday's voting -- but some potential All-Star starters pulled away from the pack.
Nolan Arenado surged ahead of Justin Turner in the National League third-base race, widening his lead from one percent of the vote to six percent from Wednesday to Thursday. And in the NL outfield, Jesse Winker slightly expanded his lead over Mookie Betts for the third and final spot.
One of the closest races remaining is in the American League outfield. The second-place through eighth-place vote-getters are all within a few percentage points of each other -- Aaron Judge and Byron Buxton are holding on to the final two starting spots for now, but Teoscar Hernández, Michael Brantley, Cedric Mullins, Adolis García and Alex Verdugo aren't far behind.
Bo Bichette also made up some ground on Xander Bogaerts in the AL shortstop race with a big push in Wednesday's voting, but the Blue Jays star still has a lot of ground to make up.
The top All-Star vote-getters in each league Wednesday were Vladimir Guerrero Jr. in the AL and Fernando Tatis Jr. in the NL. Rounding out the top 10 were Rafael Devers, Ronald Acuña Jr., Salvador Perez, Marcus Semien, Buster Posey, Shohei Ohtani, Nick Castellanos and Mike Trout.
The biggest gains in the balloting were for J.D. Martinez, Arenado, Hernández, Bichette and Marcus Semien, all of whom saw a 60%-plus increase in their votes from Tuesday to Wednesday -- with Martinez getting over 80% more votes on Wednesday than he did the day before, although Ohtani still has a big lead in the AL designated hitter race.
Here's how the All-Star races looked at the final ballot update, with each finalist's percent of the vote listed.
AMERICAN LEAGUE
First base
1) Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Blue Jays (74%)
2) Yuli Gurriel, Astros (16%)v
3) José Abreu, White Sox (10%)
Second base
1) Marcus Semien, Blue Jays (52%)
2) Jose Altuve, Astros (33%)
3) DJ LeMahieu, Yankees (15%)
Third base
1) Rafael Devers, Red Sox (61%)
2) Alex Bregman, Astros (23%)
3) Yoán Moncada, White Sox (16%)
Shortstop
1) Xander Bogaerts, Red Sox (43%)
2) Bo Bichette, Blue Jays (35%)
3) Carlos Correa, Astros (22%)
Catcher
1) Salvador Perez, Royals (62%)
2) Martín Maldonado, Astros (20%)
3) Yasmani Grandal, White Sox (19%)
Outfield
1) Mike Trout, Angels (20%)
2) Aaron Judge, Yankees (13%)
3) Byron Buxton, Twins (12%)
4) Teoscar Hernández, Blue Jays (11%)
5) Michael Brantley, Astros (10%)
6) Cedric Mullins, Orioles (9%)
7) Adolis García, Rangers (9%)
8) Alex Verdugo, Red Sox (8%)
9) Randal Grichuk, Blue Jays (8%)
Designated hitter
1) Shohei Ohtani, Angels (63%)
2) J.D. Martinez, Red Sox (20%)
3) Yordan Alvarez, Astros (17%)
NATIONAL LEAGUE
First base
1) Freddie Freeman, Braves (47%)
2) Max Muncy, Dodgers (34%)
3) Anthony Rizzo, Cubs (18%)
Second base
1) Adam Frazier, Pirates (47%)
2) Ozzie Albies, Braves (32%)
3) Gavin Lux, Dodgers (21%)
Third base
1) Nolan Arenado, Cardinals (40%)
2) Justin Turner, Dodgers (34%)
3) Kris Bryant, Cubs (26%)
Shortstop
1) Fernando Tatis Jr., Padres (64%)
2) Javier Báez, Cubs (19%)
3) Brandon Crawford, Giants (17%)
Catcher
1) Buster Posey, Giants (58%)
2) Yadier Molina, Cardinals (25%)
3) Willson Contreras, Cubs (18%)
Outfield
1) Ronald Acuña Jr., Braves (21%)
2) Nick Castellanos, Reds (18%)
3) Jesse Winker, Reds (16%)
4) Mookie Betts, Dodgers (13%)
5) Chris Taylor, Dodgers (7%)
6) Joc Pederson, Cubs (7%)
7) Mike Yastrzemski, Giants (6%)
8) Bryce Harper, Phillies (6%)
9) Juan Soto, Nationals (6%)