ST. LOUIS -- Though they continue to anchor a sputtering Cardinals offense, neither first baseman Jose Martinez nor outfielder Tommy Pham has been able to rally much support in the ongoing vote for this year's National League All-Star starters.
• VOTE: 2018 Camping World MLB All-Star Ballot
Major League Baseball released updated voting totals for NL players on Monday, and for the second straight week, Yadier Molina was the lone Cardinal to dent the top five at his respective position. Molina (366,271 votes) moved up one spot to fourth among catchers, though he still sits nearly 320,000 votes behind Buster Posey (686,253) in the voting, with the Cubs' Willson Contreras (596,111) and the Braves' Kurt Suzuki (557,692) in second and third.
Molina, an eight-time All-Star, has been a fan-elected All-Star Game starter four times in his career. That ranks third most in franchise history, behind Ozzie Smith (12) and Jose Pujols (five). Molina sprinted out of Spring Training with a .316 batting average and a .925 OPS through 20 games, but the catcher's candidacy hit a snag when he was sidelined for a month while recovering from a groin injury.
Though Pham and Martinez have made compelling cases for consideration, the opportunity to participate in their first All-Star Game will likely hinge on their ability to garner enough support in the player and manager vote. With more than 1.4 million votes, Atlanta's Freddie Freeman is on track to be the NL's starting first baseman. Nick Markakis, Bryce Harper and Matt Kemp have separated themselves in the outfield race.
Martinez, an everyday first baseman for the first time in his career, ranks among the NL's top eight in batting average (.321), on-base percentage (.389) and slugging percentage (.517). Pham sits third in the NL with 51 runs scored. In his breakout season last year, Pham finished as one of only seven players with at least a .300/.400/.500 slash line.
Fans may cast votes for starters at MLB.com and all 30 club sites -- on computers, tablets and smartphones -- exclusively online using the 2018 Camping World MLB All-Star Ballot until Thursday, July 5, at 10:59 p.m. CT. On smartphones and tablets, fans can also access the ballot via the MLB At Bat and MLB Ballpark mobile apps. Each fan can vote up to five times in any 24-hour period, for a maximum of 35 ballots cast.
Following the announcement of this year's All-Star starters, reserves and pitchers, fans should return to MLB.com and cast their 2018 Camping World MLB All-Star Final Vote for the final player on each league's roster. Then on Tuesday, July 17, while watching the 2018 All-Star Game presented by Mastercard live on FOX, fans may visit MLB.com to submit their choices for the Ted Williams Most Valuable Player Award presented by Chevrolet with the 2018 MLB All-Star Game MVP Vote
The 89th Midsummer Classic, at Nationals Park in Washington, D.C., will be televised nationally by FOX Sports; in Canada by Rogers Sportsnet and RDS; and worldwide by partners in more than 180 countries. FOX Deportes will provide Spanish-language coverage in the United States, while ESPN Radio and ESPN Radio Deportes will provide exclusive national radio coverage of the All-Star Game. MLB Network, MLB.com and SiriusXM also will provide comprehensive All-Star Week coverage. For more information about MLB All-Star Week and to purchase tickets, please visit AllStarGame.com and follow @MLB and @AllStarGame on social media.