© Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
Giants first baseman Brandon Belt is one of five National League players eligible to earn the Final Vote for the 2018 MLB All-Star Game. If Belt wins, he will join teammates Brandon Crawford, who will start in the game, and Buster Posey as the Giants’ representatives.
Each league’s Final Vote is opened for the fans to vote on players who were excluded from the initial All-Star teams that were announced Sunday. Belt joins Jesús Aguilar (Milwaukee Brewers), Matt Carpenter (St. Louis Cardinals), Max Muncy (Los Angeles Dodgers), and Trea Turner (Washington Nationals) as the NL’s Final Vote nominees.
Voting ends Wednesday at 1 p.m. You can cast your vote here.
Belt, whose only other All-Star Game appearance came in 2016, leads the Giants in average (.300), homers (13), RBI (42), and on-base percentage (.393), which ranks fifth in the National League, entering Monday. Out of all National League first basemen, Belt ranks second batting average, third in on-base percentage, and third in OPS (.902).
The 30-year-old is well on his way to the best statistical season of his eight-year career, despite missing 13 consecutive games in June as he underwent an appendectomy.
Prior to going on the disabled list on June 2, Belt hit .307/.403/.547 with 11 homers and 39 RBI in 53 games. He won National League Player of the Week in mid-May after slashing .444/.500/.1.074, while leading the National League in home runs, runs, and total bases during that span. He has picked up where he left off upon returning to the Giants lineup, slashing .284/.370/.420 with two homer, 11 RBI, 11 strikeouts, and 11 walks in his past 22 games.
