3 things that stand out for the Brewers after first All-Star voting update

The Milwaukee Brewers have the third best record in the National League as we approach the halfway point in the season. Their record of 42-29 is good for a 6.5 game lead in their division over the second place St. Louis Cardinals. They have finally gained some national media recognition in the recent weeks, which should help boast the all star campaigns of some unlikely names.

The Brewers have gotten to this point thanks to the stellar offensive performance. They've had to rely on offense, as they continue to battle injuries to their pitching staff. In all likeliness, the Brewers need to add pitching at the deadline, but in the mean time they've continued relying on their bats.

The 2024 all-star game is set to take place on July 16th, at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas. With the mid-summer classic quickly approaching, the All-Star voting has been ramping up. On Monday, the first waive of voting was made public, and some of the results were very interesting. Here are three things that stood out regarding the Brewers all-star voting.

1. William Contreras stands alone by nearly 200 thousand votes

William Contreras has been nothing short of spectacular in 2024, having even made his way into the NL MVP conversation as we approach the half way point in the season. Contreras has shown that his production is sustainable as he's slashing .305/.367/.467, while starting 70 of the team's first 71 games this year.

With that being said, there is one issue right now. Despite the amazing play at the plate to win the game on Sunday afternoon, Contreras was banged up in what appeared to be an extremely hard collision. The backstop was hit in the head and after the game we learned he was being evaluated for a concussion. With this news looming, Contreras may find himself missing a couple of games, or potentially even an IL stint.

The Brewers will hope for positive news, but regardless of the injury, Contreras at least got some good news on Monday. He leads the catcher voting in the national league by 188,000 votes. This is a good sign, as even if he does find himself on the IL, which early signs are that he might escape that fate, he appears to have done enough initially to get himself into the All-Star game.

2. Christian Yelich is 2nd in outfield voting

It feels like stating the obvious right now, but I'm going to say it anyway: CHRISTIAN YELICH IS BACK. He's been back for about a year now, but he finally is back in the perception of baseball fans across the country. The National League outfield is extremely depleted, with the likes of Mookie Betts and Bryce Harper at different positions, and Ronald Acuna Jr. out for the year. This has opened the door for Yelich to reemerge as an All-Star game starter in 2024.

Although this was just the initial voting results, Yelich is second among National League outfielders. Yeli managed to accumulate more votes than his teammate Contreras. Hie 821,000 votes outnumber Contreras' 746,000 in their battle for top Brewer vote getter, although I'm sure that both are happy conceding that meaningless title if it means both start in the game.

Yelich's production is the best we've seen since his MVP campaigns, as the star is slashing .333/.411/.506 with an OPS of .917 through 45 games, and he is now nearing eligibility as a hitter as well following his early-season IL stint that saw him miss about a month. Yelich is in the 94th percentile of batting, and 96th percentile of base running, according to his MLB Savant page. His fan support has continued to grow, and the beloved Brewer will hopefully soon be starting in the All-Star game once again.

3. Joey Ortiz is just short of 2nd in third base voting

Out of all the voting results involving Brewers players, none were more surprising than Joey Ortiz. The reigning NL Rookie of the Month has been awesome and all fans of the team know how good he is, but it appears they're not the only ones to notice.

When the All-Star voting was released, the first place I looked was third base. Ortiz is very much deserving of All-Star status, but as a rookie it's hard to expect the fan vote over bigger names. Alec Bohm is likely going to start the game as a runaway winner mostly due to the rabid Phillies fan base, but the path for Ortiz to make the game looks a lot better after the first wave of fan voting.

Ortiz got 244,000 votes in the first wave, which is third among National League third basemen. He is just outside the top two and has made a strong case to be there. He leads National League third basemen in on-base percentage (OBP), along with on-base plus slugging (OPS). Those are two of the most important metrics in baseball, and as a rookie Ortiz leads his position in both.

On top of that, Ortiz has been special defensively. He's in the 85th percentile of fielding run value according to Baseball Savant, and even with his average arm strength, he has four outs above average (OAA) this season, which is in the 93rd percentile. Ortiz deserves to be an All-Star this year, and it's nice to see fans have given him some respect.

The first round of All-Star voting ends on June 27th, where players will qualify for the last round of fan voting. It's important that if you want to see more Brewers in the All-Star game to continue voting, but the Brewers are fairing nicely this far. There is still plenty of time until the game, and things can change quickly in baseball, so it will be fun to monitor the All-Star game voting over the next month.