Astros’ Jose Altuve, Yordan Alvarez leading All-Star voting at their positions

It could be a hostile crowd for the Astros with the game being played at Dodger Stadium

June 21, 2022Updated: June 22, 2022 11:09 a.m.

Houston Astros’ Jose Altuve bats against the Chicago White Sox after a baseball game against the Houston Astros Saturday, June 18, 2022, in Houston. The White Sox won 7-0. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)David J. Phillip/Associated Press

The Astros’ Jose Altuve and Yordan Alvarez are leading the American League All-Star voting at their positions with a little more than a week left in the first phase of voting. After the first phase, which ends at 1 p.m. June 30, the top two vote-getters at each position – and top six outfielders – will advance to the second phase, which begins at 11 a.m. July 5, with fans choosing among the finalists at each position. Voting, which selects the position players starters in the All-Star Game, is ongoing at MLB.com.

It appears unlikely that any other Astros position player will advance to the second phase of the voting. Martin Maldonado (231,005) is fourth in voting at catcher, but still more than 156,000 votes behind the Yankees’ Jose Trevino (387,983), who is second in voting. Jeremy Peña (271,640) also is fourth at shortstop, but is more than 250,000 votes behind the White Sox’s Tim Anderson (528,278) for second place. Notably, Peña does lead former Astros shortstop Carlos Correa, who is sixth in voting at 186,403. Astros outfielders Michael Brantley and Kyle Tucker are ninth and 10th, respectively, which puts them about 150,000 votes from joining the six finalists.

Altuve – who is second among American League second basemen in home runs (12), slugging percentage (.507) and OPS (.853) – has been named to the All-Star team seven times, which ties Craig Biggio for the most in franchise history.

Alvarez, who is trying to make his first All-Star team, leads the Astros in home runs (18), RBI (47), slugging percentage (.623) and OPS (1.026).

Astros manager Dusty Baker and his coaching staff will lead the American League All-Stars when the game is played July 19 at Dodger Stadium.

Altuve and then-teammate Carlos Correa both decided to skip last year’s All-Star Game, but Altuve told reporters Tuesday that he plans to play in this year’s game.

“It means a lot to me,” Altuve said before the Astros played the Mets on Tuesday night. “It means everything to have all the support from our fans and everybody that want us to be in the All-Star Game. In the end, this is what we play for, for the fans and it feels really good.”

The Yankees’ Aaron Judge, who leads the majors with 25 home runs, is the top All-Star vote-getter with more than 1.5 million votes. Dodgers’ outfielder Mookie Betts is next at 1.4 million.