Willson Contreras leads NL All-Star balloting at catcher

The Cubs are having a bad year. This, you know.

Meanwhile, Willson Contreras is having the best year of his career. As of this morning he’s hitting .279/.393/.524 (58-for-208) with 13 doubles and 12 home runs. There’s an outside chance he could hit 30 home runs this year; if he stays with the Cubs and does that, he’ll be just the third Cubs catcher to have a 30-homer season (Gabby Hartnett, 37 in 1930 and Rick Wilkins, 30 in 1993).

Today, MLB released the first results of All-Star balloting, which is ongoing, and Willson is leading all NL catchers with 801,630 votes.

Here are the NL leaders among catchers:

It seems pretty likely that Willson will be the NL’s starting catcher for the third time (also 2018 and 2019).

Hey, Jed! Please don’t trade him before then, at least.

Beyond Contreras, the only Cub who has any real chance of being named an All-Star this year is Keegan Thompson, who could get a nod if he continues to throw as well as he did last Friday.

Here’s the scoop on the remainder of All-Star balloting for this year.

The MLB All-Star Ballot, which is available online and via mobile devices at MLB.com, all 30 team websites and the MLB App, will be accessible until the voting period for Phase 1 concludes at 1:00 p.m. CT this Thursday, June 30. During the initial voting period, you can submit up to five ballots per 24-hour period on MLB platforms. On Thursday, June 30, the top two vote-getters at each position (and the top six outfielders) in each league will be revealed on MLB Network at 4:00 p.m. CT, and they will advance to the second phase of voting to determine who makes the All-Star teams and starts for each league. In addition, for the first time since two-phase balloting began in 2019, the leading vote-getter in each league during the first phase of voting will receive an automatic starting assignment at the All-Star Game and bypass the second phase of voting.

Phase 2 of All-Star voting will begin at 11 a.m. CT on Tuesday, July 5, with voting conducted among the finalists at each position during a four-day window that concludes at 1:00 p.m. CT on Friday, July 8. Later that night, the winners will be announced at 6:00 p.m. CT on ESPN during the 2022 Chevrolet MLB All-Star Starters Reveal. During this second phase of voting, in which you can vote once on MLB platforms, vote totals will reset (i.e., vote totals from Phase 1 do not carry over) and the winner at each position (including three outfielders per League) will be named a starting position player for the 2022 Midsummer Classic, which will take place at Dodger Stadium Tuesday, July 19.