The first update of the all-star ballot has been released, which means the season is beginning to near its halfway part.
Within the ballot, Mike Trout is the leading vote-getters with 951,000 votes. That is very impressive, but also expected, he’s Mike Trout.
The other Angel at a starting position is Tommy La Stella, leading Jose Altuve by 39,000+ votes. This is incredible. Tommy La Stella has exploded for the Angels this season, and he absolutely deserves to start at second base for the all-star game. This got the thoughts rolling though, so I decided to think about who the Angels MVP would be so far this season.
Any Angels fan would obviously say “Oh, it has to be Trout”, and honestly, I would say that my mind goes that way just as quickly. But, when you really dig into the stats, Tommy La Stella makes the race much closer than it seems.
Mike Trout – Age 27
.290/.460/.621 with 18 home runs, 44 RBIs, and 51 runs scored.
Tommy La Stella – 30
.303/.361/.529 with 15 home runs, 39 RBIs, and 39 runs scored.
Okay, I know Mike Trout’s numbers are still better than Tommy La Stella’s, but if you told me that Tommy La Stella was going to keep pace with Mike Trout this deep into the season, I would have thought you were an insane person. The MVP is not necessarily all in the numbers, but even with the intangibles, Mike Trout probably still wins.
Either way, it is so awesome to see Tommy La Stella thrive for the Angels as well as make a big enough splash to be leading a household name, Jose Altuve, for the all-star game. Let’s go Tommy boy!
I preach to vote for guys that you truly believe deserve to make the All-Star game. So, go vote for Mike Trout, Tommy La Stella, and everyone else that you believe deserves to make the team!
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