Red Sox Journal: Betts leads A.L. All-Star voting

BALTIMORE — Mookie Betts and J.D. Martinez are among the American League position players in line for starting positions at the All-Star Game next month.

Betts has appeared on the most ballots cast in the A.L. to date and Martinez tops the designated hitters for the annual summer showcase to be played July 17 at Nationals Park in Washington, D.C.

Numbers released Tuesday afternoon showed Betts has [...]

BALTIMORE — Mookie Betts and J.D. Martinez are among the American League position players in line for starting positions at the All-Star Game next month.

Betts has appeared on the most ballots cast in the A.L. to date and Martinez tops the designated hitters for the annual summer showcase to be played July 17 at Nationals Park in Washington, D.C.

Numbers released Tuesday afternoon showed Betts has garnered almost 749,000 votes, outdistancing Mike Trout of the Angels and Aaron Judge of the Yankees among outfielders. Astros second baseman Jose Altuve was the only other player to crack 700,000 votes.

“It’s pretty cool, obviously,” Betts said. “Making the All-Star team is definitely a blessing. If I’m fortunate enough to still be there at the end I’ll be happy, I’ll go play in that and get back to business.”

It would be the third straight appearance in the game for Betts, and it would certainly be a deserving one. He leads the big leagues with 52 runs scored, and his slash line of .354/.431/.735 makes him one of the most devastating hitters in all of baseball.

“The way he’s been playing, it’s fun to watch if you’re a baseball fan,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said. “He can run, he can hit the ball out of the ballpark, he hits for average, he plays defense and he’s a likeable guy.”

Martinez checked in with 513,415 votes, more than double the total of Yankees' offseason acquisition Giancarlo Stanton. The free-agent slugger has been a hit in his first season with Boston, pacing the big leagues with 21 home runs and 54 runs batted in.

“It’s obviously going to be really cool to go with some teammates,” Betts said. “Those are guys you grind with every day. Just to see them in the spotlight would be pretty cool.”

Mitch Moreland is second to White Sox first baseman Jose Abreu, trailing by less than 26,000 votes. Andrew Benintendi is sixth among outfielders, more than 333,000 votes behind Judge for the last starting spot. Fan voting for the starters at mlb.com ends July 5 at 11:59 p.m.

Betts not in lineup

Betts was out of the lineup on Tuesday after playing all but the final frame of Monday’s 2-0, 12-inning win over the Orioles.

The outfielder went through his full pregame routine and was expected to be available off the bench to pinch hit. Betts was sidelined the previous two weeks by a left abdominal strain but said he felt no soreness after the game. He was spotted meeting with Cora and Red Sox president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski in the visiting clubhouse late Monday night.

“We talked about it already,” Betts said. “I kind of had a heads up. I knew coming in today that it would be kind of a regen day.”

“He was going to play two out of three anyway,” Cora said. “Yesterday we extended him a little bit. Not extended him — it was a long one.”

Baltimore shortstop Manny Machado (illness) was back in the lineup after a one-day absence. Machado is the leading vote-getter among A.L. shortstops, more than 110,000 ahead of Cleveland’s Francisco Lindor. The Orioles’ star had a .971 OPS thanks to 18 home runs and 15 doubles.

Deal complete

Outfielder Eric Filia was announced as the player to be named later from the Mariners in the trade that sent left-handed pitcher Roenis Elias to Seattle on April 23.

The Red Sox acknowledged the completion of the deal on Tuesday. Filia is a 25-year-old Californian, a UCLA product and high school classmate of former Boston pitching prospect Henry Owens. His checkered career to date includes a pair of positive tests for a drug of abuse, defined in the minor league program as a recreational drug such as marijuana or a stimulant such as amphetamines. The second positive test triggered an automatic 50-game suspension, which he served to begin this season.

The left-handed hitting Filia has been a productive player in his career. His .841 OPS in 128 games at Class-A Modesto in 2017 included 28 doubles and 65 walks against just 45 strikeouts. Filia compiled a 1.045 OPS through 13 games with Double-A Arkansas this season, including a home run and three doubles.

Elias was recently promoted to the big leagues by Seattle, where he pitched in 2014 and 2015. The left-hander has allowed four hits and one earned run in two appearances, a span of six innings as a long reliever. 

— bkoch@providencejournal.com

On Twitter: @BillKoch25