Matt McLain leads the way in Cincinnati Reds' All-Star voting

Cincinnati Reds shortstop Matt McLain has been one of the best hitters in baseball since he got called up in the middle of May. On Monday, he received some national recognition.

When MLB provided the first update on this year’s All-Star voting, McLain ranked fourth among all of the shortstops in the National League. With 200,152 votes, McLain only trails Atlanta Braves shortstop Orlando Arcia, New York Mets shortstop Francisco Lindor and San Diego Padres shortstop Xander Bogaerts. McLain ranks ahead of Dansby Swanson and Trea Turner, who both signed nine-figure contracts during the offseason.

McLain entered Monday with a .336 batting average and a .905 OPS while playing standout defense at shortstop. Even though McLain was in college two years ago, he has already become a consistent No. 2 hitter in the Reds lineup. 

Reds third baseman Nick Senzel ranked ninth among NL third basemen on the ballot with 38,960 votes. Reds outfielder TJ Friedl ranks 20th among NL outfielders with 97,704 votes.

The next update on voting will be on June 20, and Phase 1 of the balloting process ends on June 22. Then, the top two vote-getters at each position, as well as the top six outfielders, in each League will advance to the second phase of voting to determine who starts for each league’s All-Star team.