BALTIMORE — A couple days after saying he had no issue with the All-Star Game voting process and the number of Kansas City Royals currently leading at their positions, Buck Showalter changed his tune with the latest update was released on Monday afternoon.
With eight Royals players currently slated to start for the American League in the 2015 All-Star Game in Cincinnati, the Orioles manager offered his theory on the voting results thus far.
“What do they have, a virus in the computer or something?” Showalter said. “It’s got to be, right? It’s got to be a virus in the computer. Really?”
Here is the latest AL voting update for the #ASG: pic.twitter.com/9YMYBvIG2a
— MLB Communications (@MLB_PR) June 15, 2015
Manny Machado and Adam Jones each rank fifth at their respective positions while Los Angeles Angels outfielder and reigning AL Most Valuable Player Mike Trout is the only non-Royals player who would be in the starting lineup — he’s second behind Lorenzo Cain and ahead of third-place holder Alex Gordon in AL outfielder voting — if voting were to end today. Jones ranks fifth behind Kansas City’s Alex Rios who’s played all of 18 games after signing with the Royals in the offseason.
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No other Orioles players appeared in the latest update.
Understanding the Royals have several talented players worthy of All-Star consideration, Showalter took strong exception to the light-hitting Omar Infante leading the way at second base.
“What’s he hitting now, .204?” Showalter said. “He must be having a heck of a defensive year.”
This is the first year in which fans have voted exclusively online with paper ballots no longer being distributed at ballparks. The Royals-heavy results have prompted many to ask if the voting process needs to be revamped to more closely resemble the NFL’s Pro Bowl, which splits the vote evenly among fans, coaches, and players.
Showalter said over the weekend that he’d like to see home-field advantage for the World Series determined by clubs’ regular-season records and not by the winner of the All-Star Game.
