- LOUIS, Mo., June 28, 2021 – On Sunday, Major League Baseball announced Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina and third baseman Nolan Arenado as finalists for the 2021 Google MLB All-Star Ballot by virtue of their top-three finish at their respective league positions in fan vote totals during the Phase One voting period, which ran from June 3-24.
Phase Two voting will give fans the opportunity to vote-in Molina (nine-time All-Star) and Arenado (five-time All-Star) as starters for the 2021 MLB All-Star Game presented by Mastercard on Tuesday, July 13. Phase Two voting is open now at cardinals.com/allstar and runs through Thursday, July 1 at 1:00 PM CT. During the second phase of voting, votes totals will reset (i.e., vote totals from Phase One do not carry over) and fans can submit a ballot once daily per email address to vote their starting position players for the 2021 Midsummer Classic.
To encourage voting among Cardinals fans, the club will offer prizes for individuals who post a screenshot of their Molina and Arenado-selected ballots to the Cardinals official Twitter account beginning on Tuesday. Additionally, the club is collaborating with the Kansas City Royals to collectively push for Cardinals fans to include Royals catcher Salvador Pérez as a starter for the American League team and for Royals fans to return the favor by selecting Yadi and Nolan on their ballots.
Molina, who will turn 39 on the date of the All-Star Game, has been elected as an All-Star Game starter on four occasions (2009-10, 2013-14). This season, Molina leads all NL catchers in RBI (31), game-winning RBI (9) and caught stealing percentage (41.4%, min. 15 attempts), and ranks among the leaders in hits (51, 6th), doubles (13, 2nd), home runs (7, T-5th) and extra-base hits (20, T-2nd), despite missing 11 games with an injury earlier this season. He is joined on the ballot by Buster Posey (Giants) and Willson Contreras (Cubs).
Arenado, 30, has been an All-Star the past five seasons and has been elected as a starter in the three straight games (2017-19). This season, Arenado ranks among all National League players in extra-base hits (39, T-4th), doubles (23, T-3rd), and RBI (50, T-5th). The eight-time Gold Glover and four-time Silver Slugger leads all NL third baseman in games (76), hits (77) and doubles, and is among the top-three in HR (15), extra-base hits, RBI and game-winning RBI (8). He recently hit his 250th career home run in front of the home fans on June 26. He is joined on the ballot by Kris Bryant (Cubs) and Justin Turner (Dodgers).
Winners from the second phase of voting will be announced on Thursday, July 1, at 8:00 PM CT on the 2021 Google MLB All-Star Starters Reveal on ESPN.
— STL —
