Wednesday night was our first look at some of the Democratic candidates for the 2020 Presidential Election in the first debate in Miami.
Next year, there will be an important vote for our country, but on Thursday, there is an important vote for Major League Baseball.
Similar to the primaries and the general election in politics, MLB enacted a new policy for how fans vote for players to compete in the 2019 All-Star Game in Cleveland, Ohio.
The voting process has two phases: the Primary Phase, and the All-Star Starters Election Phase.
In year's past, diehard fans of teams like the Kansas City Royals, Chicago Cubs, and New York Yankees have been able to rig the All-Star voting process, by selecting their own teams players at every position, and voting around the clock to make sure they had the most votes and would start in the Midsummer Classic.
This voting process led to six, sometimes seven players from the same team to start in the annual July exhibition, despite the fact that probably some players shouldn't have even been named All-Stars at all.
In order to counteract that, MLB opened the Primary Phase to everyone. Allowing all votes to count as before, and then selecting the leading three Primary vote getters to enter into All-Star Starters election phase.
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That phase began on Wednesday, and weeds out the number of choices each voter gets in an attempt to get the best player at each position named as a starter in the All-Star game.
Voters can choose among each of the finalists (three at each position, nine outfielders, and three designated hitters) to decide which players will start at their position in the All-Star Game at Progressive Field on Tuesday, July 9.
The Los Angeles Dodgers have two finalists in the outfield category in Cody Bellinger and Joc Pederson.
Bellinger was the leading vote getter in the Primary Phase, and has arguably had one of the best first halves to a season in MLB history. Bellinger was an All-Star in 2017, and the National League Rookie of the Year Winner. Bellinger is batting .354 with 26 home runs and 63 RBI so far this season.
Pederson is batting just .232, but he has 20 home runs in limited playing time this season. The left-handed slugger almost plays exclusively against right-handed pitching, and recently has been starting games at first base. Despite that, he was named as one of the nine finalists in the outfield to become a starter.
In case you were wondering what happened to other Dodger players, Max Muncy, Corey Seager, Enrique Hernandez, and Justin Turner all finished fourth in the Primary Phase.
The remaining players for the All-Star Game, including pitchers, are selected by a combination of Player voting, Manager selection, and the MLB "Final Vote" contest.
Fans can vote for Bellinger, Pederson, or any other finalist here.
Voting for the All-Star Starters Election Phase ends at 1 p.m., so you better hurry up and vote!
