Freeman, Ozzie, and Markakis among leaders in early All-Star balloting

Braves country has answered the call as several Braves are in the hunt for All-Star appearances

The Braves have surprisingly been at or near the top of the National League East for most of the year in 2018. A team does not have that happen unless they have gotten some strong performances from individual players and that has certainly been the case this year.

Freddie Freeman, Ozzie Albies, and Nick Markakis have all been among the league leaders in WAR and most offensive categories for the majority of the year. In addition to those players, there have been tons of other strong performers on the team at times on both sides of the ball.

Well, it appears that baseball fans are noticing these performances as there are a slew of Braves in the hunt for All-Star appearances.

The Braves have 8 players among the top players by vote in early All-Star balloting with Freddie Freeman, Ozzie Albies, and Nick Markakis all currently in line for starting spots on the team. This is a far different situation than in previous years when we wondered who would be the lone Braves representative since voters did not seem to appreciate just how good Freddie has been over the last few years.

With Freddie a frontrunner for the NL MVP award and other players having career years as the Braves have been winning, Braves fans and fans in general have taken notice and it looks like there could be several Braves All-Stars this year. Keep an eye on Ronald Acuna Jr. in the outfield…he isn’t that far off from a starting spot as well and if he returns and hits like he can, he could sneak in and grab a spot on the roster.

If you want to help stuff the ballot box full of Braves, here is a link that will allow you to do so. In the coming weeks, we will be highlighting Braves players that we think are worthy of inclusion on the roster as well. Don’t be shy with your votes because fan bases like the Royals and Cubs are notorious for stuffing the voting booths for their players.