The Red Sox already have three All-Star representatives. There’s a chance that they could add a fourth.
Reliever Koji Uehara is one of five American League finalists for this year’s MLB.com Final Vote. Fans have until Thursday, July 11, at 4 p.m. ET to vote for which player — from the list of finalists — they think should be the 34th and final player on each league’s All-Star roster.
Uehara, who was added to the list by AL All-Star and Tigers manager Jim Leyland, has a 1.95 ERA and 0.784 WHIP in 37 innings over 39 appearances this season. An eight-time All-Star in Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball League, Uehara has never been selected to the MLB All-Star Game despite an impressive five-year major league career.
Uehara will be joined by four other relievers on the AL side of the ballot. Detroit’s Joaquin Benoit, Toronto’s Steve Delabar, New York’s David Robertson and Texas’ Tanner Scheppers round out the finalists.
In the National League, Dodgers rookie phenom Yasiel Puig finds himself on the Final Vote ballot despite playing in just 30 games. He’s joined by Adrian Gonzalez, Freddie Freeman, Ian Desmond and Hunter Pence.
Fans can visit MLB.com to vote or they can use designated player hashtags on Twitter. According to the MLB Twitter account, any tweet that includes a designated player hashtag will be tabulated as a Final Vote ballot. Uehara’s hashtag is fittingly #HighFiveCiti.
Uehara is looking to join David Ortiz, Clay Buchholz and Dustin Pedroia on the AL squad as Boston’s representatives.
