Monday's sharing of the first installment of All-Star voting feedback for the popularity contest that is the MLB All-Star Game made me wonder who will win it this year. Not National League vs. American League.
I'm talking Cardinals vs. former Cardinals. Let's face it.
Last year was brutal. The ex-Cards won in blowout fashion. Former Cardinals turned American League All-Stars Randy Arozarena and Adolis Garcia were outfield teammates.
Not just on the AL roster, either. In the starting lineup. Hitting third (Arozarena) and sixth (Garcia).
Former Cardinals pitching prospect turned Diamondbacks star Zac Gallen took the bump for the National League. Not as a reliever, either. He was the NL starter.
Meanwhile, Nolan Arenado was flying solo for the current Cardinals, making 2023 the second time in the past four All-Star games — there was no game in 2020 because of to the pandemic — that just one active Cardinal was included. If this season is going to be different, the Cardinals (and their fans) have work to do, Monday showed. A flock of Cardinals can be found in the National League's top 10 in voting for various positions, but none cracked the top three.
The notables: Willson Contreras (fourth at catcher), Arenado (sixth at third base), Nolan Gorman (seventh at second base), Paul Goldschmidt (eighth at first base), Masyn Winn (eighth at shortstop) and Alec Burleson (10th at DH). Contreras is deserving, but his forearm injury and the absence it caused will hurt him in the race ag.