Detroit Tigers: Miguel Cabrera leads AL first basemen in All-Star Game fan voting

Detroit Tigers slugger Miguel Cabrera leads all American League first baseman in the first set of All-Star Game ballot updates which were released on Wednesday.

Detroit Tigers first baseman Miguel Cabrera has been to 11 All-Star Games in his 13 full-seasons of professional baseball and may be on his way to appearance number 12. Major League Baseball released the first ballot update for the 2017 All-Star Game on Wednesday and Cabrera was the leading vote-getter at the first base position in the American League.

You can find the full voting update breakdown here. Here’s a look at how the fan voting currently stacks up at first base.

"FIRST BASE1. Miguel Cabrera, Tigers: 326,9522. Yonder Alonso, A’s: 287,9753. Carlos Santana, Indians: 270,8164. Eric Hosmer, Royals: 225,9895. Yuli Gurriel, Astros: 182,945"

Cabrera is having a down year by his lofty standards but still carries more name recognition than the rest of the list put together. His .261/.371/.408 batting line will have to improve, however, if he hopes to stay on top of the fan voting for the long haul.

Cabrera ranks seventh in batting (according to wRC+) in the American League among qualified hitters. Cabrera has topped that list in each of the last two years and ranked third in 2014 (he also topped the wRC+ chart at third base in 2012 and 2013).

The fan voting is used to select the starting position players at the eight non-pitcher positions (plus the DH for the American League) and then the players will vote to select a backup at each position (plus pitchers). The manager of each league then fills out the remaining slots and makes sure that each team is represented in the process.

Next: Detroit Tigers All-Time 25-man Roster

Cabrera is the only Tigers player who currently ranks as a top-five vote-getter at his position (top 15 for outfielders).