All-Star Trek: Next-generation Cubs capture fan attention, votes

The National League’s top All-Star vote-getter at third base in early balloting finished Tuesday’s game as the Cubs’ shortstop and started Wednesday’s game as the left fielder.

Kris Bryant also has played right field and first base for the Cubs this year, played center field at times last year, and by the end of the week could be catching bullpens and hawking “Try Not to Suck” T-shirts on Sheffield.

“He’s not even a third baseman anymore,” cracked teammate Anthony Rizzo, who leads all National League players in the first NL All-Star voting update released Wednesday.

If it seems hard to figure out where Bryant might go next – how far manager Joe Maddon will push his limits – just consider where the Cubs have gone since Bryant was drafted No. 2 overall less than three years ago.

The Cubs had one All-Star during their last-place 2013 season, Travis Wood. They had three during their last-place 2014 season – and one, Jeff Samardzija – was traded the day before the selections were announced.

“We’ve really come a long ways since I’ve been here,” said Rizzo, whose 2016 Cubs could make All-Star history if early results hold.

The team with the best record in baseball, the highest expectations and one of the biggest coast-to-coast draws in the game, home or away, would have five of eight position starters in the July 12 game in San Diego if voting ended today – potentially six of nine starters, if reigning Cy Young winner Jake Arrieta (9-0, 1.56 ERA) gets the nod.

“I think that’s probably the shoo-in,” said Bryant, who celebrated his early voting position with the go-ahead two-run homer in Wednesday’s 2-1 victory over the Dodgers. “He’s the dude that should be starting the game, and he’s shown it from last year and in his first 10 starts here. It should be fun to see how that plays out.”

For now, the Cubs lead the voting at all four infield spots, including shortstop Addison Russell and second baseman Ben Zobrist (and Rizzo at first).

If that holds they would be only the second team in history to place the entire infield in the starting lineup of an All-Star game, joining the 1963 Cardinals.

Center fielder Dexter Fowler ranks second, behind last year’s MVP, Bryce Harper, in outfield voting, which would put him in a starting position. And right fielder Jason Heyward ranks fourth among outfielders, putting him one spot shy of a starting position.

The voting is skewed so heavily in favor of Cubs that job-share left fielder Jorge Soler – the guy with a .202 average and .663 OPS – is sixth in outfield voting, one spot ahead of Pirates star Andrew McCutchen, the former MVP.

“It’s awesome to see,” said Rizzo, already a two-time All-Star. “It’s an honor with what we’ve been doing on the field, as a group, all of us.”

The Cubs’ early showing rivals last year’s Kansas City Royals, who had seven players lead at points in the balloting before MLB disqualified close to 65 million votes based on fraudulent over-voting.

The Royals wound up with four starters in last year’s game.

Maddon, a fan of the game’s history, especially his beloved 1960s Cardinals, downplayed the idea of the Cubs’ potential All-Star history.

“The way to make things like that occur is by not worrying about things like that occurring,” he said. “If our guys continue to play the game like they have, they’ll have that opportunity to maybe be that group. But honestly, man, I can’t go there right now.

“Personal recognition is always wonderful, but at the end of the day, I love our record and I love how we’re playing. It’s about maintaining that level of play.”

The fan voting doesn’t even apply to the pitchers who have provided the backbone to the Cubs’ early success. But it does suggest the kind of buzz and intrigue the young Cubs have created on the baseball landscape.

And how far they’ve come – even in the past year.

“Last year we showed up and the bleachers weren’t done, and it was kind of weird and rainy and cold,” said Wednesday’s winning pitcher, Jon Lester (6-3, 2.29). “And all of a sudden the summer rolls around and we’re pretty good. And you look at our young guys – I bragged how mature they were, going through that season and dealing with 97 wins and the playoffs for the first time and all the other firsts.

“And this year they’ve just blown that out of the water.”

Suddenly they’re America’s team, a national story – maybe even a National League All-Star team.

“We have an exciting team,” Rizzo said. “We come in with a lot of expectations, we got off to a good start, and like we’ve been saying all spring, it’s going to be fun summer. And we plan on keeping it going.”