Take a peek at the latest MLB All-Star Game voting totals and you'll get an idea of just how much Atlanta Braves are embracing the present in Orlando Arcia rather than the past in Dansby Swanson.
When MLB released the updated voting totals for the All-Star Game to be played in Seattle on July 11, the leader at shortstop for the National League by an overwhelming margin was Orlando Arcia of the Atlanta Braves. The 28-year-old Arcia had gathered more than 1 million votes (almost twice as much as Francisco Lindor of the New York Mets, sitting in second place), thanks largely in part to the passion Braves fans have for their team and its players.
Of course, Arcia has earned those votes, performing very well after taking the shortstop mantle from Dansby Swanson this season. Entering Tuesday's play, Arcia was slashing .341/.398/.492 in his first 196 plate appearances of the season and posting a career-high (so far) OPS+ of 137. After the Braves decided to go with Arcia over Vaughn Grissom in spring training, there were plenty who wondered if it was the right move (after all, he had an OPS+ of 101 last season in Atlanta with 234 plate appearances). Arcia, however, has done nothing but show that it was the correct call, as was the three-year extension the Braves gave him in late March.
Braves fans love what they're seeing with All-Star Game voting
There is, to be sure, another side to the new All-Star Game voting totals that are making Braves fans happy today as well. If you look at the totals, Swanson, who bolted Atlanta for the Chicago Cubs in the offseason, is well behind Arcia (and plenty of other players as well), coming in seventh among NL shortstops with just over 323,000 votes.
Swanson was taken as a reserve in the Midsummer Classic last season (Trea Turner was voted in as the NL starting shortstop) and has had his moments in Chicago, but still isn't faring at Arcia's level, slashing .266/.352/.403 in 315 plate appearances with an OPS+ of 106. Those kind of numbers likely won't get him a return appearance this season in Seattle.
With Arcia at the top and Swanson trailing well behind, it's a perfect example and how Braves fans (and their voting power) can embrace their favorite players in the present very quickly while also moving on from those who no longer wear the A.
