Todd Frazier selected to start All Star Game

Cincinnati Reds 3B Todd Frazier saw a late voting push that was good enough to get him into the National League starting lineup for the upcoming All Star Game in Cincinnati, ESPN revealed on their selection show Sunday night.  Frazier had trailed St. Louis Cardinals 3B Matt Carpenter by as many as two million votes as recently as a three weeks ago, but Todd's continued success and a voting press by Reds fans finally had him overtake the lead just prior to the close of the selection window.

Frazier is currently tied for the National League in doubles with 24, leads all of baseball in total bases with 192, and his 25 dingers are tied with Bryce Harper for the second most in all of Major League Baseball behind uber-slugger Giancarlo Stanton.  His .602 slugging percentage ranks fourth in the game, and his .946 OPS currently sits as the seventh best mark.

Among 3Bs, his numbers sit at or near the top spot across the board.  He leads all NL 3Bs in runs, hits, doubles, homers, and OPS while ranking second in both steals and runs batted in.  He's closing in on a second consecutive 20/20 season (with the obvious chance for much more), and FanGraphs has him as the most valuable 3B in the game to date with an impressive 4.4 fWAR.

Frazier's 50 extra-base hits are the most in all of baseball to date, and the 102 he's on pace for wouldn't just break Frank Robinson's team record of 92, it would be just the sixteenth time a player has topped 100 in a single season.  Not surprisingly, the list of those who have accomplished such a feat is as elite as they come:  Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig (2x), Barry Bonds, Chuck Klein (2x), Todd Helton (2x), Albert Belle (2x), Hank Greenberg, Stan Musial, Sammy Sosa, Rogers Hornsby, Jimmie Foxx, and Luis Gonzalez.

The final voting tally was released just after the announced rosters, and as it turns out, Reds fans came out in force to make the results roughly a non-issue for Todd:

Here are the final voting results. #ASG #notclose #BOOM pic.twitter.com/V7tju2obKS

— Reds (@Reds) July 5, 2015

Todd was the lone Reds player elected to start in GABP, but there's still a chance he'll be joined by one or more of Johnny Cueto, Aroldis Chapman, Brandon Phillips, and Joey Votto on the NL squad when the rest of the rosters are announced.  It will be Frazier's second career All Star apperance - his first being last year - and his first time in the game's starting lineup.

Congrats, Todd, and good luck in the upcoming Dinger Derby!