Jackie Bradley Jr. surges into starting spot in AL All-Star update

Boston Red Sox outfielder Jackie Bradley Jr. may no longer be in the midst of a lengthy hitting streak, but that 29-game stretch did enough to draw some attention to the exceptional numbers he's put up this season.

Major League Baseball released its second update to the American League All-Star balloting, and Bradley has seen the biggest surge in voting.

	MLB Communications @MLB_PR
Boston OF Jackie Bradley Jr. has joined the AL leaders in the latest balloting update for the 87th Midsummer Classic pic.twitter.com/nrlEN7Cigc 11:30 AM - 7 Jun 2016

Bradley ranked fourth on the league's first AL update, but leapfrogged Baltimore Orioles outfielder Mark Trumbo to move into a starting spot.

Based on his numbers, there's no doubt Bradley deserves recognition for his tremendous season. The 26-year-old has a 323/.400/.582 slash line through 215 plate appearances. He ranks second in the AL with a .412 wOBA, an advanced stat that measures offensive performance, putting him just behind teammate David Ortiz.

While there's an argument to be made that Bradley's teammate Mookie Betts has actually been better this season, there's no doubt Bradley's 29-game hit streak resonated with the voters, even though that streak ended before the first balloting update was released.

The rest of the ballot ... looks almost exactly the same. Bradley experienced the biggest change, and is the only new starter according to the update.

Most of the positions experienced no change. First base, third base and designated hitter contain the same five players in the exact same order. At second, short and catcher, the Orioles have managed to sneak a few players into the top-5. The same 15 outfielders are listed on both ballots, though the order has changed slightly in the update.

Unless we see a major push for certain players in the next few weeks, the AL All-Star team is going to wind up being some weird mashup of Kansas City Royals and Boston Red Sox. That's not necessarily a bad thing, as many of their players are deserving, but you'd like to see some other clubs represented as well.

With that said, we still have a few weeks before the official starting lineup is released. MLB will put out at least three more updates until then. If you think a player on your favorite team is currently being underrated, get out and vote him into a starting role.