KC Royals: Hunter Dozier likely only Royals rep in All-Star Game

The KC Royals aren’t having a good 2019 season, but they’re still required to have at least one player represent them in the 2019 MLB All-Star Game. Hunter Dozier will probably be that one player.

Kansas City Royals third baseman Hunter Dozier is currently a part of the final MLB All-Star vote, where fans vote for who will start in the big game in Cleveland. If you haven’t voted yet, you have until 3:00CST on Thursday to do so.

Even if Dozier doesn’t win the vote to be a starter, and there’s a good chance he won’t because the competition at third base is fierce, he’ll still probably make it to the All-Star Game as an alternate. The Royals have to have at least one player representing them in the summer classic per MLB rules, so assuming Dozier still gets to Cleveland, he’ll probably be the only Royal in the game.

Whit Merrifield might get gypped for the second year in a row and that’s a shame. The Royals utility man is slashing .304/.351/.507 with 103 hits already in the season and has been the star of the team. He should have been the team’s representative last year, but Salvador Perez ended up getting that distinction instead. Royals fans love Salvy, but he wasn’t deserving of that nod last year.

Don’t get me wrong, Hunter Dozier is MORE than deserving of making it to his first All-Star Game, but there should be two guys wearing the KC on the cap this summer: Dozier and Merrifield. Due to their poor record, however, one candidate is probably all the KC Royals are getting.

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The competition at second base consists of Jose Altuve, Tommy La Stella, and DJ LeMahieu and Merrifield not getting a spot in the vote initially surprised me. Altuve missed significant time due to injury, but he’s one of the bigger names in Major League Baseball, so that’s likely why he’s in that category.

Dozier, who is slashing .302/.387/.585 with 13 home runs, has been a sensation this year. A year ago, most Royals fans had him grouped in the bust category, but Dozier has proved all of us wrong.

Even with a brief stint on the injured list, he’s still been kicking butt and taking names, so him making the All-Star Game isn’t surprising whatsoever.

It’d be really cool if Dozier did win the starting job, but Alex Bregman is a big name and Gio Urshela is having a hell of a year, so winning that vote will be tough.

Make sure you get out there and vote Hunter Dozier into the summer classic!